Halloween crafts Kids crafts STEM activity tutorial

How to make jelly worms

how to make jelly worms - the gingerbread house

Always on the look out for some quick and easy crafts to occupy my children, last year we thought we’d try and make wriggly jelly worms, which we’d seen on Pinterest and are perfect for a Halloween party or a Halloween STEM activity. This was fun but messy and I recommend taking your time with it.

Equipment you will need to make jelly worms:
Jelly cubes
Mixing jug
100 plastic straws

How to make jelly worms:

The first stage was to mix up the jelly. We used two packs of jelly cubes which we melted in hot water, before topping up with cold water.

making jelly worms

I bought a pack of 100 straws, straightened them out (to give the jelly worms a realistic texture) and placed them in a coffee pot, which was the only container I could find which was tall enough to hold them! I poured in the jelly mixture so it filled about two thirds of the straws, then placed it in the fridge to set.

making jelly worms

I have to be honest and say it took a while to set but you can add extra gelatine if you’re in a hurry or more cold water. When they had definitely set we then squeezed out the jelly, straw by straw.

making jelly worms

It was quite a slow process until we read that you could dip the straws in hot water to make them slide out quicker. This part was messy but the children thought it was hilarious, and were happy to gobble up a bowl full of jelly worms.

how to make jelly worms - the gingerbread house

Have you ever made jelly worms before? They are perfect for a Halloween party or a fun Halloween STEM activity for older children.

16 Comments

  • Reply
    Louisa
    September 17, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    This is brilliant! My children (and me) are going to love trying this out #pintorials

  • Reply
    Jess Howliston
    September 18, 2014 at 9:35 am

    These looks great! Im throwing my first kids halloween party next month and I definitely going to have a go at these! Thanks for sharing xx

    • Reply
      jenny
      September 18, 2014 at 9:56 am

      I don’t think we’ve laughed so much, these were really fun to make!

  • Reply
    Kate Williams
    September 18, 2014 at 7:59 pm

    Seriously? I LOVE THIS!!!!! My son is going to love it too 😀 Thanks for linking with Tuesday Tutorials #pintorials

  • Reply
    Karen Bell
    September 19, 2014 at 1:59 pm

    Ah, what a fun idea. My kids would love it!
    Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids

  • Reply
    35 Halloween Food and Party Ideas - Family Food And Travel
    September 19, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    […] Party for Babies & Toddlers | Adventure in a Box Halloween Play-dough Ideas | One Time Through How to Make Jelly Worms | The Gingerbread House Paper Pumpkin Craft Tutorial | Meaningful Mama  Halloween Duct Tape Wreath […]

  • Reply
    The Reading Residence
    September 22, 2014 at 12:49 pm

    Love this! As I know would my kids- will give it a go! #ParentingPinItParty

  • Reply
    Mummy Morkus
    September 22, 2014 at 12:50 pm

    What a great idea! Would this work with sugar free jelly? Would be lovely for an baby Halloween party. I’ve pinned this for later. #pinitparty

  • Reply
    Otilia - #PinItParty
    September 22, 2014 at 7:34 pm

    whoa what a cool idea!

    thank you for linking up with the #pinitparty

  • Reply
    Let kids be kids linky 23/9/14 - Let Kids Be Kids | Let Kids Be Kids
    September 23, 2014 at 6:00 am

    […] to get out and have some fun during this start of term. I loved the look of these jelly worms from The Gingerbread house last week and Glimmer of hope shared some lovely father son bonding. I thought there was a lot of […]

  • Reply
    Michelle
    October 5, 2014 at 10:09 am

    These are so gross!!! I LOVE them!! Thanks for sharing at #CraftyOctober 2014!

  • Reply
    Jess Helicopter
    October 6, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Ooooh I saw a link to these and wondered if they would actually be fiddly to do or not, but it looks do-able! Thank you for sharing! #craftyoctober

  • Reply
    Pinkoddy
    October 8, 2014 at 10:09 pm

    Fantastic – I have never seen this before.

  • Reply
    Our Favourite Halloween Crafts - Mum's the Word
    October 26, 2015 at 11:05 am

    […] as they make the perfect gruesome Halloween sweets, but I’ve never got around to it. Luckily, The Gingerbread House has a great tutorial to help you make your […]

  • Reply
    5 Amazing Halloween Craft Ideas | Happy Mummy
    September 23, 2016 at 6:03 am

    […]  If cooking is more your thing then why not have a go at making these great looking Jelly Worms, Jenny Kearney from The Gingerbread House shows us how it’s […]

  • Reply
    The Kitchen Science Cookbook - the-gingerbread-house.co.uk
    August 23, 2018 at 3:10 pm

    […] bread in a bag, butter in a jam jar and cheese in a microwave; making edible earthworms (which we’ve actually made before) and creating instant ice […]

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