Magic Potion Pictures

The basic idea

Children love gathering and mixing all kinds of store cupboard ingredients to make potions. Once their potion is complete, add washing up liquid and paint or food colouring, use a straw to bubble up lots of bubbles, then lay some paper over the top to let the bubbles make a magic potion picture.

Over to you, wee one

For babies and wee ones (who might accidentally suck instead of blowing through the straw) use food colouring and all edible ingredients. Only introduce the bubbles once they’ve had lots of time to explore and mix and create.

Cheeky bonuses

• Two activities in one!
• Decision making, learning cause and effect and developing agency
• Experimenting, colour mixing, STEM

Variations

• Older children can gather natural materials as part of the potion making process
• Once the magic potion pictures are dry, draw or paint on the design to add more colour
• Practice blowing through a straw to move light objects like cereal, scraps of paper etc.

And remember…

There’s no right or wrong in potion making so give them free reign! Give them small amounts of ingredients in a muffin tin/bowls if you’re worried about losing half your food cupboard – then step back and let them experiment.