Year 8 & 9 Bubbling Bath Bomb Business
Senior School pupils combine STEM project with Design & Technology to create an exciting new ‘Bubbling Bath Bomb Business’
As part of a wider project, pupils in year 8 and 9 have been making bath bombs for consumer consumption. The collaborative learning initiative has combined the girls’ chemistry knowledge with their inner ‘Alan Sugar’ to create a bath bomb concept that they could sell in retail outlets. It has seen them conduct extensive market research, considering what scent they would like, who their target audience would be and how they would like both their product and packaging to look.
During chemistry lessons, pupils began the process with creating the bath bomb itself. They mixed their carefully selected ingredients, some of them handpicked from the school grounds, and followed the recipe below:
Equipment:
- Citric Acid
- Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate
- Spatula
- Weighing boats
- Lavender oil and seeds
- Witch hazel (Binding Agent)
- Newspaper
- Food Colouring
- Edible flowers (mainly lavender)
Method:
- Spread newspaper over the bench
- Carefully measure out 5g of citric acid and place in a pestle and mortar
- Grind the powders together to remove lumps and mix the powders thoroughly
- Carefully add 2 drops of lavender oil and a pinch of lavender seeds, and mix into the powder
- Add witch hazel to the powder a drop at a time, mixing after each drop until the mixture becomes a paste
- Once the mixture is a paste consistency, pack it into a weighing boat and flatten off the top
- Place the bath bombs into the oven, which will dry them out ready for use
- Clean workspace
The bath bombs were left to dry out whilst the girls worked on their branding identity and packaging plans. Taking into consideration the intended audience, they designed and constructed a suitable square package, complete with moulded insert to carefully hold the product in place. Using a net as a guide, pupils made up the net and excitedly placed their finished products inside which was brought down to the classroom once dried.
Once packaged and complete, they were tasked with photographing their final product – ready to market them. There were some mixed reactions to the products, with some of the girls unsure about the scent and the final colours of their items once they had dried. Putting this constructive feedback to use, pupils conducted an evaluation. They were asked to discuss what elements they liked and did not like, and suggest any areas for improvement should they try again in the future.
Inspiration
Flora discussed the inspiration behind her bath bomb, “As I love horses, I thought about what animal relates to water and horses and the first thought I had was seahorses. I had a play around with the words and picked the best one. I came up with ‘Horse Sea’ “
In a similar approach, Amelia also looked to the sea and animals for her inspiration, “I like the sea and sea creatures, and I went with a pink and blue theme as I liked those pastel colours too.”
“I thought the pastel yellow reminded me a lot of bubbles and it reminded me of the bath. I liked printing the design the most and seeing my design come to life.” – Yasmine
“I looked at packaging from supermarkets and the different brands I liked. I looked at how much information they put on their packaging.” – Miryam
“I stuck with a blue theme like the ocean and I used the blue in the actual bath bomb too and a violet smell.” – Romey
“I kind of wanted to go for something a little bit unique. I decided to go with something quite nice and a bit sassy, calling my product ‘Bath Gal.’ I put in some lavender but it doesn’t smell like that now its dry, it smells a bit more peppermint like.” Not entirely satisfied with her product, Isla was able to come up with areas she would like to improve, adding “I would reconsider the colour and the scent if I did it again, it has gone a bit weird. Nothing is perfect when it comes to things like that, you expect it to be good when it is finished, but it is never going to be perfect the first time.”
“I had heard somewhere that this colour of purple was really relaxing so I decided to do this based on that, it relaxes your eyes as well.” – Miranda
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