Bath Bombs

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When I am looking for activities to do with the kids, ones that have few steps and/or items are generally a quick sell. Bath bombs are an item that you can purchase pre-made, but they are relatively easy to make.  The hardest thing about this entire project, was finding citric acid. After looking at Target and Wal-Mart, I finally found it at

Hy-Vee. I had read that is was something that can be found at pharmacies, so I head over to that section of the store. When I asked the pharmacist if they had it, I was given a confused look and asked what I needed it for. When I told them what I was doing, they sent somebody over from the health food section, who called somebody who had just received a bottle and it was sitting on another person's desk. Finally, once we had everything, we went home and started to make our bath bombs. First, you start by adding all of the dry materials in a bowl. (Two parts baking soda for every part of citric acid.) Next, add any color or fragrance that you may want. Mix with a whisk.

The next part is the perfect part for some teamwork. While one person sprays the witch hazel from a bottle, the other person mixes. It is important to keep mixing because if the area stays wet too long, the witch hazel will start reacting and cause the mixture to fizz.

When you get the mixture to the appropriate consistency, you should be able to shape it in your hands. Put the blend into a mold (I chose a measuring cup) and pack it tight. Let the mixture dry inside the mold. This was something that I didn't do. You will see why I recommend this step later.

Once you remove the domes from their molds, let them dry overnight.

In the morning, I came found that my balls had flattened and instead of fizzy balls, I now had fizzy chips. Not only did they flatten as they hardened, they became brittle. As I tried to take them off the cutting board, they held fast. Finally, I had to chip away at them until they had no semblance of being a ball at all. That was fine with the kids because then they had dozens of chips to throw into their bathwater instead of one large ball. The next time that we do this, I would make a lot of small balls instead of a few large ones.

Here is how they look in the water. We found that when you dunk the piece under the water they work a lot better than the video. Once they are fully immersed, there is a lot more fizz.