August 6, 2015Robbie

Back to School Spa Party

Back to school mean added stresses; so it’s time to destress with a girls-only DIY spa party!

Last year, we kicked off the scouting year by treating the girls in our Junior Girl Scout troop to a back to school spa party for their first meeting. It was a low-key way to start off the year and subtlely talk about stress!

Back to School Spa Party for Girl Scout Troops or Youth Group Meetings
A back to school spa party can be as elegant (and costly) or inexpensive as your troop’s budget allows. Here’s what we planned for the girls – and most of the ingredients for our spa recipes came from our garden:

Banana facials with cucumber slicesDIY back to school spa party for Girl Scouts

What is a girl’s spa day without a facial? For the facials, I referenced an old book I had, “Natural Beauty for All Seasons: More Than 250 Simple Recipes and Gift-Giving Ideas for Year-Round Beauty.” In it, we found seasonal ideas for homemade spa products – many of them right from the garden.

But one of the easiest ways to give a “facial” was to use mashed banana. Many recipes include mixing yogurt, honey or other ingredients to the mashed banana. At our meeting, though, we simply mashed a banana and let the girls put it on their face. (We figured this was a project that wouldn’t last long, anyway.) The girls giggled and groaned as they wiped banana on their faces, and we let them enjoy their “facials” a few minutes until they were ready to wash them off.


We also let the girls use the all-too-common cucumber slices on their eyes. They got a kick out of it, but really wanted to munch on the cukes instead!diy kids facials with food from garden

Nail soak 

Unfortunately our school dress code means no nail polish, but that didn’t mean the girls couldn’t pamper their hands a bit. We turned to my Natural Beauty for All Seasons book and the garden for a quick and easy nail soak, taking advantage of the random dill that had sprouted in my garden from seed this summer.

You will need:
1 cup water
1 tablespoon dried dill or one small bunch fresh dill (leaves, flowers and stems)

Boil water and pour over the dill.  Allow to steep until cool. (I did this the evening before the meeting.) Strain the dill and use as a nail soak. The girls thought it was fun to soak their nails, though they said it smelled like pickles. (Having the cucumbers there too probably did not help!)
I did notice after soaking that my nails were shinier.
DIY lip gloss
You will need
Vaseline
Crystal Light packets or Cocoa (if you would like brown tinted and not a sweet flavor)

Empty clear plastic cosmetic containers (I just bought them in bulk on Amazon, these directions are for 5 gram containers like these)

For each container: Melt 1 teaspoon Vaseline in the microwave. (This will take a 1-2 minutes, stir occasionally.) Add 1/4 teaspoon cocoa or Crystal Light, adjusting for color/taste. Stir until dissolved. Cool slightly, then pour into cosmetic container and use.

We finished the afternoon playing with our family’s Yoga 4 Kids Board Game from home. This became our troop’s favorite activity for much of the year!
Our troop kept the spa party low-cost without losing the experience; we used bandanas for head wraps to keep banana out of the hair; we took cucumbers and the dill for the nail soak from the garden.
We did treat the girls to a mini bottle of nail polish for their own pedicures if they remembered the Girl Scout Law.  All told it was less than $15 for the meeting.

7 comments

  1. This is such a good idea! I am a teacher and I am always looking for creative back to school ideas. I wouldn’t be able to do this for my classroom, but could definitely do this for my bible study girls at church! Thank you for sharing 🙂

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