What child doesn’t like Jell-O? Whether you’re trying to find a quick treat for your child, or you’re looking for an inexpensive dessert your son or daughter will love, you simply can’t go wrong with Jell-O. It’s cheap, comes in a huge variety of flavors, and takes only a few minutes to make. When you add fruit, whipped topping or other embellishments there’s not a complaining child in the room! Does your child have a birthday coming soon? Why not turn that delicious gelatin into a fun character that will thrill the entire group of kids? It’s easy to do and there are lots of different characters you can make by using things you might already have. Use the Jell-O characters alongside the birthday cake or serve the gelatin instead of cake.
You’ll decide how thick you want the Jell-O character to be by the amount of gelatin you make. Mix two boxes, pour them into a rectangular cake pan, and you’ll create the Jell-O that you’ll use to cut the character’s body, head and other parts. Mix three or four boxes and the Jell-O character will be much thicker. Choose the flavor and color you want, mix it up according to package directions, then pour it into the cake pan and set it in the fridge.
After the Jell-O has set up you can begin cutting it into the shapes you’ll need to make the Jell-O character. The person you make can rest on a bed of lettuce, coconut or just a piece of foil. Use a sharp knife, cookie cutters and other implements to cut the shapes. cut a circle to make the head of the man, woman or child you’re making. Place the Jell-O head on the chose tray and proceed to make the rest of the person. Cut a rectangular shape for the body and set it so that one short end of it touches the head. Cut smaller, more narrow rectangles to make arms and legs. Additional, small circles can be cut to form the hands and feet. After positioning the pieces on the tray you can add chosen embellishments.
Use whipped cream, mini marshmallows, lettuce, licorice sticks or similar foods to make hair. Eyes can be made from mini marshmallows, small candies, dabs of whipped cream and other foods. Make hair, eyes, a nose and a mouth by using things like fruits, candies and the above-mentioned foods. There are literally hundreds of different characters you can make by combining different types of gelatin, adorning foods and more. For example, position lengths of string-type licorice to make strings for “balloons”. The balloons can be made from mini muffins, candies, marshmallows, mints and other choices. The finished Jell-O character holding balloons is perfect for a child’s birthday party.
You can give the character the appearance of clothing by changing the color of the Jell-O. That is, cut the head, hands and feet from one color of Jell-O then use a different color to cut the body, arms and legs. This will make the guy or gal look as though he or she is wearing clothes. Make a belt that you’ll lay halfway across the rectangular body shape by using licorice or even a row of raisins. Create buttons by using small candies, raisins or even tiny mounds of whipped cream.
Make just a face out of Jell-O by pouring the mixed gelatin into a round cake pan. The face-only Jell-O arrangement can be embellished by creating hair, eyes and other features from above-mentioned foods. Make individual gelatin faces by pouring the gelatin into muffin pans. Set the gelatin on a plate after it sets up and you can then have more room for adding hair, ears or other features. Or, give the children at the party a plate with the Jell-O face shape on it then allow them to add their own food embellishments to create the face or character they want.
The Jell-O can be made into other arrangements, too. Use various tools to cut shapes and form flowers, pets and more. Although the Jell-O characters are great for kids parties they’re also perfect for other occasions. Make a Santa Jell-O figure for a Christmas party or even a heart-shaped Jell-O character for Valentine’s Day. The Jell-O characters aren’t strictly for kids; adults love Jell-O, too! You’ll find it fun and easy to make any number of gelatin characters that not only dazzle ’em at a party but can be a nice surprise after a family meal.
