Readers Write - Harry Potter Crafts

Reader's Write

"My kids love Harry Potter, what kind of crafts can I do with them?"

What to do about the Harry Potter craze? Take advantage of it! You don't have to fall into the trappings of commercialization. There's plenty to do with your kids without spending a lot of money.

And if your kids are still not convinced about the thrill of reading, try some of these Harry Potter crafts to peak their interest.

glasses_harry_small.gif (5482 bytes) You can make Harry Potter glasses. They are even held together with tape! Make Yarn Bugs or paper doll Friends that look like Harry and his friends.

Our visitors had many more good ideas for Harry Potter crafts. Here are some of the ideas with thanks to all who contributed.

--Terri

Decorate baggies and fill with many different flavored Jelly Bellies. Label the bag B.Botts Many Flavored Beans. Your kids will know exactly what I am talking about."
--Jeri, Brussels, Belgium

I used a large piece of fun foam and curled it to make a cone to fit child's head. Trim off excess. Hot glue to edges together to hold cone shape. Use other scraps of fun foam to cut out various celestials shapes (stars, moons, etc) and glue them on the hat. Use glitter glue to create swirls, lightening bolts, etc for added effect. Any sequins, bits of old sparkly jewelry bits, buttons etc for extra embellishments.
--Wendi, Chilliwack, BC Canada

"We decided we needed a special bookmark for our books. I took a narrow craft stick, painted it black with a white tip. Now we had a magic wand book mark.Of course the kids had fun casting spells with it too."
--Bonnie, Conroe,TX

"Help the kids make a diorama of a scene from the books."
--Jenna, NE

"Make a snich by cutting a gold circle and white wings from craft foam. Hot glue the wings onto the circle and put a pin on it."
--Anonymous

"Make Invisible ink: Dip toothpick into lemon juice and write message on paper.Make it appear by warming over toaster or in oven. Make a foaming potion to get rid of odors: Vinegar and baking soda.
--Bonnie, Conroe,TX

"To make a cauldron, Paint the lower half of a Kool-Aid container black and discard the other half. Glue black beads onto the bottom for feet."
--Anonymous

"How about 'Lumos'? Make a wand from a cardboard pant hanger, a penlight and some black and white tape"
--Mary Lou, Bellevue, WA

"Make a crystal ball using a baby food jar with a small ornament glued to the inside of the lid. Add water, a bit of glycerin and glitter. Seal the lid with glue and turn the jar over."
--Darlene, Barre MA

"Use large stick pretzels as wands. Decorate the tip of them with icing and sprinkles."
--Jane, Jacksonville, Florida

Melt chocolate chips to cover pointed ice cream cone. Let dry. Fill with small candies. Cover a large round cookie with chocolate and place it on top of the ice cream cone to seal it. Let dry. Turn the cone over and you have a surprise filled wizard hat!"
--Debra, Escondido, CA

Make an owl out of craft foam. Use pipe cleaners for the feet, curling front toes under. Use the claws to hold small scrolls. Friends and family can leave messages to the owner of the owl. The owl can also be 'sent' to someone the owner wishes to to send a message to."
--Rebecca, San Angelo, Texas

"Put baking soda in a small container labeled 'Powdered Horn of Unicorn'. Color some vinegar green with food coloring and label 'Sap of the Whomping Willow'. Put the 'unicorn horn' in a little place caldron then add the 'Sap'. If you put in a little dish soap, it would look even better (Add this after the baking soda). The dish soap could be called 'Flobberworm Slime'. Once the vinegar is added, the contents will appear to ""boil"" out of the cauldron. A great way to incorporate science into a craft.
--Rebecca & son, Tony, Texas

QUIDDITCH FOR MUGGLES
So we are not all Wizards !! That does not mean we can't have a really good go at enjoying a game of Quidditch ! Here is a version of the game converted for us Muggles (non magic folk) who (sadly) cannot fly on broomsticks !

Equipment:
1 Quaffle - a large football sized foam ball (for indoors - you might try a light football or beach ball for outside)
2 Bludgers - tennis sized foam balls (keep these as foam as they are used to throw at players)
1 Golden Snitch - a very small, very bouncy ball about the size of a large marble. Alternatively an odd shaped small ball that has an unpredictable bounce.
Some kind of goal at each end of the Hall or field.
A loud whistle for the referee!

Players:
Each team needs -
1 Keeper - (a goalkeeper). SAVES GOALS ANY WAY SHE CAN.
3 Chasers - (shooters or center forwards) CHASERS ONLY TOUCH THE QUAFFLE.
2 Beaters - (essentially defenders to put off the Chasers) BEATERS ONLY TOUCH THE BLUEGRASS.
1 Seeker - ( a loner who has only to catch the Golden Snitch) SEEKERS ONLY TOUCH THE GOLDEN SNITCH.

Object of the Game.
Basically using either a 'bouncing the ball as you run' technique or a 'pass it in the air like volleyball' one (depending on your Hall/Field and the bounciness of your Quaffle, the Chasers have to score goals. The Keepers have to stop them. The Beaters throw the Bludgers at the Chasers on the opposite team. If they hit a Chaser then the Chaser has to stop still or sit for the count of three (without touching the Quaffle). This is the equivalent of falling off of a broomstick! It even has to work that way if the Chasers are hit by their own Beaters by mistake. The Seeker waits to see when and where the Golden Snitch might appear and has to try to catch it. She basically ignores the rest of the game. If she catches the Golden Snitch her team have won as it is worth so many points.

The Golden Snitch is thrown on intermittently by two players, one each side of the field of play. They bounce it to each other and have to retrieve it quickly before the Seekers have a chance to catch it. There are no rules as to how many times the Golden Snitch is thrown, it just makes brief and occasional appearances.

Scoring:
A goal scores 10 points.
If the Golden Snitch is caught then it scores 150. This effectively is the end of the game.
(We found it took about ten minutes per game on average)

Tips:
This is very much a contact game, so keep the balls as light as possible - foam works well but the Quaffle sized one is a poor bouncer.- still better than bruised kids.
You can vary the numbers if needed by adding more Chasers and Beaters. However there should only ever be ONE Seeker per team.
You will need to be subtle about playing the Golden Snitch. Pick moments of confusion when the Seekers attention is taken off of you - or have two or three Golden Snitches (only use one at a time) so that each Guider has one and they don't know which of you is going to throw it on. It would help if you had some kind of ribbon sash to mark the players - the kind that are used for Netball. (I am going to make some out of Blanket edging ribbon - its cheap. Maybe a marker pen could be zig-zagged on the Chasers ones?)"
--Kathy H, Harvington Guides

"Make a quill pen from a feather and practice penmanship with food dyes. Take time to make bubble solution and pipe cleaner wands. My kids started a Harry Potter Club and made paper dolls of each character. They even wrote a play and preformed in costumes. The possibilities are endless. We even created a journal from brown paper bags to use as a playbill."
--Latecia Herrold, Barboursville, WV

"The Elusive Golden Snitch: Mold clay into A round ball, no bigger than a golf ball. With a toothpick, engrave the words 'Harry Potter' onto the ball. Poke in white feathers and pinch clay around the base of the feathers. Let clay dry or bake in oven. Paint snitch with gold acrylic paint. and roll wet snitch into gold glitter. Let dry."
--Dee Dee, California

"Make brooms! Take a stick or paper and roll it up. Paste/glue on some weeds or thin straw!"
--Katelynn, New Jersey