Cauldron Potion
What you need
- a big mixing bowl, half full of water
- a drop of food colouring
- a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda
- a splash of vinegar
- a handful of dry leaves
- a big spoon
How to do it
- Put the bowl of water on a tray or wipe-clean mat on the floor and sit down beside it together.
- Drip one drop of food colouring onto a spoon yourself and let them tip it in, then stir to watch the potion change.
- Drop in the dry leaves and stir them round and round, counting the stirs out loud.
- Tip in a spoonful of bicarbonate of soda, then you pour in a splash of vinegar and watch it fizz.
- Keep stirring the fizz with the big spoon until the bubbles settle.
Why it matters
A potion they make themselves is pouring, stirring and watching things change, the same hands-on noticing that later turns into asking 'what happens if?'
What they're learning
- Stirring
- Moving a big spoon round a heavy bowl of water works the shoulder and wrist together, the same control they use for stirring a cake mix.
- Cause and effect
- Seeing a drop turn the water orange and the vinegar make it fizz shows them that adding one thing changes another.
- New words
- Fizz, bubble, swirl and pour are action words they hear and say while doing them.
What to look for
Watch for them stopping to stare at the fizz before stirring again. It is a potion to stir, don't sip, so keep the spoon out of mouths and faces back from the bowl.
A tip
Mop up drips as you go so the floor does not get slippery, and keep the vinegar bottle with you.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: skip the fizz and just stir leaves round the coloured water
Harder: let them add the bicarbonate of soda a spoonful at a time and see if the fizz gets bigger
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Sensory activities · Activities for 2 year olds · Toddler activities with a bowl · Toddler activities with a spoon · Toddler water activities