How To Make Witch Potions For Kids

With summer holidays on hold, it’s time to look a bit closer to home for fun activities to keep children entertained.

Whether it’s a summer science experiment or a Halloween highlight, witch’s potions are always a fantastically fun way to ignite kids’ imaginations. These potion-making activities are easy for kids to join in with and won’t break the bank.

From frightfully fizzy brews to perfectly perfumed potions, these spooky shenanigans are sure to be a hit and are a great way to spend an afternoon or two. Grab a pointy hat and discover your inner Harry Potter or Mildred Hubble!

This simple mixture uses common kitchen items that will make a magic mess.

Note: This one's not for drinking.

What you’ll need: glass containers, white vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, washing-up liquid, food colouring, a spoon, and a large tray.

Here’s How You Make It:

1) This recipe might get messy, so set up the containers on the large tray. You can also do the experiment outside instead.

2 ) Fill each jar up halfway with white vinegar.

3) Pour some washing-up liquid into each jar. The more you put in, the fizzier it’ll be so be careful not to add too much!

4) Add a few drops of food colouring to the containers. Mix and match to get the colours you want.

5) Put a large spoonful of bicarbonate of soda into each jar. Watch as the contents fizz, foam, and rise up like a mini volcano!

Mix it up a bit with these cool colour-changing potions!

Note: This one's not for drinking.

What You’ll Need: red cabbage water, four glass beakers, spoons, bicarbonate of soda, white vinegar, and a large tray.

Here’s How You Make It:

1) To get red cabbage water, boil a red cabbage and let it steep for thirty minutes.

2) Pour the cabbage water into the four beakers. Fill the first almost fully, the second three-quarters full, the third halfway full, and the fourth a quarter full.

3) Pour the water into the last three beakers, so that each beaker is as full as the first. This means that each container will have a different concentration of cabbage water.

4) Mix one teaspoon of white vinegar into each beaker. Make sure the kids do this part, as it is the first chance to see the potions changing colours right before their eyes!

5) Use one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda in each of the beakers. The potions should be changing colour again!

Top Tip: It’s a good idea to make sure the beakers are on a large tray in case any of them fizz over.

6) Put more white vinegar or bicarbonate of soda in the mixture to see the colours change even more. Feel free to pour some of the fizzy potions away to make space to add more vinegar or bicarbonate of soda.

These quick potions will serve as a delicious brew for a summer party or a Halloween celebration.

Note: This one is drinkable (and yummy!)

What You’ll Need: orange/lime sherbet ice cream, orange/lime concentrate, orange/lime soda, quirky straws, and other eerie decorations.

Here’s How You Make It:

1) This cool recipe only takes a couple of minutes to craft. Mix the sherbet, fruity concentrate, and soda together well to create your magic drink. Use orange or lime to make it either orange or green.

2) Add a quirky straw and any other decorations you can find, such as plastic eyeballs or gummy worms, and your Ghostly Green Potions will be fit for all thirsty witches.

Let the kids take the lead with this great party activity!

Note: This one's not for drinking.

What You’ll Need: Various sizes of glass jars with lids, food colouring, glitter, distilled water, natural ingredients such as rose petals, herbs, and berries, and glue.

Here’s How You Make It:

1) Prepare the jars by filling them halfway with distilled water.

2) Get the kids to add food colouring - our first magical ingredient. Use only a few drops for lighter colours or more for a darker shade.

3) Encourage them to sprinkle glitter, herbs, or any other witchy ingredients you have lying around. Plastic insects or eyeballs, which can be found in many Halloween craft stores, are a suitably spooky addition!

4) Seal the containers shut with glue and the Wicked Witch’s Potions will be finished.

Watch as the elements separate to form supernatural potions.

Note: This one's not for drinking.

What You’ll Need: A glass jar, vegetable oil, distilled water, food colouring, glitter, antacid tablets.

Here’s How You Make It:

1) Fill the jar a third of the way full with distilled water.

2) Pour vegetable oil to fill most of the jar. Oil and water do not mix, which helps to further the magic of this experiment.

3) Use some food colouring to give the brew a magic glow. If you have a group of kids, you could get each kid to make a differently coloured mixture by using varying amounts of food colouring and multiple colours.

4) Get a fizzing antacid tablet and drop it into the jar and watch as the bubbles fizz.

5) Sprinkle some glitter and another antacid tablet. The glitter and bubbles should rise to the top, creating a magical effect!

This recipe is out of this world! Reach for the stars with a galaxy in a bottle.

Note: This one's not for drinking.

What You’ll Need: A glass container or bottle, water, plenty of cotton balls, acrylic paint, and silver glitter.

Here’s How You Make It:

1) Fill the container a third of the way with water.

2) Add one tablespoon of acrylic paint to the container and stir it. Kids can choose whatever colours they'd like, but it'll work best with darker colours that you would find in the night sky, such as blue, purple, and black.

3) Shake some silver glitter into the container and mix it well. The glitter will serve as starry additions to the mini galaxy.

4) Rip the cotton balls up and push them into the container. Push them down well so they absorb most of the water.

5) Repeat steps one to four for the rest of the container, using different colours of acrylic paint. Screw the lid on tight and kids will have their very own multicoloured galaxy in a bottle!

Little witches and wizards will love this sweet-smelling concoction.

Note: This one's not for drinking.

What You'll Need: Glass containers with lids, water, washing up liquid, shampoo, hand lotion, honey, herbs, or other sweet-smelling ingredients.

Here's How You Make It:

1) Pour enough water to fill one-third of the glass.

2) Add fragrant ingredients like shampoos and hand lotions to give the mixture a rosy aroma. Kids could also use flower petals or herbs to give the potion some variety.

3) Put washing up liquid into the concoction. Screw the lid on and shake it up to get the bubbles moving. Carefully take the lid off and the Perfectly Perfumed Potion is complete!

These potions will look just like they've been left behind by witches from centuries ago!

Note: This one's not for drinking.

What You'll Need: Unique bottles with cork stoppers, a glass container, water, sugar syrup, food colouring, large labels, black and brown permanent markers, and scissors.

Here's How You Make It:

1) Mix together the potions by using a variety of different food colouring and water in a glass container. Add sugar syrup to make the mixture thicker, or use more water to make it thinner. Pour each mixture into one of the bottles.

2) Using scissors, cut the labels into unique shapes. Kids can even tear the edges to give it a weathered look. Then, use a brown marker to colour the edges of the labels. To make it look more natural, you could push the label against the marker rather than colouring like normal.

3) Kids can use the black marker to write magical names for their potions.

Top Tip: Encourage children to practice on scrap paper to figure out a witchy font before writing on the label.

4) Stick the labels onto the bottles and close them using the cork tops. All the bottles together will look just a shelf in a witch's cave!