I’m guilty of being the “I can make that” voice of reason when we’re out shopping. Not that I’m a die-hard DYIer…..I’m also a firm believer in the idea that just because you can make it yourself doesn’t mean that you should.  Normally fruit-flavored gummies would fall into that category, but when it’s in the name of science, how could I resist?!  Glee Gum has this really fun kit available that makes it so simple to make your own gummies.   The entire time we were making the recipe, I kept thinking how much my students would have loved doing this when I used to teach science.  Biodiversity, chemical reactions, states of matter….I can think of so many ways to incorporate this kit into a science lesson plan!

But enough banter.  Let me share our experience with you.   First of all, the instructions are written in very kid-friendly language.  So if you want to hand this over to your tween during her sleepover, she could probably handle it.  All of the “cooking” can be done in the microwave, too, so that eliminates a lot of cleanup.  We used the stove, though, just because that’s how I roll.   First of all, everything you need is packaged in the kit.  Very handy, right?   The first thing we did was soak the seaweed in a cup of water.  Yes, seaweed….apparently there is some compound in it that makes the gummies work.  I tried not to think about it too much because while I like seaweed very much, I usually only eat it with rice, not as a fruit snack.   My kids were absolutely fascinated by the way the seaweed looked.  Like me, they’ve only ever seen it as a pounded out black sheet to roll up sushi.

Next we used the “molding starch” to make the molds for the gummy shapes.  It seemed to be just basic cornstarch and I wasn’t sure how it was going to hold a shape of any kind.  At this point, illustrations would have been helpful in the instructions.  I really couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to do with it.  We ended up using cookie cutters.  The instructions said that we could use the starch over and over to use up the rest of the mixture…more on that later.

We went through the instructions with no problems.  First we dissolved the seaweed powder in a pan of water.

At this point we added in the piece of seaweed.  The mixture was all congealed and, well, just gross.

After removing the seaweed clump, we stirred in the powdered sugar.  This brightened things up quite a bit.  The mixture thickened pretty quickly (I’d say in 3-4 minutes) and we were ready to pour it into our molds.

I’m not really sure that we used the starch the way we were supposed to.   I merely spooned the mixture into the cookie cutters and that seemed to work.  We had tons of mix left over.  The instructions said that we could cool the gummies, then reheat the leftovers and do it all over again.  No thank you.  I was done with the gummies by that point mostly because of my kids asking every thirty seconds if the gummies were ready to eat yet.   Using the spoon, I globbed the rest of the mixture all over the plate wherever there was room.

We put the whole plate in the fridge and left it to cool for 10  minutes.  As you can imagine, my kids were ready to take it out at exactly 10 minutes.  The gummies would have benefited from a little extra chill time; they were still a bit warm.  This is the part I didn’t like…the starch was sticking to the gummies, so I wiped them off with a wet cloth.  If I did this again, I think I would use waxed paper or something non-stick and hope for the best rather than to use the starch.   The smaller parts of our molds didn’t come out well; it would have been better to stick with very basic simple shapes.  Believe it or not, the globs were the most popular with my kids because they could pick them up without help.  We tossed the gummies in a bag with sour flavoring and voila!  Homemade gummies!

But how cool is it to make the gummies?  My kids thought it was awesome!  My daughter didn’t like the flavor of the gummies so she didn’t eat hers, but my son looooooved them.  In fact, he demanded that we keep all of the leftovers in the fridge so he could have them the next day.  It was a fun experiment to do together.  Older kids can really appreciate the science behind the ingredients.  Younger kids will enjoy the cooking, shaping, and overall experience.  It is an activity that the entire family can enjoy.

Glee Gum is giving one lucky reader a Make Your Own Gummies kit! Watch for the giveaway coming soon.