Homemade Gummy Vitamins That Kids Love

Katie Wells Avatar

Reading Time: 5 minutes

This post contains affiliate links.

Read my affiliate policy.

gummy vitamins
Wellness Mama » Blog » Natural Remedies » Homemade Gummy Vitamins That Kids Love

I get a lot of questions about how I get my kids to take vitamins. While mine will just take their fish oil, probiotics, and magnesium without a problem … it got me thinking.

I combined one of their favorite natural snacks (homemade gummy bears) with vitamins. The result are these healthy, gut-boosting, and kid-friendly multivitamin gummies.

Why We Need Vitamins

Decades ago we only had to eat a well-rounded diet low in processed foods and added sugar to get the nutrients we needed. Now, things are a little more complicated. Unless you’re growing everything you eat in really nutrient-dense soil (or buying from someone who does), food just doesn’t have the essential nutrients it used to.

In fact, fruits and veggies have less than 50% of the essential vitamins and minerals they used to. And even then there are certain nutrients no longer in the American food supply. We need these nutrients to help our immune system, to protect against heart disease, and for overall wellness.

As a mom, I’m more targeted in my approach to nutrition with my kids. We get vitamin D from the sun and vitamin A from fish oil. My kids also like taking healthy, non-GMO, and gluten-free vitamin supplements (without added sugar!) like this one. Adding an extra nutrient boost from homemade gummy vitamins is a fun way to pack more nutrition into their day!

Gut Soothing Gelatin

These rely on gelatin for their texture. Not only is it a good source of collagen, but it helps with healthier hair, skin, and nails. Gelatin is also a big plus when it comes to our gut health. As Hippocrates reportedly claimed many years ago “All disease begins in the gut.” Science is continuing to confirm how important our gut health is for overall health!

A healthy gut has health benefits that include immune support and better mental health.

One caution: If your kids aren’t regularly drinking bone broth (they should be!) then start slow and only give them a few of these at a time. Their guts may need time to adjust or they could have a little loose stool. Gelatin has a soothing effect on the digestive system.

Customize Your Gummy Vitamins

You can add different vitamins and nutrients here depending on your preference. Keep in mind that these won’t have a full spectrum of nutrients like premade dietary supplements or prenatal vitamins though. Certain oil-based vitamins, like vitamin E and fish oil also won’t mix in very well.

Making your own chewable vitamins means you can skip the sugar alcohols, additives, and corn syrup sweeteners found in many gummy supplements.

I can think of endless uses for these, but these are the ones I’ve tried so far. You can make different fruit flavors by changing out the juice.

  • Adding vitamin C Powder and using lemon juice to make sour vitamin C gummies for immune health.
  • Adding probiotics with a fresh juice base to make GAPS friendly gummy vitamins
  • Using homemade elderberry syrup as a base to make flu-busting chewable vitamins
  • Adding Natural Calm for chewable magnesium vitamins
  • Just making regular flavors and putting them in cute molds to make gummy snacks. They’re nut-free and sometimes approved for school activities.

You can also try adding some calcium powder (along with magnesium and vitamin D). A B complex vitamin with vitamin B6, vitamin B12, biotin, and folate (not folic acid), is also a good option.

I use probiotics from Just Thrive because they’re proven to make it to the gut (unlike many others). In general, if your probiotics need refrigerated and can’t stand any heat, they won’t make it past your stomach acid. They even have a kid’s probiotic gummy that my kids love!

Choosing Your Juice

Most store-bought juices have a shocking amount of added grams of sugar. They’re often flavored sugar water concoctions. Fresh pressed is the best option, but if you need a store-bought option look for something that’s just organic juice. No added sugars, flavors, or dyes.

Pineapple juice doesn’t work in these because it has bromelain, a digestive enzyme that breaks down protein. Great for digestion, but not so great when you’re trying to make gelatin gel. I’ve found it gives them a weird slimy texture and doesn’t work. Papaya has the same problem here.

Our favorite fresh juice combinations are mango/orange, lemon/lime (sour), or elderberry syrup as the base. They’re full of antioxidants and vitamin C, and taste delicious!

