Where All Magic Comes From
My child, Wednesday, had yet another birthday, and wished it to have a mystical, magical theme. As my wife and I both believers in anything worth doing is worth over-doing, one of the activities was a “potions class.” Each child was given a bottle with a potion base (red cabbage juice with glitter) and a magic stirrer (glow stick). Once every one had activated their magic stirrer, I describe their two options, a flight potion or and underwater breathing potion. The kids chose either a dragon or a mermaid scale (flat glass marbles, used in flower arranging), and then I showed them the main ingredients. A clear liquid (vinegar) was added to a goblet of potion base for flight, turning it pink. A white powder (baking soda) was added to another goblet of potion base, turning it blue. Each kid then added their chosen ingredients, and watched wide-eyed as the liquid in their bottles in their hands changed color.
This turned out to be the perfect level of activity for this age group. Just enough personal choices to feel the hand a hand in things, but not too much to be overwhelming. Nothing was toxic, so I didn’t worry about them handling any of the ingredients, but none of it smelled particularly appetizing, so no one tried to drink them. Everyone got actually do something, and watch their choices have an effect right in front of them. And they got something cool to take home.
It was, in a word, magical.
Each and every red cabbage leaf contain a chemical called anthocyanin, which works as indicator for acidity. Adding acid like vinegar turns it pink, while adding a base turns it blue. Even explaining the science didn’t dilute the joy, because a real transformation still happened in front of them. We weren’t mixing paint, we were mixing chemicals. The wonder was still intact. You could see it in every child’s eyes.
Cabbage. Vinegar. Baking soda. Bottles and bits of glass from the craft store. Glitter. Glowsticks. Humble ingredients. But maybe that’s where all magic comes from.
This weeks’s page of Scoesby Cuts a Rug contains no magic. Unless you consider a raccoon and fox driving through the woods, as some people might, or if you find comics as a medium as magical, which I do. The next page is already on the Patreon.
