Aloe vera ice cube soothers for children – with added dinosaurs
The inspiration for freezing aloe vera comes from James Wong’s natural home remedy book Grow Your Own Drugs. I have greatly diluted it (so it is less messy to use with kids) and added little frozen toys, to cheer children and keep their interest in continuously cooling burns, bumps and bites over a few minutes. I’ve also switched out the relaxing lavender scent for May Cheng, which smells like fizzy lemon sherbet – because the aim here is to cheer and distract, rather than relax. I’ve also experimented with adding flowers and leaves to the cubes, for a more natural addition, and this works well too.
*These cubes are not for eating, but for soothing burns and bumps, like a cool pack.*
Ingredients:
Boiled, cooled water (enough to make 6 large ice cubes)
The gel from 1-2 medium aloe vera leaves or otherwise approx 60ml shop-bought pure aloe vera gel (look in the aftersun/sun burn section of a supermarket or pharmacy)
6 drops essential oil (we use May Cheng)
6 small freezable plastic toys or flower petals
Equipment:
Kettle
Knife and cutting board (if slicing aloe vera leaves for the gel)
Jug
Large ice cube tray
Freezer
Skewer or cocktail stick
Method:
Fill each ice cube compartment 1/2 full of the boiled, cooled water.
Carefully harvest the gel from the aloe vera leaves using a sharp knife (be really careful, as this gets very slippy; there are lots of online tutorials if you are unsure.). Add the aloe vera gel to each compartment
Add one drop of essential oil to each compartment
Stir slowly with a skewer to combine and disperse the ingredients
Gently drop a toy or petal into each cube
Place in the freezer and use whenever needed
Run each of the cubes under a warm tap for a few seconds before use and they are best placed on a tray for a child to push around and build with. We keep a towel next to the tray, for warming and cleaning hands.
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