Safe Non-toxic Air Fresheners

I love arts and crafts and all the cute pictures you can make in a daycare setting, but one of my goals is to work on doing more science orientated projects. Now I'm not talking about working up to what back in my day was the dreaded ninth grade "Sludge" test. I want to expose my kids to simpler things, things that maybe we don't even realize are science.  So when I came across this recipe for an all natural, non-allergenic air freshener my little wheels started spinning. Science project that ends in something pretty and useful, and - dare I say it - smells great! I couldn't wait to get started.

These are the ingredients we used:
1 oz or 4 envelopes gelatin
2 cups water (one cup boiling one cup cold)
1 tablespoon salt
food coloring
10 drops essential oil in each jar
(I used Young Living Oils because they are pure and can be ingested)
Each batch fills two pint sized jars.

 Then we all sat down at the table and talked about smells and how some are good and some are bad and we also talked about mixing things together to make something that is different than what you started with. I let the kids smell the oil I'd chosen for our project. Citrus Fresh, and they decided it smelled good. Then we got down to business, and I explained what we would need to do to make our project successful.  I explained to my kids that there would be parts of the project they can do and parts they would have to watch me do and we talked about using our patience while we waited for our turns. And as always they came through for me by listening and waiting patiently and not complaining.

The first thing I had the kids do was take turns putting the gelatin into the mixing bowl. (Since there were six kids there that day we made a triple batch.) Then we added the salt (whose purpose is to deter the growth of mold).  Setting that aside I put the water on to boil. Each child then added ten drops of essential oil to a pint sized jar and food coloring of their choice.  Then I whisked the hot water with the gelatin and added the cold water. I helped each child fill their jars and mix in the oil and food coloring. I had asked the kids earlier what color they thought the oil smelled like, and they all agreed it smelled yellow or orange.  Interestingly, when it came down to picking a color, half reverted to their favorite colors and half went with what the smell reminded them of.  :)

After everyone's jars were stirred we wrote names on the lids and carefully screwed the covers on and set them on the counter to cool . Since oil does not mix with water we set a timer to shake our jars after twenty minutes. Then we stuck them in the fridge and gave them another shake twenty minutes later for good measure. Everyone's turned out awesome!  The kids had a fun time and were very proud of their projects. Go Science!