Ok everyone, it’s summer, it’s school holidays, LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!
Making (and then playing with) these Lemonade scented essential oil fun fizzies is a great way to occupy the kids.
It is essentially a bath bomb recipe so, sure, chuck a few in the bath for a great time, but I want you to think outside the box.
Got the kid’s wading pool assembled on the back patio? Throw in a few fun fizzies!
Sitting with your feet in a bucket of water to keep cool? Throw in a few fun fizzies!
Keeping the kids indoors because it’s too hot outside? I don’t blame you, so put a large bowl of water on the kitchen table and throw in some fun fizzies.
So. Much. Fun.
My kids love holding them in their hands and submerging them under water to feel the temperature change (they actually get colder as they react) and the fizzing makes them giggle. While they are happy and playing, I’m patting myself on the back for occupying them with an activity that has therapeutic benefits. Well done me!
You see, there is no lemonade in this recipe, I’ve actually used Lemon and Siberian Fir essential oils to create a scent similar to lemonade. Essential oils are incredibly potent and should not be used neat on children, so I have also included Fractionated Coconut Oil in my recipe to dilute the essential oils (plus it helps hold the fun fizzies together too).
I raided my pantry for some cake sprinkles and they have transformed my fizzies from Ok to Oh Yay! Experiment with what you have on hand and see what you can come up with.
What you need to make essential oil fun fizzies
- 1 cup Bi-carbonate of Soda
- ½ cup Citric Acid
- 2 tbsp Fractionated Coconut Oil
- 30 drops Lemon Essential Oil
- 10 drops Siberian Fir Essential Oil (you can substitute White Fir if preferred)
- Natural Food Colouring* (optional)
- Water or Witch Hazel
- Silicone Mould
- Assorted cake sprinkles
Method
(Wearing gloves is recommended)
Prepare your mould by arranging cake sprinkles into various different patterns. Sift bi-carb soda and citric acid into a bowl, mixing until no lumps are present. Add fractionated coconut oil and essential oils. Use your hands to combine the mixture, rubbing it between your fingers to evenly disperse the oil.
If you want to use multiple colours for your fizzies, divide your mixture into separate bowls and add food colouring. Remember liquid food colouring is moisture, so take it easy. Mix well. Add water or witch hazel two drops at a time and continue to rub the mixture between your fingers. You’ll know you’ve used enough when it sticks together/packs down and can keep its shape. It will still look kind of dry, but if you take a handful of the mixture and squeeze it, it should pack easily into a ball. Too much water will make the mixture continue to fizz and puff up more.
It may seem odd, but using your ears can help you with this step. As you are mixing, bring your ear down to the bowl and listen. Your mixture should be damp but not fizzing. If you used too much water in the mixture, it will continue to fizz and rise while it is drying. Constant and increasing fizzing means you may have added too much water, you can counteract this by adding more dry ingredients to the mix if it is too wet.
Working quickly, repeat the process for all of the separate colours. Once you have the correct consistency for each colour, begin to fill your mould, mixing the colours as you wish and pushing down the mixture into the holes and compacting it into place. Compaction is an important step as it may mean the difference between hard or crumbly fizzies once they are dry. It will also help your sprinkles stick to the fizzies. When using silicone moulds however, be sure not to push down so hard that the mould becomes misshapen. You don’t want your hearts looking more like circles.
Set the fizzies aside to air dry for 48-36 hours (depending on the humidity where you live). Alternatively you can dry in an oven set to 50°C for 1 hour (but please realise even when dried in an oven they will still take 2-3 days to reach maximum hardness).
When they are sufficiently hardened, they should release from your moulds fairly easily, if they are still wet, they will not fall out with ease. Store in a plastic zip-lock bag.
Enjoy!
* I really want to emphasise that I believe it is important to use natural colourings whenever possible. If your child has a reaction to colourings in foods, such a reaction can also occur when colourings are used in a bath.
