How to Make a Jello Brain Without a Mold

Gross out your kids, friends, and neighbors with this deliciously frightening jello brain recipe! No mold needed to make this jello brain STEM activity!

When we made our Halloween jello worms, we had a lot of leftover jello that was stuck between the straws.

We didn’t want to waste it, so I asked Monkey what we could make from it. She thought it looked like a brain, so we made our very own jello brain recipe without a mold.

This was one of our easiest projects yet, and much easier than the worms themselves. This is how to make a jello brain without a mold:

How to Make a Jello Brain Without a Mold

What made this project a STEM activity is that we were already discussing the science of collagen and how gelatin changes viscosity when cooled or heated. Monkey came up with the idea to transform the leftovers into a brain, further completing STEM activity requirements. She probably had brains on the mind after we completed our last brain STEM activity.

Ingredients for the no-mold jello brain recipe:

1 box of flavored gelatin (we used grape)
Red food coloring (10 drops)
Plastic straws (we used these)
Large jar (we used a mason jar)
Water (3 cups)
Milk or cream (1/2 a cup) (you could also use non-dairy creamer)
Unflavored gelatin powder (1/2 of a cup)

We recommend making these and the jello worms at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone!

Mix all of the boxed galatin, water, milk, and red food coloring in a pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add the unflavored gelatin while stirring the mixture when it is still hot. Let the mixture cool for 20 minutes.

While the mixture is cooling, add your straws to a jar. Fit in as many straws as the jar will hold. Place the jar in the fridge and cool for 24 hours.

The next day, release the straws gently from the jar. It will come out as one solid lump of straws/jello. Gently release the straws from one another. The straight pieces between the straws will become your brain.

Arrange the pieces of jello into a brain-like shape. Monkey said to make sure not to forget to add the brain stem.

You can use this brain on a plate as a decoration, or just use it as an illustration for how a brain works. We like this video of what a brain looks like.