If you’re short on time or can’t make chewable vitamins, Hiya would be my next choice. They have clean ingredients and a wide variety of what kids need.

gummy vitamins

How to Make Gummy Vitamins

Homemade chewable gummy vitamins are a great way to give kids some extra protein and make their vitamins delicious and easy to take!
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cooling Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Calories 19kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

16 servings

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 8 tsp gelatin
  • 1 cup juice
  • 2 TBSP  honey (optional)
  • 2 tsp vitamins of choice (vitamin C, probiotics, magnesium, etc.)

Instructions

  • Combine the juice, vitamins or probiotics, and honey in a small saucepan.
  • Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and allow it to bloom for about 1 minute.
  • Heat slightly over low heat until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. It will be thick and somewhat syrup-like.
  • Quickly pour the mixture into molds or a small glass dish lightly oiled with coconut oil.
  • Place the molds in the fridge for several hours or until firm. The exact time depends on the size of your molds.
  • Remove and pop out of molds. Cut into squares if needed.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
How to Make Gummy Vitamins
Amount Per Serving (1 gummy)
Calories 19
% Daily Value*
Fat 0.02g0%
Saturated Fat 0.004g0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.01g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.002g
Sodium 5mg0%
Potassium 17mg0%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Fiber 0.04g0%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 2g4%
Vitamin A 0.2IU0%
Vitamin C 0.1mg0%
Calcium 2mg0%
Iron 0.05mg0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

If your gummies aren’t coming out of the molds easily, pop them in the freezer for a few minutes first. Don’t leave them in for too long though or it will ruin the texture.
Nutrition data doesn’t include added supplements.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Figuring Out Dose

Since these are more like food, I’m not too concerned with the exact dosage. If you want to know how much your kids are getting, here’s an easy way to figure it out. Take the mg or mcg of the vitamin you used and divide by the number of servings.

For example, say you added 400% DV vitamin C. If you used fun gummy molds and ended up with 20 vitamin gummies, divide 400 by 20. This ends up being 20% DV vitamin C per gummy. An even easier way is to make these in a square glass dish and cut the gummies into squares. You can do this calculation for each vitamin added.

Ever made your own vitamins or supplements? What combinations would you add? Let me know below!

DIY chewable vitamins are a wonderful natural alternative to store bough versions. Easy to make and you can customize to your child's needs.
Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

302 responses to “Homemade Gummy Vitamins That Kids Love”

  1. Kristina Avatar

    Mine didn’t gell, but stayed liquid. I tried again boiling it for a bit and it started to gell, but barely. What am i doing wrong?! Do I just have the wrong gelatin? I hope not. I have GL Gelatin collagen hydrolysate.

  2. Stace Avatar

    Your article is getting a bit long in the tooth by now, but my wife and I just started looking for gummy recipes. With the Zika developments in Dade County & lots of standing water on the Louisiana coast, I’m planning to bump up our medicinal mushroom (Reishi, etc.) intake. Have you heard of people using the gummy strategy for this purpose?
    Thanks in advance,
    ~Stace

  3. cathy Avatar

    Could you be more specific about which collagen powder you use for this recipe? The Vital Proteins website you link to (here and in all the other articles about using collagen as well) shows the list of ALL their products. When you say “the one with the green cap” do you mean the BEEF GELATIN? And when you say blue cap, do you mean the COLLAGEN PEPTIDES? There is more than one product with blue or green caps. I bought the BEEF one but the idea of beef flavor in these recipes sounds odd… maybe it is flavorless? Like, I’m not can be tasting a steak gummy bear lol

    Also, when you say “add vitamins” can you also be more specific? How much? One that comes in Powder form? capsules? Empty the capsules?

    Lastly, would love an answer to the questions/warnings above about whether it is safe to heat vitamins and if so does there effectiveness decrease?

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      It is flavorless… and it is the beef gelatin that gels. The collagen peptides are great to add to drinks but it doesn’t gel. For vitamins, any powdered vitamins can be added in whatever amount you want or need. As far as safety to heat, that depends on the vitamin but it can be added after the mixture is heated and right before it is mixed into molds.

