If you haven’t heard of it before, Gelli Baff is a product that turns water into jelly that you can put in your bath (see what they did there!?). There are also slime and snow version available. Of all the times we’ve played with Gelli Baff we’ve only put it in the bath once. And that was only because Smallest Child had got herself into such a mess it just made sense! Typically we use it in smaller quantities for sensory play. There are so many different ways to play with Gelli Baff I thought I’d share some of my favourite activities and ideas. I was definitely a bit apprehensive about the products and I’m not the biggest fan of mess. However the kids really loved the products and I was impressed and will be using them again in the future. They are brilliant for sensory play and experiencing new textures. We founds words such as; squishy, wobbly, gooey, warm, cold, soft and grainy which all described the Gelli Baff well. We first discovered this stuff when some was included in our sensory play in a box from Dragon Sensory. In this instance we had a small box of the red jelly and I decided to add some water beads to make a whole new texture. It was an instant hit. Since then I’ve brought lots more boxes of Gelli Baff and come up with various activities and ideas you can use for sensory play.

This Gelli Baff activity uses gator tweezers to help you little ones practice their fine motor skills. We used blue Gelli Baff that was relatively thin and hid lots of small sea creatures. She then had to use the toddler tweezers to “rescue” all of the animals. We used quite a lot of the jelly so it was quite deep. She also had a fishing net on hand to help scoop them out of the “water” Use Gelli Baff like kinetic sand My son LOVED this activity and decided he wanted to make a pond for the dinosaurs to drink out of and swim in. We used a small plastic bowl, this definitely added an extra dimension to his play. Many thanks to Zimpli who gifted these products to us to test out, we thoroughly enjoyed trying them. The Gelli Baff is available in a range of colours but I opted for “slime green” which seemed about the right shade to create a dinosaur swamp with. Gelli Baff comes with a sachet of dissolver, so when you’ve finished it just washes down the plughole like water. It’s safe for children and fine for sensitive skin. It also has a pleasant fragrance. For the boys we decided to try the Gelli Baff in a tray on the table. My eldest absolutely loved this, he was straight in there smushing it around the tray and through his hands. Blue Gelli Baff for messy playOnce you’ve finished playing with your dinosaur sensory activity box you can sprinkle over the dissolving powder and then just pour it down the sink. Tips: My son loves dinosaurs, so for him this was a really good way of stretching his imagination by creating a habitat for his dinosaurs. For me it was a good way of expanding his vocabulary and exploring new ways to describe things. The Gelli Play was a great colour, we decided to make this one up in a washing up bowl and again added some toys to it. We played with this in the kitchen which was fine because if there was mess it could be mopped up. If you’re playing with this in a carpeted room I’d but a wipe clean cloth down under the box to minimise the mess.

Children might like to use tools in the sensory box; we used some normal teaspoons to dig the goo out for the pond.I put the washing up bowl nearby so any dinosaurs he’d played with could go in there and be rinsed off afterwards. Some of the goo did cling to them a bit. I’m a big fan of tidy as you go and this helped. With our children, we need to structure activities and introduce novelty in a planned way. After many years as a special school teacher, I know how engaging and beneficial learning through play can be. To get the most out of this it can’t be a free for all. I like to have a few but a limited number of containers and utensils for them to choose from and use. This allows for lots of collaborative play and turn-taking but without anyone going without. Then add in more water until the slime gets to your desired consistency and voila – one gooey slime bath! Now I know what you’re thinking – what about the drains! Zimpli Kids have thought about that and have ensured that their product doesn’t damage the drainage system in any way. There are instructions on how to dilute and drain the bath once you’re finished and advice on what to do if you have existing issues with slow drainage. Well….the slime was a lot better than any slime I have tried to make with my toddler before! We had it out for quite a while and found that it didn’t loose any of its texture or consistency. Price Slime has been a huge hit this year. There’s been all sorts of variations of it available in the shops, as well as a ton of YouTube videos showing how to make your own. You can’t escape it! We were asked if we wanted to test out the Gelli Baff and Slime Baff products over the summer – here’s our thoughts on them. What is the product

Gelli Baff is recommended for children ages 3+ years. Please be aware that the product may make the bathtub slippery. Do not drink or eat the product. For sensitive skin, please patch test first. For a more interesting tactile sensory experience; make the Geli Baff up with quite warm water and children can explore the different temperatures as the gelli cools while they play with it.On Saturday we tried out the Slime bath, I was a little apprehensive about this as I know the mess slime causes when it gets all over the house. I was pleasantly surprised with the bath slime though. The clean up was completely effortless and was nicely contained in the bath tub. We also closed our eyes and felt around for tiny dinos in the goo. When we found them we had to try to feel to guess what kind of dinosaur we had. This was a great game and one he really enjoyed. Although Gelli Baff doesn’t stain (or shouldn’t), you might want to wear an apron to protect your clothes.

Gelli Baff is made in the UK, contains no harmful chemicals, and is kind to the skin. The non-toxic, easy-clean formula is kind to the environment too.Gelli Baff offers a fun, sensory tactile experience. It will be loved by children of all abilities, but especially those with additional needs such as Autism, ASD, or SPD. I was kindly sent both the Gelli Baff and Slime Baff by Zimpli kids for review. This review is an honest reflection of what I thought of the products. My youngest had a go but wasn’t particularly interested at first. We added some bath toys and shells to the tray, hiding them in the Gelli Baff. My eldest had so much fun and spent ages finding the items and hiding them again. He also really enjoyed pushing his hands down into the Gelli Baff.