Kids love learning about letters in fun, engaging ways. Dive into some ABC learning for kids with this fun sensory activity. Children will have a blast exploring their senses, along with some early science concepts, as they go on a mission to combine baking soda and vinegar with a “top-secret” ingredient.
ABC learning for kids that uses science and hands-on play
I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Sometimes, I come up with some of the best ideas while rummaging through old materials or cleaning out storage places. In fact, I found these two trays while clearing out a closet. I’ve had them for sometime, but it’s been a while since I used them! So I was excited to incorporate them into a science activity. I thought it would be so much fun to make fizzing letters!
Materials
Like I said, I just happened to have the ice cube trays on hand. But if you aren’t planning on looking through the top shelves of a closet any time soon, you might just have to purchase some new ones! I’ve included links for them below, along with the ingredients that you’ll need for the “recipe” below. I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.
Water
While Snoopy and Engineer were still at school, Little Hurricane hung out with me. He had a ton of fun helping me get our experiment started. We mixed baking soda, water, and Jell-O powder all together in a bowl. Little Hurricane studiously mixed and mixed and mixed! We made blue raspberry, orange, and strawberry mixtures. From there, Little Hurricane helped me spoon the mixtures into the ice cube trays. We ended up having extra leftover, so that all went into the regular ice cube trays. Everything went into the freezer at that point.
The “Recipe” = 3 parts baking soda + 1 part water + Jell-O powder (however much you’d like to add)
One note — It’s best to make the mixture kind of like a paste. If it has too much water in it, the icy letters turn out a little too soft. This makes it difficult to remove from the ice cube trays. If the mixture seems too liquidy, just add more baking soda until it’s pastier.
Little Hurricane went down for a nap before the ice was fully frozen, but he’d helped out with his favorite part anyway. Snoopy and Engineer came home and seemed pretty excited when I told them I had “fizzy letters” for them! Neither of the boys had any idea what I was referring to. They’re used to my random activities and experiments, so they didn’t even bat an eye.
I popped the letters out into a plastic bin on the kitchen table. Bowls of vinegar, measuring spoons, and eyedroppers. Engineer and Snoopy just observed the frozen letters and numbers at first — poking at them, stacking them up, smelling them, and commenting about everything.
After about 10 minutes of this, they decided to see what happened with the vinegar. They were SO thrilled when the letters started fizzing! We’ve done these kinds of experiments quite a bit, but they never fail to be excited! The boys spent about almost an hour making the letters, numbers, and cubes fizz and “melt”. Each time they broke down a set, they requested more . . . until all of our fizzing ice was gone.
Some fun comments Engineer and Snoopy made during this activity:
- “Wow! These are really cold letters, but they’re not melting like ice.”
- “They smell good, can we eat them?” [They technically taste-sade, but I doubt they taste good!]
- “The blue letters are melting much faster than the orange ones!”
- “I’m melting my name! I’m melting my name!”
- “Hey, I wanted to melt the 8! OK, can I melt the 5 then?”
Of course, Snoopy and Engineer weren’t done yet! They loved the “slime” at the bottom of the tub and wanted to explore it with plastic Skylanders (not the ones for the game, but some cheapo versions). They added lemon Jell-O powder and glitter to the mix, thus creating a “sparkly, smelly swamp” for the Skylanders. It was hysterical watching them cover the figures with “slime” and act out all sorts of silly stories!
I loved how the icy fizzing letters included science, sensory play, literacy, math, AND pretend play! So much learning packed into such a FUN activity for different ages!
As I was about to publish this post, a variety of other Jell-O/gelatin activities were showing up around the web! Great minds think alike, I guess. Here are a few such activities from blogs that I love:
Frozen Gelatin Fossil Excavation and Frozen Gelatin Sensory Play from Fun at Home with Kids
Frozen Jello Sensory Play from The Imagination Tree
Summer Fun – Jello Ice Play from Growing a Jeweled Rose
Done-for-You Preschool Resources
Planning meaningful lessons for students week after week while balancing other teaching responsibilities and a personal life can be a daunting task. That’s where Preschool Teacher 101 comes in to save you time!
Preschool is the perfect time to learn about the letters of the alphabet. Check out some of Preschool Teacher 101’s alhabet resources by clicking on the image below!
Join The Pack from Preschool Teacher 101 today for exclusive access to our content. We have a variety of membership options to suit your needs.
Ooh! This is such an awesome combination of fun, science, and literacy!
Thanks so much, Shauna! I love it when ideas I have go even better than I thought they would!!
