This program wins the award for most delightful smelling program I’ve ever done! But more importantly, it was a fun and valuable experience for 25 teens and tweens. I decided to open the workshop up to an extra 5 attendees at the last minute because there were so many kids who wanted to come!

We spent the first hour making and learning about bath bombs, and the second hour making sugar scrub. I did not expect it to take so long to make both projects, but it was a lot of fun the whole time, regardless.

The goals of this program were:

• to offer a fun atmosphere where tweens were encouraged to be silly and creative
• to teach DIY skills
• to impart the value of DIY projects
• each attendee could leave with two free homemade wellness products that they can use and enjoy

Materials Needed:

• Olive Oil
• Essential Oils
• Food Colouring
• White Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Cinnamon
• Cocoa Powder
• Baking Soda
• Citric Acid
• Epsom Salts
• Plastic molds for bath bombs (clear Christmas ornaments, ice cube trays, or something like these little plastic food containers that I used)
• Mason Jars for sugar scrub (the shorter and wider the better, because it’s easier to mix)
• 3 – 5 big vases to demonstrate the bath bombs
• plastic table cloths
• one bowl for every attendee
• one spoon for every attendee
• one little spray bottle for every 2 attendees
• Stick-on rhinestones and ribbon for decorating the sugar scrub jars
• Optional: little plastic animals for inside bath bombs, dried rose petals for bath bombs, and body glitter for bath bombs.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Set Up:

• Set tables and chairs up in a big U shape, with two demonstration tables at the front
• Each seat at the U gets one bowl, one spoon, one instruction sheet, one plastic bath bomb mold, one glass mason jar, and a spray bottle to share with their neighbour
• The demonstration table has
  • large clear vases full of water
  • all the dry ingredients (citric acid, baking soda, epsom salt, sugars, cinnamon, cocoa powder) on one table
  • all the wet ingredients (essential oils, food colouring, and olive oil) + bath bomb stuffers (plastic animals, rose petals, glitter)

Instructions:

Here’s a printable handout of the instructions below: Sugar Scrub and Bath Bomb Instructions

DIY Sugar Scrub
You get to invent your own sugar scrub recipe! Generally you want to have about the same amount of oil as you have sugar – but if you want it to be goopier, add more oil. If you want it to be grainy, add more sugar. The best way to mix it is to add the oil last.

Available Ingredients:
Olive Oil
White Sugar
Brown Sugar
Essential Oils
Cocoa Powder
Cinnamon
Food Colouring

Olive Oil: Moisturizes and cleanses the skin
Sugar: Exfoliates and inhibits bacterial growth
Essential oil: smells yummy!
Cocoa Power: smells yummy!
Cinnamon: smells yummy, can be warming
Food Colouring: Looks cute. Don’t add more than a drop, or it may stain!

Don’t forget to decorate your jar! Give your scrub a name, and write the ingredients on a label.

Note: This scrub is meant for use on the body, not the face.

_______

DIY Bath Bomb

Dry Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup baking soda
• 1/4 cup citric acid
• 1/4 cup Epsom salts

Wet Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp. water
• 1 tsp. essential oil
• 1.5 tsp. oil (olive oil)
• 1 drop food coloring (any color you want)

1. Measure and mix up the dry ingredients in a bowl. If you want to have separate colours, separate into 2 bowls.
2. Mix the wet ingredients in a spray bottle. Add to the dry ingredients spray by spray. Stop once the mixture holds its shape when squeezed into a ball.
3. Now pack the mixture into a plastic container. You can add rose petals, plastic figurines, or glitter.
4. Pack it tightly together!
5. Let dry until completely solid.

Tips for Success:

• The biggest mistake you can make with the bath bombs is adding too much liquid at one time. The liquid will cause the citric acid to react with the baking soda, causing a fizzy, expanding little explosion.
• To get kids excited from the get go, have some crazy coloured bath bombs premade, and drop them into big tall glass vases to show the reaction and colour change.
• Have everyone come up to the front to get their ingredients in small groups. This way there was no powdery mess to clean up at the end.
• Have everyone come up to try a pinch of their bath bomb mixture in water before pressing it into the mold. It’s fun, plus you want to make sure it fixes.
• In addition to more traditional essential oils, buy fun essential oil kits like this Coffee Shop kit.
• Of course, have snacks and play fun music.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Bath Bomb and Sugar Scrub inspiration:

• DIY Lush Bath Bomb
• Homemage Sugar Scrub
• 21 Best Sugar Scrub Recipes (this one was fun to browse, and gave me ideas while talking to the tweens about what they could try next time)

What spa activities have you done with teens and tweens?