For two and a half years now, I’ve been adding to my son’s Potions Kit (think Harry Potter). He loves this thing and plays with it all the time, especially with one of his neighborhood friends. It originally consisted of mostly different colors of glitter, salt, a few interesting-looking and unfamiliar spices, and (my personal favorite) an empty bottle labeled “Unicorn Breath”. Last Christmas I added watered-down food coloring, several samples from Demeter — a perfume company that carries scents like “Old Library” and “Dirt” — and a little tube of citric acid and one of baking soda. Those last two were big hits because they DO THINGS when you put them in a potion together.
Other things I’ve used:
[ul]
[li]shredded white iridescent mylar (Unicorn Hair) [/li][li]milkweed pod fluff (Phoenix Down)[/li][li]little iridescent plastic cabochons (Dragon Scales)[/li][li]cream of tartar (Base)[/li][/ul]
Today is my son’s 8th birthday and I’m still putting together the next refill. I have a batch of samples from I Hate Perfume (similar to Demeter) on the way. Can you think of anything else I can put in a little plastic bottle, put a parchment label on, and present as an ingredient for magic? Must be kid safe and shelf stable; bonus point if it’s a household item or cheaply/easily obtainable; two bonus points if it doesn’t have to be strained out before a superannuated potion is dispatched down the drain; super max bonus points if it actually does stuff; honorable mention if it can be labeled in such a way as to appeal to both appeal to eight-year-old boys AND somehow evoke a Harry Potteresqueness, but don’t bother suggesting Unicorn Farts because I am already all over that one.