Testing out the Potions Task

For the Harry Potter Escape Room, I plan to have my “students” go through a day at Hogwarts, including attending classes. Naturally, Potions class is one of the classes they will attend.

I found an amazing Potions task on this website (Covalent Moments) in which students have to solve a logic puzzle to know which two ingredients to mix to create a potion. The color potion that the mixed liquids creates matches to a word on a list, essentially giving them a password.

I thought this idea was so so so fun. Why? Because the students are supposed to mix blue and yellow liquids and it makes….PINK! Who would ever expect that??? This seemed very magical and perfect for a Harry Potter escape room!

I did have a few issues with the task as presented on the Covalent Moments website.

First, the website said we should print out colored dots so the students know what color each potion ingredient is supposed to be. That seemed problematic to me! I didn’t want printed colored dots! I wanted properly colored potion ingredients! Printed colored dots are NOT magical!

To address the color issue, I tested things out. See, there’s sciency sciency happenings such that cabbage juice (the “blue” liquid) is a natural pH indicator, so if you add substances that change the pH balance, the cabbage juice changes unexpected colors. In the case of the Potions task, the plan is to mix cabbage juice with lemon juice and then -surprise!- it turns pink! But…the issue is that blue cabbage juice isn’t blue. It’s purple. Why? Because it’s made with purple cabbages! I’ve never seen a blue cabbage before, so I don’t know where to purchase one to make blue juice!

I did some research and learned that baking soda changes pH level as well, and will therefore turn the purple cabbage juice blue. Perfect! Blue is what I need! Buuuuuut I remember the volcano science experiment from 4th grade! I know that if I mix baking soda with lemon juice it will foam up. Now, foaming will LOOK super cool in potions class, but it’s likely to make a big ol’ mess.

I experimented with things last weekend. I followed instructions online to make a “blue” (purple) cabbage juice – 4 cabbage leaves in a blender with one cup of water. This made a purple juice. I added some baking soda. It turned a darker purple. I added more baking soda. I eventually achieved a blue color. It was a pretty intense midnight blue.

And then I experimented over the sink. I added lemon juice. It foamed over like a majestic fourth grader’s paper mache volcano.

Not exactly what I want for an escape room.

I think making the students do potions over the kitchen sink just might ruin the magical aesthetic.

At this point though, I was out of purple/blue cabbage juice, so I decided I’d have to try again another day.

Another day came today!

Since the cabbage juice and baking soda had created such a deep midnight blue, I figured watering things down might just work.

Today I did 3 cabbage leaves to 3 cups of water. This created a purple juice. I then mixed in .5 tsp baking soda. This did the trick. I had a nice blue cabbage juice!

To control for foaming, I used just half a cup of the blue cabbage juice and half a cup of lemon juice. When I mixed them, it created a beautiful bright pink potion!

I’m so excited! I’m now confident that the potions mixing will turn out right. (I’ll probably experiment to make sure I have the ratios right on the day of the party as well).

Okay, but on to my second issue with the potions task as written by Covalent Moments.

Y’all.

I could NOT figure out the riddle the students are supposed to use to determine which two colors to mix.

Fact: I’m in my 40s and have a doctorate.

I probably SHOULD be able to solve it?

I will admit: I’ve always hated riddles. I don’t find them fun or entertaining. I HATED in elementary school when teachers or students wanted us to solve riddles. It’s possible that despite the fact I’m a grown adult with an advanced degree, I’m waaaaaay below average at riddles.

But the students at the party will be 10, so it seemed reasonable that if I couldn’t solve it (even if I am below average at riddles for an adult), it would probably be too hard for them.

So, I…destroyed the world by using Chat GPT to create a new easier riddle for them. I know, I try really hard not to use AI, but…I told you my riddle problems! There wasn’t any way I could write one myself!

And, my final issue with the potions task as written by Covalent Moments is this: The color of the resulting potion (pink) tells them which potion fits in their puzzle. Covalent Moments had a list of spells written in various colors, and the one in pink was the correct one. The problem I have? As I said, it was a list of SPELLS, not a list of POTIONS.

I know a normal person would not notice or care.

This is seriously a ridiculously cool escape room task even if the list is of spells. Buuuuuuut this is me we’re talking about, so I absolutely could not leave this as it was. I had to change the names of the spells to potions to make it match the Harry Potter theming that much better.

And now I’m getting pretty dang excited for potions class!