Tag Archives: spell

Tiny Potter

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In addition to being super into show jumping story times, freaked out by clowns, and unusually influenced by a cookbook, I really really REALLY love miniatures (ask my daughter about my obsession with dollhouse cakes). So when MGA’S Mini Verse released a “Wizarding World: Harry Potter Make it Mini Potions Class” set, I was beyond thrilled to enter the miniature world of Hogwart’s.

The set, which is intended for ages 8+ and contains over 100+ pieces, retails for around $30. I’ll say it from the jump…the quality of the materials in this set was outstanding. The pieces were good quality plastic, felt substantial, had a lot of details, and were really pleasing to work with. Everything was packed extraordinarily well, with easy instructions printed on the outside of each of the parts containers.

However, there was one set of instructions floating free inside the box. While it did say “Read Me First!” in big letters, I honestly almost missed the piece of paper as I unpacked everything. Good thing I did spot it because it had all the information about resin, glue, and potions. I’m not sure why these instructions weren’t incorporated with the others. It would have been much easier to construct everything that way.

I must also say…this set puts you to WORK! One of the first steps is to lay each individual classroom floor tile using a pot of glue (cleverly disguised as a wooden bucket) and a mini float (which yes, know I am technically holding the wrong way in the photo).

I also had to lay each brick on the walls, using more glue and a mini trowel. Like the floor tiles, the spaces for the bricks were individually numbered, so matching each to its assigned space was easy.

At this point, I was honestly looking for Dobby the house elf to help me out. But I forged on, snapping together the pieces for the two bookcases, work table, and arranging all the little bottles and jars.

When the classroom was finished, it was time for the main event: concocting the mini potion! You had a choice of two: purple or teal. Following the instructions, I gathered all the equipment and ingredient bottles.

To make a potion, you have to pour the powder into the resin inside the cauldron, stir it, use tongs to add some color beads to an empty bottle, funnel the purple resin into said bottle which you then seal and tie a label on. What could possibly go wrong? Ummmmmmm…

Oh, I made a mess. The purple powder went everywhere, I dropped the funnel, everything got all over my fingers, my shirt, my desk. Snape would have absolutely deducted 50 points from Ravenclaw for my potions ineptitude. But when it was finally complete, it was a very pretty potion. I’m not sure if the resin was ultimately supposed to harden, but weeks later, the potion is still sloshing around in the bottle. So caretakers with curious children who like to unbottle things be warned. You may want to keep this particular potion far out of reach.

The amount of labor, glue, resin, and general potential for messiness leads me to suggest that this set for kids ages 10+ (but ok for 8 year-olds with adult assistance). As I mentioned before, the details on the set are exquisite and it’s fun to arrange and re-arrange the miniatures. This would be fantastic for a Harry Potter fan, and a great art kit to boot. 4.75 out of 5!

Olfactory Sorcery

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dragons bloodEnter the realm of mystery, magic, spells, sorcery, and…smoked paprika. That’s right. Never underestimate the POWER of roast chicory! First, we made herbal amulets. Then we votes with our noses. The burning question? Which spice smells most like dragon’s blood? There was some serious sniffing going on at To Be Continued, our weekly story time for 6-8 year-olds.

We read Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones (Greenwillow Books, 1977). When Cat Chant and his older sister Gwendolen become orphans, Cat is quite happy to settle down quietly in their village. But Gwendolen is set on ruling the world, and writes a mysterious letter to a powerful enchanter named Chrestomanci. To Cat’s surprise (and Gwendolen’s glee), Chrestomanci agrees to adopt the children and raise them in his magnificent castle. However, when Chrestomanci and his constituents fail to fawn over the spoiled Gwendolen, she launches a vengeful campaign to create magical mayhem. Things get even more complicated when Gwendolen departs to a parallel world, dragging her double (a girl named Janet), into Cat’s world. It’s up to Cat and Janet to set right all the problems Gwendolen’s created. But in the process, they uncover Gwendolen’s worst plot yet – one that puts Cat in grave danger.

For the hands-on portion of our program, we made these nifty herbal amulets. You can find instructions for that project here.

amuletBut there was an additional olfactory activity! In Charmed Life (and, in fact, all the books in the Chronicles of Chrestomanci series) dragon’s blood is one of the most powerful and dangerous substances in the known worlds. It’s described as having a powerful, distinct, and horrible odor, even when it’s dried into a powder.

So while purchasing the herbs for the amulets, I also bought several strong smelling, reddish-brown spices (it was an interesting shopping day, let me tell you). In the end, I decided on chipotle, roast chicory, smoked paprika, hot cayenne, and sumac. I put each spice in a plastic glass with a label. During the program, the kids sniffed the glasses and voted on which one they thought smelled like dragon’s blood.

There was quite a lot of yelling, laughing, and carrying-on, but in the end, we had our winner…sumac!

dragons blood votingIf you haven’t read Charmed Life, or anyone of the other books in the Chronicles of Chrestomani series, I can’t recommend them enough. I love how Diana Wynne Jones writes her characters and create her magic. I love her sense of humor and her amazing descriptions. The Pinhoe Egg is a book I re-read annually, because it’s like visiting family. Conrad’s Fate comes in a close second. It’s a bit like Downton Abbey…with magic!