Induction+Radio: Can we build it?

Hello all! Lately I have been trying my hand at some "wireless energy transfer" a.k.a induction, and I'm having one hell of a time. Let me start by saying that detailed information concerning a build/schematic/video or really anything, is sparse. On the other hand it does return a ton of Google hits, however like most anything electronics based that sounds kind of cool or catchy the 'free energy' people go nuts. Which by the way induction is not free energy, it's trapping electrical charge in a magnetic field which reduces the flow of charge a.ka conventional current.

Here is where I am struggling with the build and what exactly I need to build in order to achieve my results, which quite simply is just to observe the effect taking place. So all that means is to light an LED or a lamp or really anything to give a visual representation of what is taking place. The focus on the visual is to show my son this and to hopefully inspire him to get into electronics, science, or really anything other than Minecraft/TV.

I'll explain what I know, what I've tried to do, and what I plan on doing to try to get my results. The first is that I am not sure if it is the inductance that is most important or if the frequency is the most important factor to go after. I would think it would be the total inductance of each coil, since the more inductance there is the more charge there is preserved in the magnetic fields. However, resonance/oscillation seems to be very critcal here when trying induction and powering anything. I've tried hooking up a 9V AC @ 60Hz to power the primary coil which then induces current into a secondary coil. However, this yielded no results. My next attempt was to use a 555 timer to chop up 6V DC into a square-ish wave and have that drive the inductance in the primary coil. Again, no results.

I'm not sure what I need to do, however this is what I can say that will help me out tremendously: What frequency/frequencies do I need to be at? What should be my min or max inductance? (I believe the most I got was a couple hundred micro Henrys) I have tried using magnet wire however no gauge or really anything has made an impact. As I do not have an LC meter I cannot definitively say what the exact measurement was in each coil, only that I could observe and measure the frequency of the primary with an oscilloscope and a frequency counter.

Another idea had was to use an antenna instead of using some form of pulsed or alternating current. I have seen videos where people put an antenna to an LED and place it near a plasma ball for example, and the LED lights up. Pretty cool stuff, but I'm not sure if I can power an LED with an antenna as I do not think the electrical charge in radio waves is powerful enough to light the LED. I could be mistaken of course, but this is an idea that I would like to pursue at some point.

Really if anyone could lend some knowledge or help I would greatly appreciate it. For reference with this topic a search for wireless energy transfer will yield most of the information needed or wanted. Thank you for taking the time to read this post!