31st July is a big day for Harry Potter fans. In J.K. Rowling’s fictional “Harry Potter” world, Harry was born on 31st July 1980 (it’s also author Rowling’s birthday). Many fans will be keen to mark the occasion, so here’s a few ideas for holding a Harry Potter themed day at home.
Guest Blog from Caroline – Doncaster Mumbler
Did you know May 2nd is International Harry Potter Day! This is apparently the day that Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord. In the books, the battle takes place on 2nd May 1998.
So it was a brilliant day for us to hold a lockdown Harry Potter Day for our Mini Mumblers (8 & 6) who LOVE Harry Potter. We have a rule at the moment that we can’t watch the next film until the book has been read…eldest Mini Mumbler is currently tackling Book 4 (which is HUGE!) and the littlest Mini Mumbler has been having a chapter a night of book 2 read to him and managed to finish it last week. We promised that Saturday night would be the ‘Chamber of Secrets’ movie night!
Hogwarts at Home…
Set the Scene
Signs put up around the garden – a good chunk of imagination needed, but you could go all out with the decor if you wanted to. We had signs for the Griffindor Common Room, Quidditch Pitch, Potions Class, Chamber of Secrets etc.
A parcel – we had ordered some Harry Potter clothes and wrapped them in brown paper – so that they looked as if they were delivered by owl. An easy alternative to kick start the day would be to just wrap up all of the activities, crafts, DVD etc for the day ahead.
Some bunting – we had printed off some bunting template and the kids coloured it in Harry Potter Colours and designs.
You could choose to have Harry Potter costumes on, or make capes and hats.
Create a map and some clues – write a map that will lead you to the Forbidden Forest to find twigs for your broomsticks. We hid clues around the garden.
We got caught in the whomping willow!!
For our broomsticks we used some old mop/broom handles that we had sanded down, twigs that we collected on our walk and string/twine.
Flight Training
Before any witches or wizards could get on their brooms, we had some circuits to do as a warm up (disguised as flight training). We set cones out and the kids had to run around them and in between them, do a few circuits of the climbing frame etc. Once they had done this they were able to practice on their broomsticks.
Quidditch Match
This basically involved them flying around whilst we threw soft balls at them! They also had to throw tennis balls through a hoop.
Harry Potter Lunch
This was a normal ‘picky lunch’ which the kids always love and eat lots of. I just stuck some labels in to the food – so ‘Peeve’s Pork Pie’ & ‘Slytherin Sandwiches’ etc. You can be as creative with this as you like though!
Baking
We found a great recipe for Harry Potter Cookie Wands. The kids loved making these – they decided to decorate them with icing, sprinkles and gold spray (basically what we could find in the cupboard). We also melted a bit of easter egg and dipped some in that. They were delicious but quite filling!
Harry Potter Activities
Last, but not least….
The Harry Potter Movie!
Be warned…they are LONG movies! We put the ‘Chamber of Secrets’ on at 7pm and it was 10pm before it finished…so plan accordingly. Littlest Mumbler just about kept his eyes open. We watched The Chamber of Secrets and loved it! My 6 year old really enjoyed it, although I know that my 8 year old would have hated it a couple of years ago – she’d have been too scared…so totally depends on your children. I think that the third film might be the last we watch for a while until they are a bit older as I’ve been told they get a bit darker!
Thanks so much to our guest blogger Caroline. If you have family or friends in Doncaster then be sure to let them know about the Doncaster Mumbler website.
There’s plenty on Gateshead Mumbler to help keep little ones (and big ones!) busy, check here for more ideas and info for playgroups, classes and fun days out from tots to teens!
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