Dinosaur Egg Bath Bombs

Fizzing dinosaur egg bath bombs with a surprise treat packed inside! 

My child is obsessed with dinosaurs. He loves to read about dinosaurs, watch tv shows starring dinosaurs, and play with his massive herd of dinosaur toys. Most of all, he likes to pretend he IS a dinosaur.

I spend a great deal of time playing the role of either Mommy Dinosaur or Baby Dinosaur, depending on CC’s mood. Together, our little dinosaur family practices stomping, roaring, and of coarse, eating copious amounts of foliage using our big long necks.

When we meet new people CC starts the relationship out with a fearsome growl or startlingly loud roar. Most kids find this either scary or obnoxious but every once in a while somebody turns around and roars back.

When that happens CC makes an instant friend, and spends their time together in seventh heaven, roaring and stomping and chasing to his heart’s delight.

So it isn’t all that surprising that Scott and I use this dinosaur fixation to our advantage. Dinos have become an important tool for encouraging education, cooperation, and the practicing of necessary human skills.

Dinosaur crayons, for instance, have helped us encourage CC to sit down and work on his fine motor skills – one area that has been challenging to focus on with a child that pretty much never sits still.

These fizzy bath bomb treats are one way to help entice our dino-crazy kid into taking his bath. Not that CC needs much encouragement to get in the tub. His obsession with water comes in at a close second to prehistory.

But getting him to sit still while we actually wash him? That IS a challenge! Luckily, he gets a genuine thrill from watching baby dinosaurs hatch, so we can get plenty of scrubbing in while he pays attention to his dinosaur egg bath bomb.

I chose to make my dinosaur egg bath bombs in white, but you can easily customize them by adding a little food dye to the sea salt. This will give your eggs a pretty speckled look that can be a lot of fun – especially if you split the sea salt into several different colors.

I used a very light combination of lavender and lemon essential oils to scent my bath bombs, but the recipe will do just as well left unscented. In general, kids under 2 shouldn’t use essential oils, so just leave them out if you are making these for littler kids.

Dinosaur Egg Bath Bombs
Makes six jumbo eggs

Ingredients

• 2 cups (about 20 ounces) baking soda
• 1 cup (about 10 ounces) citric acid
• 1/2 cup (about 5 ounces) sea salt
• 1/4 cup (about 2.5 ounces) coarse salt
• natural food dye (I like this brand)
• 2 ounce sprayer bottle filled with 1/2 water and 1/2 rubbing alcohol
• 5 drops lavender essential oil (optional)
• 5 drops lemon essential oil (optional)
• 6 miniature dinosaurs
• 6 jumbo easter eggs
• razor knife or utility knife

Directions

1. Combine baking soda, citric acid, and sea salt in food processor and pulse until the powder reaches a mostly uniform texture and is well mixed.
2. In a small bowl, dye the coarse salt green using your food dye and set aside.
3. Add the baking soda mixture to a large bowl and add essential oils, if using. Mix well with a spoon.
4. Spritz the powders 5 times with sprayer bottle, then mix powders by hand to distribute the moisture. Repeat this step until the powders clump easily in your hands, like damp sand or snow.
5. Open one easter egg. Add a pinch of colored salt to the top tip of the egg, followed by a generous scoop of white powder. Press the powder down, then nestle a mini dino into the powder. Fill the egg the rest of the way up with powder, pressing it down gently as it is filled. Over-fill both sides of the egg, then press the sides together, scraping off the excess powder that falls out as the egg is closed. Close the two sides of the egg, if possible, then set it on a try to dry overnight. Repeat with remaining eggs, dinos, and powder.
6. Allow the eggs to dry for about 24 hours. They should be rock hard when they have finished drying. Getting them out of the egg is the trickiest part. Carefully slice the egg open from top to bottom. Take extra care with your fingers so you don’t slip and cut yourself. Once the slice is made, you should be able to pop the bath bomb out of the shell. Shells may be rinsed and recycled with other household plastics.
7. Package finished bath bombs in airtight cellophane bags or plastic wrap.

To Use

Simply drop one of your dinosaur egg bath bombs in the tub and watch as it fizzes and dissolves. The baby dinosaur inside will hatch within minutes!