Rose petal perfume

Create fragrant concoctions from natural ingredients - a simple but ever-engaging activity for adults as well as children.

Introduction

A simple activity for your mud kitchen. Create concoctions from petals and water – you can call them fairy perfume, gnome potions, petal alchemy or just a lovely dose of sensory, imaginative play.

* Muddy Faces actively promotes child-led outdoor play & learning. We recognise and believe in the curiosity that children have and their drive to explore and discover. We hope that you will bear this in mind when considering more prescribed activities like this one – often much more creative ideas will occur if resources are simply provided and children are given the time and space to explore independently.

What you'll need

selection of petals
collecting bag/basket
a bottle of clean water
pots & utensils for mixing

This activity has been provided by

Useful items from our shop

Item available from our shop

Environmental Considerations

Consider the environmental impact of preparing, carrying out & completing this activity. Could this impact be reduced? Specific considerations for this activity could include:

collecting natural materials - see foraging guide

Health & Safety Considerations

Follow your usual operating procedures and carry out appropriate risk benefit assessments.
Some considerations particular to this activity include:

collecting natural materials
using glass bottles

Preparation:

most of what you need you can find at home and recycle
you will need access to a supply of petals, and baskets or bags to collect them in, or make your own collecting pots from plastic tubs
clean out some small recycled shampoo bottles. Pump-action bottles (like soap dispensers) can be good fun as they squirt the perfume out
the notepad is for sketches, recording what you’ve done and creating perfume recipes.

Step #1 Gathering the petals

Before setting off have a discussion and agree what the parameters are for collecting, eg only collect petals that are on the floor or those that fall if a flower is given a gentle shake. If you don’t agree rules beforehand you might find that your rose border looks like a plague of locusts has been through it after a group of children has been on a perfume-making mission 😉

Step #2 Mixing and making

Once you have collected all the petals you need, its time for mixing and perfume-making.

Have a range of utensils available - clean pots, spoons, ladles, sieves, funnels and water.

Some children prefer to keep their potions separate, but others will end up mixing in all sorts of other things from the mud kitchen.

Step #3 Bottling

When you’ve finished mixing you can use your funnel to decant the perfume into bottles.

Small recycled shampoo bottles or similar are a good size for perfumes. Pump action bottles (like soap dispensers) can be good fun as they squirt the perfume out.

Step #4 Using glass bottles

Muddy Faces sells these dinky glass bottles which look great, but using glass needs to be supervised. We suggest that, before using glass bottles, you have a discussion about how they should be handled and looked after to help prevent breakages.

We’ve found a good approach is for children to work independently mixing, brewing and decanting their mixtures into plastic bottles. Then, near the end of the session, they can collect a special glass bottle – before it is given out ask them how they think the bottle should be looked after and what would be the consequences of not looking after them well.

Take it further:

try more complex alchemy by heating the potion on a fire
collect different aromatic plants, such as herbs, to make pungent infusions.

Disclaimer: Muddy Faces cannot take any responsibility for accidents or damage that occurs as a result of following this activity.You are responsible for making sure the activity is conducted safely.