These are AWESOME! Thanks for linking back to our icy jello play- much appreciated (great minds do think alike;) )
Of course, Crystal! My son saw your post at the bottom of mine, so we went over and read all about your frozen Jell-O. It’s now on his (long) list of things to do this summer!! 🙂
That’s so cool! I just saw alphabet ice cube trays on clearance at Hobby Lobby today. Man, now I wish I would have picked them up!
Thanks, Rachel! 🙂 I’m pretty sure I grabbed mine when they were on sale at a random craft shop too, so I bet they’ll turn up again somewhere.
That’s cool! A great fun and learning activity for summers
Thanks for stopping by, Sammy! Yes, I think it is a fun learning activity for the summer. My son has already requested (twice!) we do this again soon. Let me know if you try it out at your house. 🙂
This looks like SO much fun! And what a bonus that it combines so much learning.
Thanks, Ann! Snoopy and Engineer sure seemed to have a lot of fun with it. 🙂 Engineer wants to bring the alphabet trays when we go visit his cousin — “so we can make the melting letters with him”! 🙂
Those letter trays are awesome! I bet your kids had tons of fun with this activity.
Thanks for the kind words, Katie! The kiddos really had a blast, and I had so much fun watching them!!
This looks like brilliant fun, I’ve been looking for ideas involving science experiments, this would be great!
Thanks, Sarah! Yes, we LOVE science experiments at my house — the messier, the better (according to my son)! 🙂
I love that the SKYLANDERS got involved in the fun! I pinned this after seeing it on the Parenting PIN Party #!
Thanks so much, Eric! Yes, the bigger kiddos around here are way into Skylanders. 🙂 Thank goodness we have some of the cheapy figurines that can get down and dirty in our sensory experiments!
I love your fizzing letters – what a fun idea!
Thank you Maryanne!!!!
try adding jello powders to homemade clay or playdough recipes! they smell good and the colors turn out very bright…they are a bit stain-ish on fingers,though.
Surprisingly, adding them to play dough recipes hasn’t happened yet, but I am sure that it will. 🙂 When we painted with it, we didn’t have any issues with stains, but maybe that’s because it was diluted with water. Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth!
We have these silicone trays!!!! I bought them for Kingston’s 1st birthday! This is such an awesome activity! I am so excited to do it in the future using the trays. Thank you so much for sharing MC! So fun and creative. 🙂
Yay! Thanks Blayne! I cannot wait to hear how it goes when you try it out. 🙂
Did you have a recipe you followed or was it just a little of this and a little of that? I love this idea and want to try it out.
Hi Rachel! I am so sorry but I don’t have an exact recipe. I would suggest starting with a cup of baking soda, then add enough water to make a paste. Then add the jello powder. The mixtures that were pastier worked out the best. I would love to hear how it goes when you try it!!!!
Rachel, Engineer and I perfected the “recipe” for this just today! We went with 3 parts baking soda and 1 part water. Then add the jell-o powder as you see fit. We did 3 cups baking soda, 1 cup water, and an entire packet of the jell-o powder!
Thanks! It worked out great! The kids had a blast!
Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! 🙂
so cool. What a fun way to play and learn. I’m featuring this on this week’s Sunday Showcase – thanks for sharing with us.
Thank you so much!! I am so excited. 🙂
These look great. I’m not sure if you can get Jello powder in the UK though so I might have to hunt down an alternative. Thanks for linking up to the Parenting Pin-it Party.
Mary Catherine, this looks so cool! Love love love your pics! My guys would have so much fun with this activity!
Thanks so much, Jackie!! I would love to see any pictures if the Hooligans do try it out! 🙂
This is such an amazing idea! I have to have those ice cube trays now…they’re so cool.
Thank you!!! I loved them, too! I’m visiting my sister right now, and my nephew (who’s the same age as my Engineer) saw that post and has requested we do that tomorrow. Thank goodness Engineer brought the alphabet ice cube trays with us. 🙂
WOW! This is SUCH an amazing way to make the alphabet tangible for kids. Talk about making letterwork fun!?!? Thanks for sharing at the After School Linky Party! I hope you’ll share again!
You have totally made my day! Thanks so much for stopping by with those incredibly kind words. 🙂 Yes, we had an absolute blast with these fizzy letters, and Engineer has asked multiple times to make them again. I will definitely pop by the After School Linky again!
I just love this. I keep coming back and looking at the photos. I included this post in my summer bucket list. I can’t wait to try it with my boys!
Thanks so much, Allison! I really appreciate being included in your summer bucket list. My son, my nephew, and I made a slightly different version today. We did some of the letters, but we also did some icy, fizzy space invaders!!
Thanks for sharing this fun idea!
