Make your own bath salts

A really quick and sensory DIY. Make them for yourself or give them as a gift.

A light blue gift tag attached to a string

If you don’t have Epsom salts, use coarse sea salt, or coarse Himalayan pink salt. These also make a great addition to sensory water play. Make them seasonal by choosing scents or dried flowers/herbs that reflect the season! Use within three months of making them.

This guide is part of our Sense Arts, Sport & Wellbeing programme. This activity can be done at a time that suits you, either in your own space or in an educational setting.

Who is this for?

This is a crafting activity for people who are deafblind or have complex disabilities and can be enjoyed by anyone.

Why does this make a difference?

This is a creative and sensory activity that helps people explore and expand their creative choices while supporting independence in the activity. Both the making and using the final product can be explored as a sensory session.

How to do this activity

What you’ll need

Image shows a white tabletop with the materials listed below spread out on it.
  • Epsom salts (or another coarse salt)
  • Essential oils (festive citrus or spicy scents work well, here grapefruit and frankincense was used)
  • Dried flowers, citrus slices, or dried herbs (optional)
  • Jam jar or other
  • Jug or bowl
  • Spatula and spoon
A spoon of salt being added to the bowl

Step 1

Spoon some salt into the bowl.
Adding a few drops of essential oils to the bowl of salt

Step 2

Add a few drops of your chosen essential oils. Feel free to use more than one. Remember it will be diluted in the bath, so you want it quite strong (around 20 drops for a jam jar sized amount of salt). Give this a good stir.
Adding a pinch of flowers to the salt

Step 3

Add your chosen dried herbs or flowers.
Stirring the bowl of salts and dried flowers

Step 4

Give your bowl a good stir.
Using scissors to snip up a dried slice of orange

Step 5 (optional)

Using scissors to snip up a dried slice of orange
Spooning the mixture into a jar

Step 5

Spoon your mixture into the jar.
A light blue gift tag on a string

Step 6

If desired, you can make a tag for gifting. For ours, we cut a rectangle of green paper out, folded it in half and punched a hole in the top near the fold. We wrote a message on the inside, and on the front wrote “Thank you”, you could also write a name or other greeting. We decorated the label with a piece of washi tape on the bottom.
A light blue gift tag attached to a string

Step 7

To complete the gift wrapping, we cut a piece of tissue paper out, placed it on top of the lid of the jar and tied a piece of string around to keep it in place. Two pairs of hands may help with this! We then tied our label to the jar. It is now finished for gifting!

To use

Top tip

  • To use, either run a bath, or fill a flat bottomed bowl with warm water and add some of the scented mixture. Give it a stir and enjoy a good soak for the feet or body.
  • These could also be introduced into sensory water play as they feel and smell lovely.
  • If you are using them for sensory play- you could try using food colouring as well!