  4. Linda Avatar

    Hi, I wanted to make the marshmallows and I’m not quite sure what gelatin to use. I also wanted to make some of the hair products and, again, not sure which gelatin to use. Do you use the same gelatin for both? Thank you so much

  5. Chris w Avatar
    Chris w

    I put mine in fridge overnight and in morning it was still liquid. I put in freezer for half day and just icy, not gummy at all. I so want this to work. Help!

  6. Chris w Avatar
    Chris w

    Mine will not gel all the way! I followed recipe using GL kosher beef gelatin, two tb raw honey, Concord grape juice without added sugar or water and then I put in powdered vitamins (dr. Furhman brand). I put in 10 little scoops of it to give my son proper serving size. They’re in silicone molds. Any thoughts? I’m assuming I need to add more gelatin but I’m shocked tge amount in recipe didn’t gel more for me.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar

      I’d recommend using Vital Proteins gelatin instead of Great Lakes, as I’ve found it to work better in my recipes…

      1. Chris w Avatar
        Chris w

        Maybe i missed the specification of brand that must be used on your recipe? I only saw which you happen use and didn’t see a note about not using any other brand. I saw posts discussing the use of Gl. Very confusing. I am sleep deprived so it could’ve been my miss. Anyway, I’ll make use of GL somehow I guess and look into vital proteins. I’m nervous to spend the money and try it now, though, after just spending $22 on GL.

  7. Jane Avatar

    Hi there. How do you store these? How long do they last? Does Gelatin go off? Also wondering about this for the marshmallows.
    Thank you
    Jane

  8. Nicole Avatar

    Is there a chewable vitamin with probiotics you can recommend for purchase?

  9. Heather Avatar
    Heather

    So glad i came across this recipe. I just have one question…….my sons naturopath has recommended he take Lactobac which requires to be kept in the fridge. How do you think i could add this in? Do you think i could wait until it is almost room temp and try to stir it in or will it be too hard by then? I have major issues trying to it it into him as he can feel the ‘grittiness’ in liquid but i think he would be fine with a gummy, Just concerned it will ruin the integrity of the (expensive) probiotic….

    Thanks very much 🙂

  10. Mena Avatar

    I want to make these ASAP. What are the measurements for adding the Vitamin C, Calm, and Probiotics?

  11. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    is there anything to add to prevent from mold growing on your Gummies???

    I made some and put in a plastic zip bag, and in a few weeks mold, I need a bit longer shelf life..

  12. Sole Neeley Avatar
    Sole Neeley

    4 stars
    Hi, I am about to try making this for my Little ones. I’m so excited to have found your website, Thank you so much for sharing all this great information!!!!

    So I guess what I wanted to know is if anyone has tried using these vitamins as replacement of Prenatal Vitamins?

  13. Christina Avatar
    Christina

    Hi there. Great idea, I can’t wait to make them today!
    Can you please clarify how much of the vitamins to use in each batch? I see the question has been floating around but haven’t really found an answer.
    Thank you!!

  14. Debbie Avatar

    5 stars
    Hi,
    I would like to make dehydrated Raw Liver gummies using this and I’m wondering if the heat will cook out the nutrients. Can I add the powder after I take it off the heat and let it cool a bit or does the gelatin set right away?

  15. Melissa Gamble Avatar
    Melissa Gamble

    How do I measure how much vitamins to put in my batch of gummies? How do I know how much vitamins are in each gummy? I have three kids so how would I make a batch of Probiotic gummies and ensure that each one has the proper dosage amount in it?

    Melissa

  16. Eric McMullen Avatar
    Eric McMullen

    Thanks for this great article. I’m wanting to make the magnesium gummies and was wondering how much I should pour into the above recipe if I’m using the Natural Calm that you linked to.

  17. Connie Avatar

    I have tried these twice now and they just don’t gel! I follow the recipe to the t and uses Great Lakes gelatin. Thoughts??

  18. Jaime Avatar

    Hi, I’m wondering why pineapple juice won’t work or if there’s a way to get it to work. Thanks 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating