Easter Egg Surprise Bath Bombs DIY Video –

Let us teach you how to make these fun Easter Egg Surprise Bath Bombs! They smell great, and they’re super fizzy. Plus there’s a cool surprise in every one. We will also explain the science behind the fizzy chemical reaction, just in case you want to use these DIY bath bombs as your next science fair project.

At The House That Never Slumbers, we are always learning. Part of learning is making mistakes as you learn. Our first attempt at these Easter Egg Surprise Bath Bombs was a complete fail. We were using a recipe we found on Pinterest that included water in the ingredients.

I was a bit skeptical when I saw water listed because I know just enough of the science behind acid-base chemical reactions to know water would mix the acid with the baking soda, but I thought maybe the few tablespoons listed wouldn’t be enough to have that effect. Wrong. A little bit of water goes a long way here.

It’s okay though. Our failed attempt was a lot of fun. You can see what happened in the video. We were able to use our knowledge of science to adjust our recipe and get the results we wanted on our next try.

We are all scientists in one way or another, and scientists don’t just give up if their first attempt doesn’t go well. Just imagine if Wilbur and Orville Wright had called it quits the first time they crashed their little bicycle flying machine! Scientists keep researching, keep working, and keep experimenting until they find a better way.

Fortunately, the only tweak our recipe needed was to replace the water with additional coconut oil. We probably ended up using close to a half cup of coconut oil to finally get the consistency we needed to form the eggs.

**I was compensated for this post. This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

What You Need:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup Epsom salt (preferably scented)
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 1/2 cornstarch
• 1/4-1/2 cup coconut oil
• plastic Easter eggs
• small plastic toys
• food coloring (optional)

You can use any small toys as the surprises in your eggs. We found our rings at Dollar Tree. They worked great for this project.

This lavender-scented Epsom Salt is also from the Dollar Tree. Can you believe it’s only $1? I use this stuff in my bath water whenever I have time to actually take a bath. My grandma used Epsom Salt baths to soak sore muscles, or if we had a splinter, sting, or another injury, she would have us soak it in a dish tub of Epsom Salt water. As you can see on the packaging, Epsom Salt is really Magnesium Sulfate. The LIVESTRONG website has a nice article on the Benefits of Epsom Salt Baths.

 

The Science Behind the Fizzy Bath Bomb Chemical Reaction

When you mix a base with an acid, you will get a chemical reaction. If you’ve ever made a volcano from baking soda and vinegar, you know what I mean. Vinegar is acidic, and the baking soda acts as a base in that scenario. When you mix the two, you get that fizzy, overflowing reaction.

If you put vinegar and baking soda in a two-liter bottle together and hold the lid on for a length of time, and then release the lid, it will spew liquid all over your kitchen ceiling. Ask me how I know this? But don’t ask me about the time my kids tried this with food coloring in the mixture. It’s a sore subject.

You can get the same type of reaction by mixing baking soda (which is more formally known as sodium bicarbonate) and citric acid.

Why don’t sodium bicarbonate and citric acid create a reaction when mixed together as dry ingredients?

Sodium bicarbonate is actually not a base. Sodium bicarbonate (also known as baking soda) is a salt. Surprisingly, sodium bicarbonate is really an acidic salt, but it can act as an acid or as a base depending on what other substances are present.

Salt always has some positively charged particles and some negatively charged particles. When the sodium bicarbonate hits the water the positively charged particles separate from the negatively charged particles. Once separated, the two can act independently in reacting with other substances. Once that separation happens, the baking soda can serve as a base to create a reaction with the citric acid.

This is why our first attempt at making these Easter Egg Surprise Bath Bombs was unsuccessful. When we tried to use water as an ingredient, we accidentally caused the chemical reaction to happen in the process of making the bath bombs instead of later in the bath water. That’s why our eggs turned into mini-volcanos and kept popping open, as seen in the video.

The chemical formula for the fizzy bath bomb chemical reaction is as follows:

 

citric acid  +  sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) → sodium citrate  +  water  +  carbon dioxide

C₆H₈O₇          +             3NaHCO₃                      →  Na₃C₆H₅O₇    +   3H₂O   +      3CO₂

As you can see from the formula, this reaction creates carbon dioxide. It’s the carbon dioxide gas being released that cause the fizzing in your bath water.

Check out our video to see how we made the bath bombs and view the final results! Spoiler Alert – The reaction we get with our final product is amazing!

Don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Please like, share, tweet, and pin this post. Subscribe to The House That Never Slumbers to get our updates.

What’s your favorite bath bomb scent?

 

You can visit Bliss at Eighty Percent to find instructions on this great Fast, Fun Dollar Store Spring Floral Wreath that can also be made from supplies found at Dollar Tree!

 

Pin this for future reference: