Magicians use secrets. Some secrets are hidden objects, some are special ways of holding things, and some are clever maths. The biggest secret of all is attention: a magician gets you to look at one thing while the secret happens somewhere else. Then they practise until it looks like nothing at all.
What do I need to start doing magic?
Almost nothing. A deck of cards, a coin, a pencil, a rubber band, a paper cup and some paper will get you through dozens of tricks. A wand is fun and completely optional.
The Colour-Changing Potion for kids: the whole trick
You pour a purple potion from one glass into another and it turns green on the way. Pour it back and it goes purple again. It's a level 2 conjurer trick for ages 6 to 11 (grades 1st–5th), takes 10 minutes to learn, and needs 4 things you already have. Flick, the shop's rabbit, reads every step aloud with a picture, so a child can follow it alone.
The secret
A spoon of baking soda is already waiting in the second glass. Purple grape juice turns green when something alkaline goes into it, and it is the juice doing the changing, not you.
What you need
Grape juice
Baking soda
A clear glass or plastic cup
Water
Get ready, before anybody is watching
Put the baking soda in the second glass before the show and give it a swirl so it sits flat and invisible.
How to do it
Stir a spoon of the baking soda into the empty two glasses before anyone is watching.
Mix the grape juice with a little the water in the other two glasses and show it round.
Say the magic word and pour the purple potion into the prepared two glasses.
Hold it up. The potion is green. Pour it back and it goes purple again.
Magic words to say
“Purple. We're all agreed it's purple? Good, because in about four seconds it won't be, and I want witnesses.”
Pro tips
Hold the green glass up against something white. Colour changes read far better with a plain background behind them.
Red cabbage water works even better than grape juice if a grown-up will boil some for you, and keeps in the fridge for days.
This potion is for looking at. Set it down and wash the glasses out afterwards.
If something goes wrong
If the colour barely shifts, there was not enough baking soda. Say "needs more power", stir another spoon in, and pour again.
Safety notes
This stains. Put an old cloth down first.
A potion is for looking at, not for drinking.
A bit messy.
Sit at a table.
No fire, no flames and nothing sharp in a child's hand anywhere in the Magic Shop. Nothing ever goes in a mouth, a nose or an ear.
The science behind the trick
Grape juice and red cabbage contain a dye that changes colour depending on what it is mixed with. Something sour like vinegar or lemon turns it pink; something alkaline like baking soda turns it green or blue. Scientists use exactly this to tell one from the other, and they call it an indicator.
What kind of trick is this?
🌈 Transformation. Something changes into something else. Almost every trick ever invented is one of eight kinds, and knowing which one you're watching is how magicians work out how a new trick is done.
The skill it teaches:The big finish. End on your best one, then stop. Perform it and it counts towards the Kitchen Alchemist badge.
Questions about the colour-changing potion
How do magicians do their tricks?
Magicians use secrets. Some secrets are hidden objects, some are special ways of holding things, and some are clever maths. The biggest secret of all is attention: a magician gets you to look at one thing while the secret happens somewhere else. Then they practise until it looks like nothing at all.
What do I need to start doing magic?
Almost nothing. A deck of cards, a coin, a pencil, a rubber band, a paper cup and some paper will get you through dozens of tricks. A wand is fun and completely optional.