How to Extend the Magic of Harry Potter Books With Playing and Writing

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“Expelliarmus!” shouts one daughter to her friend, pointing a wand at her.

In our house, Harry Potter isn’t just a book to read, it’s hours of imaginative play.It’s the world’s best loved chapter book series and the perfect book for reading, pretend play, and creative writing.

Act Out Harry Potter Scenes

Help your kids with new ideas to get started playing. Ideas like imagining you’re in the book as a character. Think new problems, new setting, or new situations.
examples:
– a class with the same teacher but with different lessons
– backyard Quidditch
– Harry Potter meets Percy Jackson
If your kids don’t want to be the Harry Potter characters themselves, maybe they’d want to use LEGO characters instead.

Add In Props

AJ wears her Hogwarts robe if she’s a student. (Although lately she’s been Snape.) You can find robes online, both new and used.

We found this great tutorial on Deviant Art to make Harry Potter wands. The kids had been using sticks for wands but now they’re using these fancier wands. Here’s how to make them.

Hot glue, beads, and chopsticks

When hot glue dries, paint.

You’re ready for magic!

Write About Harry Potter

Make Up New Chapters and Stories
My students loved to write new chapters and books about their beloved Harry Potter characters. Many kids even have their own blogs or participate in fan fiction websites (here’s another one) devoted to Harry Potter.

Write Harry Potter Quizes
Test your friends’ knowledge by writing trivia quizes.

Read About Harry Potter

Have you seen the books about making the Harry Potter movies? They’re awesome!

Or how about the books that Harry would read?

Cook Harry Potter Food

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook doesn’t have a ton of kid-friendly recipes but AJ does enjoy the cinnamon rolls and fluffy pancakes. Yum!

Check out this list of books like Harry Potter.

Try some Harry Potter Experiments!

Write Harry Potter spells!

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9 Comments

  1. We are BIG Harry Potter fans in our house, so I am loving this post! Those wands are beautiful. Going to feature this on my weekly Kids Co-Op post and pin to my “Harry Potter Obsession” board on Pinterest.

  2. My kids loved playing with the wands. Wish I had this post then to have them make their own. They stopped Harry Potter though … there was a huge phase of play acting The Hunger Games right around the movie. I like Harry Potter games better though!

    The boys book club played Quidditch using brooms and a ball along the beach. I heard that was a blast.

  3. We have so many Harry Potter moments at my house. They sort of meld from one character to the next. I’m always Mrs. Weasley, the knitting/cooking type. These wands are wonderful and who wouldn’t love cinnamon rolls. Here’s wishing all of you many happy days inside the hallowed halls of Hogwarts.
    /Valarie

  4. Melissa…I LOVE this post! We will definitely be making wands. The boys wanted to buy some expensive wand on Amazon (I was shocked at how expensive it was), and I told them we had a yard full of sticks that needed to picked up (boring mom!). NOW, I’m going to be “creative mom” thanks to Ms. Taylor, the REAL creative! THANKS!

  5. My older two used to run around the house with wands, putting spells on each other endlessly! They made up their own fake Latin spells and had to explain to each other what they meant. (Vocabulary practice!) They also got a lot of exercise.

    My daughter also loved making her own school schedules for the Hogwarts classes she had to take each day. She did this again and again…

    Glad to see you’ve connected some fan fiction sites, Melissa! those can be such great inspiration for kids who don’t typically like writing.