Brew potions

This is one of our favourites but it can get a little messy, so protect the table first. FYI – food colouring goes through newspaper (I probably should have been able to work this out beforehand).

It only takes a few minutes to set up and can spark hours of creative play.

What you need:

• Several transparent containers (the more they look like potions bottles the better).

• Food colouring.

• Optional extras: pebbles, leaves, petals – anything you think might help the magic (this also gives you a great excuse to head outside and forage first).

How you can try it:

• Half-fill the containers with water and lay out the ingredients.

• Let them start mixing, pouring and experimenting with different colours and textures.

• Encourage them to name and think about the effects of their concoctions – love, healing, laughter, protection, invisibility etc.

• They might decide to open a full-blown potion shop, or they might just stick to brewing – both are great.

• Bonus: try squeezing in a little writing practice by encouraging them to create labels for their potions.