Potions!

Have you ever done the ol' volcano experiment with vinegar and baking soda? We sure have. Many times. Many, many, MANY times. And it never seems to get old. We've built volcanoes out of papier mâché and salt dough. The kids love it. But sometimes I just want to try something new. Even if it's essentially the same thing, I want to present it in a new, fun way. That's what happened here.

The key to this activity was discretion. I didn't tell the kids what ingredients we were actually using. I simply took random ingredients from the kitchen and gave them cool labels:

 

Baking soda = fairy dust      

Cocoa powder = dirt from an ogre's swamp

 

 Salt = crystals from the dwarf mines

Corn meal = phoenix dandruff

Food colouring = snake venom, elf tears, dragon's blood, four-leaf clover extract, and unicorn saliva.
Vinegar = mermaid sweat

 Everybody starts with a "cauldron" of mermaid sweat. They can add any ingredients they want (for my older girls I had them decide what their potion was for and they had to write out the name of the potion and a list of ingredients). The only stipulation is that they have to add fairy dust and it has to be the last ingredient they add (I told them they had to say some magic words when they added it). The great part of this activity is that it is great for all ages!        
       

   

 

Happy brewing!