Yesterday afternoon I set up an outside laboratory for the children to make potions. Using finds from last week's kitchen spring clean, I was pleased to put our out-of-date store-cupboard goods to use.
We used:
1. Out-of-date spices, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda, mustard, ketchup and some poster paint.
2. Diluted vinegar, water and vegetable oil.
3. Empty spice jars, plastic medicine spoons and chopsticks.
4. Plastic funnels and a pipette from a liquid vitamin bottle.
Bud and Daisy absolutely tore into this activity, I simply stood back and let them go.
There was thorough mixing...
... and careful pouring.
There was selecting and measuring...
...and then a bit more pouring.
Equipment and ideas were beautifully shared...
...and some fine mixes were concocted.
Jars were filled with various combinations of powders, gloop and liquid...
...and a glorious mess was made.
When a jar had been filled they took it over to the display table. Here the potion was given a final shake or swirl then observed for a moment before being named...
We had potions such as Fizzy-Bizzy, Bluey-Luey, Disco-Looker and Dark-Looker, and my goodness they did look pretty in the sunshine.
Bud and Daisy made 12 potions in all and were 100% absorbed in the activity for an hour and a half. We'll definitely be playing Potion Laboratory again.
oh my word, how FUN! great names, too. you have a couple of mad-scientist artists on your hands!
ReplyDeleteThis is Brill! I remember trying to make perfum whwn I was little, but it never quite smelt right, then much to our parents dismay, my sisters and I perfected our fake bird poo recipe and splattered everywhere!
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Teacher Tom did something like this last week and I thought I needed to give it a try. Seeing your experience confirms it! Did they have a good feel of all the gloopy concotions and get messy? Hope so! Thanks SO much for linking up to It's Playtime and hope you will share more fabulous ideas next week!
ReplyDeleteAnna - I'll have a look at Teacher Tom's take on this - probably a bit higher octane than my version!
ReplyDeleteYes, they got SO messy. Actually happier to interact and get covered with this stuff than glue or glitter - quite interesting, n'est pas! x
Hannah - he he @ the bird poo recipe. Daisy said YUK but then started thinking about how she would make such a mix. THANKS ;) x
How absolutely fantastic!!!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the free play involved here and so much learning going on - this is absolutely wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI featured this on today's It's Playtime/High Five. I hope you can come play with us again this week!
Jamie @ hands on : as we grow
This is great! I'm never amazed at what kids can do when you let them play on their own. They are highly capable of using their own imaginations...the proof is in the pudding...or mustard lol. High Five to you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely comments everyone! And I'm thrilled at being one of the featured blogs on It's Playtime High Five too; hoorah.
ReplyDeleteHere's to Play - in all its glorious forms. May the sharing of ideas continue in earnest! x
All kinds of wonderful!
ReplyDelete