
Recently Vin and I caught a reading of George’s Marvelous Medicine at our local library. Vinnie loved the story; we brought it home and read a chapter each night before bedtime. One of our favourite things to do is turn stories into playtime so I knew we would end up playing along as we read.
George’s Marvelous Medicine really lends itself to concoction making. We read through the description of George’s cupboard raiding, looking for disgusting ingredients and then looked in our own cupboards.
Using empty bottles in the recycling, I gave Vin coloured water, milk, vinegar, and baking soda, along with washing up liquid, lemon juice, almond essence, face cream and toothpaste, aiming for a range of different colours, scents and textures. Talk about a sensory experience. I also knew from a recent baking soda experiment that some of the ingredients would react with each other to create different effects.
I set out measuring scoops and a big mixing bowl, then Vin and his friend started concocting. By the end of our playtime, we had a gross vibrant pink, curdled, bubbly, frothy mixture. The kiddos totally had a blast, and chattered away about “making horrible medicine for grandma” as they played.


Bio: Charlotte is a twenty-something mum to Little Vin, early years childminder, playdough maker and believer in the power of playdates. Check out the fun over at Make, Do & Friend, on Facebook, Twitter, G+ & Pinterest.
9 Responses
What great play, I think I am going to have to dig out all my unused hand creams and lotions for Goblin, its such a great idea. And I am so impressed that Vinnie will listed to such long books.
Thanks for linking this to Kids Co-op
I love the way this activity extends on the story and let’s children put their imaginations into action. Thanks for sharing.
My 4th grade daughter and all her friends loved Roald Dahl last year and that would have made a really fun book club.
George’s Marvelous Medicine was one of their favorites. They also loved The BFG, Mathilda and Danny The Champion of the World. It’s strange that they didn’t want to read the more famous ones like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Maybe the movie ruined it for them.
What a great idea! My children loved all of the Dahl’s books.
Looks like fun! It’s wonderful that your 2.5 year old can listen to a chapter book! I’ll try that one with my 5 year old grandson who is coming to visit this weekend! Renee
Your child can be a future scientist. His imagination is awesome.