You do not need a birthday party or a special occasion to give a child a little spa day at home.
Sometimes it is a rainy Saturday or sometimes somebody has had a hard week (and that can be you too!). Sometimes you just want to do something a bit lovely together that does not involve a screen, a shop or driving anywhere.
Children are very easily pleased when they are given permission to feel grown up for the afternoon. A bowl of warm water, a fluffy towel, cucumber in a jug and something nice to put on their face will do it.
You don't need to turn your bathroom into a five-star hotel which is good, because who has the energy for that? A few little touches are enough and to make it extra special I prefer to do this away from the bathroom in a cozy and warm environment (or outside on a beautiful summers day under a tree). The following ideas create beautiful bonding moments together in a world that never quite seems to stop. I hope you carve some time out to do this with your child - or even just for you.
1. Make a little spa table
Put out the things you are going to use before you begin: bowls, towels, spoons, herbs, petals, a jug of water and anything else that makes it feel special.
Children love the build-up almost as much as the activity itself. Let them help lay it out. They will probably move everything around, make a sign and decide one bowl is for “magic ingredients”. That is part of the job.
2. Make cucumber spa water
A jug of water with cucumber slices, lemon or a few berries in it feels very posh when you are 7 or 77!
Give them a little cup, sit down together and have a drink before the treatments begin. It slows everything down in a nice way and makes the whole day feel like an occasion. This is where you both start to soften.
3. Try cucumber slices for the eyes
This is an absolute classic for a reason.
A couple of cool cucumber slices, a towel round their shoulders and somewhere comfortable to lie down for a few minutes. They will either look very serene or start laughing immediately because the cucumber keeps slipping off.
Both are fine.
4. Set up a face-mask moment
This is usually the bit they have been waiting for.
Let them choose a gentle face mask, apply it with a little brush and sit back with their cucumber eyes for a few minutes. Put their hair up with a headband or clip first, otherwise somebody will end up with mask in their fringe and be cross about it (you, probably!).
There is something very sweet about watching a child take a few minutes to sit still and be cared for. Even better is watching them do it to you - their concentration and look of love is just something I will always remember.💕
5. Give their feet a proper soak
Foot soaks make a spa day feel properly grown up.
Fill a bowl with warm water, add some salts, petals or herbs, put down a towel and let them sit with their feet in the water for a while. It is simple, but children love it. I tend to do the cucumber eyes and face mask whilst they are soaking their feet, but you might prefer to do it separately.
They are not used to anyone saying, “Right, sit down. Your only job for the next ten minutes is to soak your feet.” It would be nice if they would say it to us though!
6. Add a hand soak and hand massage
A smaller bowl of warm water works beautifully for hands too.
Afterwards, dry their hands and show them how to rub a little balm or lotion in slowly. Start with their palms, then the backs of their hands and fingers. If they want to give you a hand massage afterwards, accept it graciously even if it feels more like being kneaded by an enthusiastic kitten.
7. Make a bath potion to use later
Put out dried petals, herbs, oats, salts and little bags or jars.
Let them make something for their bath that evening. They can choose what goes into it, give it a name and write a label. Bath potions have a way of becoming very serious business very quickly.
A good one needs a name, obviously. “Pink Potion” will not do when it could be called Moon Bath, Sleeping Fairy Water or The Best Bath Ever Made.
8. Have a hair-pamper moment
Brush their hair, put in a few plaits, add ribbons or clips, or tuck a flower behind their ear.
This does not need to be elaborate. It is simply another little bit of attention and fuss, and most children lap that up when it is done gently and without rushing.
9. Make a spa snack plate
Put together a plate of fruit, little cakes, crackers, cucumber and anything else they enjoy.
Serve it after the face masks and foot soaks, when wrapped in towels and feeling very pleased with themselves. If you have a tray, use it because a tray turns an ordinary snack into room service and takes it out of the ordinary.
10. Finish with a bath, story and early pyjamas
The best spa day activity is probably the least complicated one.
Run a warm bath, use the potion they made, put on clean pyjamas and settle down with a story or film afterwards. There is no need to cram in a hundred activities. The whole point is that nobody is in a rush.
A little spa day at home can be a lovely way to make a child feel special without teaching them they need to change anything about themselves. They get the face mask, the cucumber eyes, the foot soak and the fuss they were hoping for. They also get time with you, a few plants and petals to play with, and a day that feels different from the usual one.
That is the sort of childhood magic I am always trying to make room for.
Our Little Wild Spa pamper party play kit was created for afternoons like these. It gives children their own botanicals to mix in a coconut shell mixing bowl, whilst learning about how each herb helps their skin and their mind which will help them choose which herb to pick for their treatments, and turns play into a proper pamper day, without you having to round up five different shops first.
