How to brew Nature Stew

On a family walk we decided to play

A Halloween game in the park yesterday.

All up for the challenge, Spooky Scavenge* the name

And cousins, all four, joined in with the game.

They found red-veined leaves to be fresh dragon hearts

And dried up red flowers were - of course - body parts.

We found pixie wings and the tooth of a cat

And brown plane tree leaves were the wings of a bat.

A seed head became a spider's remains

And wizened old chestnuts were rabbits' dried brains.

Goblins' eyeballs were conkers, a twig a bird's claw

We'd not noticed such nasty nature before.

Back in the cavern, we put in a pot

Some strange orange cubes and some water - quite hot.

Then, just like the witch in Room on the Broom*

They threw in ingredients and sniffed the perfume.

In went the squirrel tail and wings of the bat

In went the brains and the tooth of the cat.

Body parts and spiders were tossed in the pot

They cooked it and smelt it and stirred it a lot.

They sprinkled in glitter

And stirred it some more,

Then ladled it out to pots 1, 2, 3, 4.

And now it is set

Four potions are ready.

The nature is glistening, captured in... jelly!

*Thanks to Woodland Trust, Nature Detectives for the scavenger hunt idea, and to Julia Donaldson for the Room on The Broom rhythm which inspired my poem.

Potion laboratory

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 Using finds from last week's kitchen spring clean, I was pleased to put our out-of-date store-cupboard goods to use.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 Out-of-date spices, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda, mustard, ketchup and some poster paint.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.