Thanks so much for including this in that awesome list of summer activities for rainy days. 🙂
That looks like so much fun! I bet I have some alphabet molds around here somewhere! Thanks!
Thanks, Sarah! Let me know how it goes when you try it out for yourself. We’ve had fun doing this many times since that original post. 🙂 The kiddos looooove it!
LOL glad they didn’t taste them . thanks for coming by #kidsinthekitchen
Yeah, I don’t think they would have enjoyed the taste! 🙂 I really was expecting that to happen, though! Thanks for stopping by Melinda.
What a cool idea!
Thanks, Julie! I love the idea of your “super summer Saturday” link up! I will be back next week. 🙂
I do home childcare and love these ideas and many others I’ve found through Pinterest. With younger tots (1-3 years old) I don’t like to use flavored jello mixes because they add sugar-resulting in an end product that may, once tasted, be desirable enough to eat in quantity. The vinegar in this project should solve that, but some of the other suggested activities below the main post look a bit too tasty, and I fear the activity will be more of a junk food fest than a sensory one. Even if the project does not include inedibles like glitter, the sugar and artificial ingredients are not something I want them to eat much of.
My tip is to use unflavored gelatin for its sensory properties, and add color and scent with unsweetened kool-aid packets. No sweetener in the final product should discourage more than an experimental taste!
Thanks, Lori! I mostly work with the pre-k crowd (ages 4-5), but I’ve been watching two toddlers for almost a year now. For some reason, we tend to have Jell-O in the house, even though we rarely eat it! That is what originally led us on this Jell-O science exploration. I actually haven’t had much of an issue with the toddlers really wanting to eat the items with Jell-O, but maybe that’s because there’s only two of them. They both have tried the items listed at the bottom of this post, but it never was more than a taste — even with the items that were sure to taste good. The vinegar here would most definitely discourage too much tasting! Your suggestion is a great alternative for parents and caregivers concerned about too much taste-testing! 🙂
Oh, that looks like fun. I must have an abc mold around somewhere …
Love the idea of combining the alphabet with science! Thanks for sharing on the Discover & Explore linky!
Lady, you know how much I love this activity, but I’m telling you again- GREAT JOB!! Thanks for linking up to Discover & Explore this week!
What a great idea, we have the moulds, I must try it.
Thanks for joining our challenge. x
Wow you have so many great ideas! That would be so much fun for my 3 y-o!
What is the jell-o for? We don’t get it in France, and i’d love to try this fizzing material, do you reckon i can replace it by something else?
Thank you!!
Morgane
Thanks, Morgane! These icy letters are still a hit with my son, my nephew, and my preschool children! 🙂 I used the Jell-O to make the letters colorful and scented. It added a few different sensory aspects to the experiment. If you have any local American markets in your area, they might carry Jell-O. I believe it’s referred to as “jelly” in many other countries, too. I’m sure you can find something else to replace it — anything that’s colorful and scented (and non-toxic). The fizzing mixture should be easy to make — just baking soda (bicarbonate de sodium) and vinegar!
How much of each should be added? Am I missing the amounts somewhere? haha How much baking soda, vinegar, water, jello etc. Thanks can’t wait to try this with my kids.
Hi Laura! Let me know how it goes when you do try it out! The “recipe” we perfected is 3 parts baking soda, 1 part water, and however much jello powder you’d like to add! 🙂
Hi, I just stumbled upon this post, it is such a great idea to turn jelly into a learning experiment! Thank you so much for sharing!
Could someone please post a list of what Jell-O consists of? I am not from USA, so I don’t know what this particular food stuff is made of, and what ingredients I need to look for in a jelly when I’ll be looking for a substitute brand. Thanks!
Geez! I was just looking for a fun way to fizz them up but the added gelatin from the Jell-O is GENIUS! They’ll be able to handle them for a time BEFORE ‘exploding’ the letters! Thank you SOO much for sharing so many great ideas !
tHIS LOOKS LIKE GREAT FUN, CAN’T WAIT TO TRY!!
Thank you! 🙂
Could you make this without the jell-o? Just mix baking soda, water, and food coloring? I realize it wouldn’t be scented then but do you think it would still work the same or is there something about the jell-o that is essential? Thanks for the great an fun idea!
Hey Sara! Yes you sure can make it without the Jell-O. We just love adding it for the scent factor. Let me know if you try it out. 🙂
Does it have to have gelatin in it? I live in Japan and it is not an easy thing to get a box of Knox or Jello
Yes, if you look at the ingredients list Jell-O is listed (I used it for color and scent). It’s not necessary though! You can make the letters using baking soda, water, and vinegar. 🙂