Jello Fishes

So....I found this kit at Big Lots last week for 1.50 and thought it would be fun to do with the girls some afternoon. I don't remember what brand it was (not Jello), but it came with everything to make 4 cups of Jello cups with fishes in them. My kids called them "Jello Fishes." The kit had 4 clear plastic cups, a package of blue jello, a small package of swedish fish, and a package of course blue sugar to put on the top for effect (the best part of the snack, according to my girls....but stained their mouths for the rest of the day). Anyway, the had you mix the "jello" with warm water and then put them in the freezer for 5-10 minutes (till they were firm enough to suspend the fishes). Then after adding the fish and blue sugar on top, freeze them for another 10-15 minutes till firm. My kids had a blast and it didn't take too long to make (it was still long enough, though, that they were asking if they were ready eavery 30 seconds :). I want to try it again, but with regular Jello and using this method of just adding it all as warm water so it will maybe firm up faster? The Jell-O website here gives the regular recipe for these, but they take over an hour to make (not so good if you have littles dying to taste 'em). I'll post an update when I am able to try it again. Still....the rest of their website has tons of fun-looking recipes to try out with your kiddos that look pretty simple (gonna try the dirt cups next, but probably make the pudding ahead of time and let set up a bit before involving the kids) Have fun!

Helping Garden

Where, oh, where to start? Well, here's something cute I made last week for our ward's primary. I get asked to sub alot and can never say no. But, I also have hard time trying to pick kids to be helpers. So, I put a new spin on an old classic (jar with name on popsicle sticks). Here's what I came up with: I went out and got a cute (already painted, but you could also paint one yourself)flower pot. I cut some vinyl words to say "Helping Garden" and put them on the side. I have a big vinyl cutter, but you could also use your Cricut or other die cutter. Also, at Walmart, I picked up a pack of 25 candy making sticks for suckers (8 inch) for 1.88 in he candy making aisle.Then I painted 15 of them with shiny green acrylic paint. While waiting for these to dry, I cut out 15 flowers and middles to put on the sticks (around 1 1/2-2 inches) with my Cricut. On the back of each, I wrote a description of clothing or hair or other things that could help me pick helpers. Than I laminated the flowers and glued them onto the sticks. I used E6000 glue because I didn't want to use hot-glue and have it melt the lamination (it may not....but why take the risk?). After covering the hole in the bottom of the pot with a sticker, I filled it with beans to look like dirt. Then, I "planted" the flowers and....Voila! My very own helping garden :) When you need a helper, just pick a flower and tell the children "all the kids that are wearing red, raise your hands" or "kids that have brown hair" or even both. I found that I will probably need to make more flowers to keep things "fresh" (get it?). You can also make a bunch of them and rotate then every few weeks. Our kids seemed to like it alot and they really got into it the 1st week I was subbing for music leader. Have fun!