This is a holiday craft I’ve wanted to do for a while, but never followed through because I couldn’t find a vegan jel dessert that was green. This year, I decided not to let that stop us, though it did require a little improvising!

If your family eats regular Jell-O, all you need is white construction paper and green Jell-O powder. For our version, I drew a Christmas tree shape on green construction paper and hoped that the yellow (peach) vegan jel powder would look nice against this background.

All those logistics aside, Veronika loved brushing glue over the tree shape.

The next step was even better: sprinkling on the jel powder! She tried applying it with a paintbrush first, but this was sticky and difficult. Instead, she loved scooping it on with a plastic spoon. This was great for her fine motor skills, too!

The big payoff is that as soon as the powder hits the wet glue, it smells delicious. Veronika loved that sensory element of the craft.

We ended up just using this activity for the fun and sensory aspects. That said, it can make a nice keepsake! You could mail it to a relative for a delicious-smelling Christmas card. Or, punch a hole near the top and hang it as an ornament from the tree. That said, ours had so much powder on it (Veronika sprinkled it on liberally!) that I worried it would make a mess in either of those scenarios.