As our homeschool journey has progressed since the fall of 2012, I have learned that my son is a major league sensory learner...which means I have to tweak things just a little bit to help keep him engaged in learning.  Today, we made gel writing bags for the kiddos to use for learning their letters and numbers.  A friend from church who is a teacher suggested a project like this to keep Big Red interested in writing...

After about two hours of "Pinteresting" I decided I had better buckle down and decide on a project.  I found pictures, though, and no instructions, so....today I am going to show you a tutorial on how to make Gel Writing "Tablets" for your littles.

Step One:  Gather Your Supplies:

I used three one gallon zippy bags, two big bottles of hair gel from the Dollar Tree, and three different colors of neon food coloring. I put down some newspaper on the table because I tend to be clumsy, but that's your call... 

Step Two:  Open that zippy....

Step Three:  Pour 1/2 of the bottle of hair gel into the zippy...

 

Step Four:  Add the food color of your choice and add the amount of it that you would prefer for desired color

Step Five:  This is the fun part!! Close up the zippy, being careful to push all the air out of the bag without pushing out the gel and coloring! Squish it all around and get it mixed in real well!

Step Six:  Use clear packing tape to seal the top of the zippy.  Note, this is very important if you don't want your curious kiddos to spread the colored hair gel all over your world! 

Step Seven:  Use and enjoy!  I put mine on top of a white plastic lid so it was easier to see the letters and shapes that we were able to "write" on the bags.  A paper towel or a piece of white copy paper taped to the table will work too.

Little Red really enjoyed writing on her "tablet!"

Big Red loved it and he is my guy who has to touch and taste and get his hands on everything in this world!

My big boy excited about his new "tablet!"

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on making your own gel writing tablets.  My littles love them and for only a few dollars, I think this thrifty Mama of three reds scored a winner!! 

Have a grrrrreat weekend!!!

Hilly