from The Science & Superpowers of Seaweed
Draw a warm bath. Drop your Seaweed Bath Bomb in. Watch it fizz and enjoy the beautiful scents of the seaweed and the essential oil.
Ingredients
Glass jar with lid
Mold for forming your bath bombs*
1 cup (250 mL) baking soda
½ cup (125 mL) Epsom salt
½ cup (125 mL) cornstarch
2 tsp (10 mL) dried, flaked seaweed (kelp, rockweed, Turkish towel, Turkish washcloth, Irish moss)
2 Tbsp (30 mL) coconut oil
5-7 drops of essential oil (eucalyptus, grand fir, mandarin or orange)
¾ Tbsp (11 mL) water
½ cup (125 mL) citric acid
Optional: Treasure to hide inside your bath bomb such as a small pretty shell or ocean-themed trinket.
*You can buy a mold specifically for making bath bombs or you can use silicone muffin cups or measuring cups.
Directions
Mix together baking soda, Epsom salt, cornstarch and seaweed flakes in a large mixing bowl.
Warm coconut oil in a pot on low heat until it is a liquid.
Mix liquified coconut oil, essential oil and water in a glass jar with lid screwed on tightly and shake well.
Pour contents of jar into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, add citric acid and mix together well with your fingers. The consistency should be like crumbly beach sand. A little fizzing is normal at this stage, but do not add water as that will cause your mixture to release all its fizz in the bowl, rather than in your bath.
Press mixture into your molds. Use the back of a large spoon to press mixture tightly into the molds.
Let dry in molds for at least 2 hours but not longer than overnight. Remove mixture from the molds, being careful not to break them because they are very fragile at this point, and put onto wax or parchment paper to dry (one to two days).
When your Seaweed Bath Bombs are completely dry, wrap them. You can use colorful cloth, tissue paper or pretty wrapping paper tied with a bow. Alternatively, you can store in a glass jar with a lid.
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: A great March Break or children’s birthday party craft. If inserting trinkets, do so when adding the mixture to the molds. We put in a small amount in the bottom, added the trinket and topped the mold with more mixture. Change up the molds depending on the season – dollar stores have great themed molds.
Excerpted from The Science and Superpowers of Seaweed: A Guide for Kids, by Amanda Swinimer, ?2023. Published by Douglas & McIntyre (2013) Ltd.. Reprinted with permission of the publisher. The Science and Superpowers of Seaweed : A Guide for Kids – Harbour Publishing