This is a wild science and art activity for kids to try- not only do you get to see how lovely it is to shoot streaks of color through gelatin- the second half of the project is a touchy feely sensory powerhouse!

This project is part of the STEAM Summer Camp Series, a 5 week series with some of my favorite bloggers who all love STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math. Last week’s topic was SEE and this week’s topic is FEEL. Because I wasn’t able to participate last week I decided to combine this weeks project into both SEE & FEEL! Before we start this post deserves a little back-story: A couple of months ago I purchased a bunch of  industrial syringes  for a project idea I had. Problem was the idea I had totally flopped. So what the heck was I going to do with a dozen syringes now? Enter Club Tinkerlab…. Rachelle Doorley of Tinkerlab has set up an amazing online Facebook group/community called Club Tinkerlab. It’s basically a few thousand tinkering nuts all gathering in one cozy little spot on the internet, all of geeking out at what other like minded creative folks are working on. I love it because it’s a combination of bloggers, parents, educators, and just plain folks who like to make cool stuff all exchanging ideas and supporting each other. So I posted my dilemma and within a few hours I had loads of creative things to do with syringes, from art to making hydraulics, to pretend play to today’s project, suggested by Rachelle herself! She has also done Jello Excavations which you can see here.

You can request to join Club Tinkerlab HERE

SAFTEY- The streaking part of this project is for older kids! The syringes have a blunt end but are still not appropriate for use by children who might poke themselves or others with them. This post contains affiliate links to products I love and recommend to my readers.

Science & Art Activity for Kids: Gelatin Streaking

Materials

• Blunt Tip Industrial Syringes  OR Plastic Pipettes
• Clear Gelatin
• Water
• Liquid Watercolors or Food coloring
• Small plastic containers for the paints
• Tupperware for the molds
• Tray and Paper towels

Instructions

Part One: Gelatin Streaking

• Step One Make a lot of gelatin! Trust me the kids will love this and go through it fast. Make a few batches of gelatin according to the package directions and pour into large Tupperware containers. They should take a few hours to overnight to set.
• Step Two Place a few paper towels down on a tray.
• Step Three Run a butter knife around the edges of the gelatin to release it then flip over and let gravity release them from the molds.
• Step Four Place the gelatin on top of the paper towels.
• Step Five Bust out the syringes and color! Place red, yellow, and blue liquid watercolor /food coloring in small plastic containers and add water. You want a strong but diluted mixture. Fill each syringe with a different color.
• Step Six Inject the gelatin with the color- Try and place the syringe as far as you can into the gelatin and press out the color SLOWLY. Resist the urge to press the color out fast- it will splatter and ooze if you do that. This is an exercise in delicacy!

Part Two: Sensory Play

Once the gelatin is nice and colorful tell your kids to have fun with it as a sensory experience. I mean who can resist wobbly gelatin! Provide some plastics knives to cut it into bits. It’s really cool to slice this Ii half and look at the color streaks. After that all bets are off, let the kids slice, dice, and squish to their heart’s content. By the end it will probably look like this.

The Science Behind Gelatin

So just what is this amazing clear jelly substance that is solid when cool and quickly turns into liquid when warmed or eaten? You might not want to know but gelatin is actually derived from animal byproducts, most often pig skin that has soaked in dilute acid for 24 hours. The skin is rich in collagen which is the main connective protein found in animals. The collagen is filtered out of the skin and then dried into granules which we use to thicken liquids.

Gelatin is also an example of what is know in chemistry as a colloid, a substance in which small particles of one substance are suspended throughout another substance but not chemically bonded.  For more chemistry ideas be sure to check out this GIANT list of chemistry projects for kids!

Looks Like

Sam Bompas and Harry Parr  It’s really hard to classify the work of Bompas and Parr. Are they chefs, culinary artists, designers, or all of the above? They first grabbed the public’s attention with their detailed designs of architecture done in gelatin AKA jellies, and have since expanded their repertoire to include amazing food projects and exhibitions including a gin and tonic vapor room and a 4-ton punch bowl you can row across! They also create unique food banquets for different companies. My favorite is the upside down banquet where they placed mirrors above the table so guests could see the entire meal from above. However you classify them, they are definitely creative individuals foraging a new field of design.

Conclusion

Are you ready for more amazing STEAM projects and our virtual STEAM Summer Camp?

SEE

Left Brain CraftBrain – How to Make a Magnetic Field Sensory Bottle

What Do We Do All Day – Thaumatrope 

Little Bins for Little Hands – How To Make a Simple Kaleidoscope for Kids

One Time Through – How to Make a Magnifying Glass for Outdoor Exploration

Pink Stripey Socks Number Chart Art

Frugal Fun For Boys – Print and Color Tessellation Puzzles

FEEL

Frugal Fun For Boys – 4 Engineering Challenges for Kids with Craft Sticks, Cups, and Cubes

Lemon Lime Adventures – Slug Slime Races

Left Brain CraftBrain – Travel Geoboard

Pink Stripey Socks – Easy and Colorful Magnetic Sculpture

One Time Through Encourage Your Inventor with Creative Pool Noodle STEAM Fun

What Do We Do All Day – String and Bead Puzzle

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