Kids love painting with Jell-o (or vegan alternatives like the jel desserts from Simply Delish), and today we gave the activity a Valentine’s Day spin!

Instead of preparing the jel dessert, I simply stirred a packet of red powder (strawberry flavored) into a dish with a little water. We instantly had a gorgeous red paint that smelled incredible!

It’s hard to say which Veronika enjoyed more: smelling the paint or smearing it all over the white heart shape I had cut out!

The paint sets and dries nicely, and Veronika kept trotting over to this holiday decoration to say, “It smells really good!” She’ll display this one with pride until Valentine’s Day is over.

Meanwhile, I also prepared two more batches of the jel dessert (in yellow and orange) according to the true directions. That meant we had nice blobs to “paint” with, too.

You can set down dollops of it for a toddler on a large sheet of paper (or right on a high chair tray for a baby!) and simply let the smashing and painting fun begin. Don’t be surprised if the play tempts older kids, too; my 6-year-old came running over, because Lego figures trapped in Jell-o are decidedly good fun.