Making your own bath salts is a lot of fun and incredibly easy to do. Kids will love experimenting with different colours to make unicorn bath salts. You can apply any theme really and are only limited by your child's imagination.
This DIY recipe uses Epsom salts, and you can create for your favourite colours and add essential oils.
Living more ecofriendly does mean that a lot of our items are functional, and bathroom products are mostly hand made, but kids love a bit of fun and colour when it comes to bath time.
With this recipe, you can be sure exactly what the ingredients are and avoid all the contents of commercially made kids bath products.
Epsom salts, also known as Magnesium Sulphate, really make a beautiful bath, and can help relaxation, restless legs and growing pains.
Generally, we don't add essential oils to this recipe, and when we do, we keep it minimal as kids are far more sensitive than adults.
As essential oils don't dissolve in water, NEVER add them directly to a bath. You must use a carrier oil which could be liquid coconut oil, sweet almond oil or even plain olive oil that you use for cooking.
What You Will Need
1 cup of Epsom salts
Food colouring (any colour)
Around a tablespoon of Carrier oil (coconut, almond or olive)
5-10 Drops of Essential oil - Optional
A storage container
Step 1.
Measure out your cup of Epsom salts and determine how many colours you plan to make. Divide the salts into different mixing bowls, one for each colour.
Step 2.
Add a small amount of carrier oil and a drops or two of essential oil if using, along with a few drops of food colouring. Ensure you are using good quality essential oils and not synthetic copies.
Stir well until the colour looks even. I usually use a mug instead of a mixing dish so it is easy for the kids to hold onto and we stir with a butter knife.
Step 3.
Using a teaspoon, layer each colour separately into your jar. I use empty jam jars and spice jars. (If you're looking for a simple method to remove jar labels, here's what I do)
Layer each colour and tilt the jar to get an uneven effect. Press the bath salts down after each layer to compact it and keep it in place.
Step 4.
Flatten on top and it's ready to add to the bath and enjoy immediately!
Always secure the lid tightly, as bathroom moisture can make it harden up over time. (If this does happen, use a butter knife to break it up, it wont effect the quality of your bath)
I had a lot of fun doing this activity with my 6 year old during the school holidays. We also made mermaid bath salts as she wanted to experiment and much around with the colours and we ended up with far too much!
It makes a little mess, but is super quick to wipe off the bench, a huge bonus when you're entertaining kids and they don't want to wait around for you to clean up the latest messy project.
I find girls are more into unicorns and mermaids than boys BUT all you need to do is come up with a theme that your child loves and call it a fun name. For example, this mermaid one could easily be called Swamp Monster Bath Salts. Kids are pretty quick thinkers, so if you're out of ideas, just let them come up with it.
You'll be a hero for letting them play with food colouring and getting them in the bath will be so much easier!
Looking for more colourful kids activities? Check out this Rainbow inspired No Cook Play dough Recipe
To make a more grown-up version, check out my Pink Lavender Bath Salts instructions.
No matter what activities we do, my daughter is really dirty by the end of the day.
She's always loved painting, gardening and getting grubby, which I love because it means she's getting outdoors and being creative.
But getting her to have a bath is sometimes a huge battle!!
Fun projects like this make her want a bath and prevent a lot of arguing in our house.
What tricks do you use to get your kids into the bath?