Make Quick and Easy Bath Salts

As young children explore their environment, they begin to learn that things can be classified in many ways, such as into solids and liquids. This activity will allow your child to experiment with solids and liquids and introduce her to the concept of change in science.

Use the activity below to help your child create bath salts, as she observes how a solid changes when placed into a liquid. These fragrant bath salts can be enjoyed at home, or packaged as a special gift for a friend. If you're looking for a quick, kid-made gift for Mother's Day, look no further!

What You Need:

• Epsom salt
• Food coloring
• Fragrance (you can use perfume or cologne samples or purchase fragrance oils from a craft store)
• Small jar (baby food jars work well)
• Plastic baggie

What You Do:

1. Allow your child to examine the ingredients.Discuss characteristics of each item (is it a solid? Is it a liquid?). If your child isn’t familiar with Epsom salts, allow her to examine the Epsom salt carefully.Discuss her observations.
2. Encourage your child to use her predicting skills to predict what she thinks will happen when the fragrance, food coloring, and salts are combined.
3. Have your child fill a small jar with Epsom salt.
4. Add one to two drops of food coloring and mix well.
5. To complete this project, add perfume or cologne to the Epsom salt mixture until it has the desired scent.
6. Pour one or two handfuls of the bath salts under warm running water to create a soothing, fragrant bath. Enjoy!
7. To give as a gift, cut a colorful piece of fabric to cover the lid and tie the fabric onto the lid with a piece of ribbon.