Halloween has become over commercialised and children are encouraged to eat an unhealthy amount of candy. However, it is possible to turn Halloween into a positive celebration where we respect the knowledge of our ancestors.

Healers were branded as witches in medieval times, so herbal recipes for skin care, hair care and beauty treatments stopped being passed down through families, unlike recipes for food.

Now the internet has made this information available again and it's worth teaching our children about natural skin care products while they're young. Then they'll have a better understanding of cosmetics as they grow up. (My daughter wears very little make-up because she learned how it's absorbed through her skin and she writes newsletters to share her knowledge, see the link below.)

The best way I've found to spark an interest in natural skin care products, is for young people to make some themselves at a potion party.

Making fizzy bath bombs is a popular party activity at any time of year and it's particularly magical at Halloween. You don't need any special equipment and there's no need to heat the ingredients, so it's ideal for your first potion party.

Children love making bathbombs and they can pour any left over mixture into a bowl of water and watch it froth up. As long as you don't mind them making a mess, everyone can pour their mixture into the same bowl of water and the bubbles will overflow like a mad science experiment that's gone out of control.

2 parts Baking Soda (Bicarbonate of Soda)

1 part Citric Acid

Enough Witch Hazel to make it stick together

A few drops of Food Colouring

Mix all the ingredients together. You may want to add a small amount of glitter and a few drops of perfume. Use round molds or sape them in your hands. Table tennis balls, cut in half make good molds, but unless the mixture is just the right consistency and used quickly, the bathbombs may stick to the mold.

Tip

To avoid disappointment, have some metalic paper cake/bun cases available. They are easier to use than molds because the wrapper doesn't need to be removed until the bathbomb is used.Children can make little flags to stick on the top and pretend they are boats.