A Hyer Love: February 2018

Happy 8th Birthday!

Henry has been gobbling up Harry Potter books to my delight for the last several months. Although I figured we could be done with big friend parties at this age I could not resist his request for a Harry Potter Party. The boys and I had a great time planning and preparing this summer.

The Invitations:

Hogwarts Acceptance letters delivered by owl post of course.

Hagrid and Fang greeted each guest as they arrived to the party.

Platform 9 3/4:

Ollivander's Wand Shop:

Each student picked a wrapped wand then opened them all at once.

Wands were made from dowels and hot glue. My boys had a great time painting them and practicing their spells all summer.

The Sorting Hat:

A baby monitor was placed inside the sorting hat. The sorting hat called out the house of each student as it was placed on their head. We divided everyone up according to houses for the games and of course their was a house competition with points being awarded to each house for the various games and activities.

Dinner in the Great Hall:

Notice the floating candle sticks!

It was a wonderful feast! Mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, corn on the cob, chik-fil-a chicken nuggets and fruit cups were served for dinner. Butter beer was the drink of choice.

Time for Class!

Potions:

Swelling Solution-this potion causes things to grow and expand.

Ingredients:

Water

Flobberworm mucus-dish soap

Ground Lavender Root-baking soda

Volatile Solution-white vinegar

Brewing Instructions:

1. Scoop Ground Lavender Root into cauldron. (2 Tbsp)

2. Add water (2 Tbsp)

3. Add three drops of Flobberworm mucus.

4. Tap wand above cauldron two times.

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5. Pour in volatile solution (1/4 cup)

Transfiguration:

Each house designated a wizard to do the transfiguration charm (or sculpting).
The selected person draws a card. When the timer starts each house begins transforming their play dough to the object on the card as their housemates try to guess what they have sculpted.

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Care of Magical Creatures:

Game 1. Flobberworm Races.

Students named thier flobber worm and cheered him on. The first flobber worm to wiggle outside the edges of the large circle was the champion.

Game 2. Care of Magical Creature Hunt

Due to an unfortunate mishap in Care of Magical Creatures all of the Magical Creatures are on the loose in the grounds near Hagrids hut.

The Houses had one minute to find as many magical creatures as possible. Each magical creature is worth a different amount of points. The house with the most points wins and is awarded 20 points for the House Cup competition.

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Charms:

We learned the levitation charm “Wingardium Leviosa,” a charm used to make objects fly or levitate.

Game 1: Levitating Balloons

Wizards will practice the levitation charm on balloons. The object of the game is to keep the balloon from touching the floor.

Game 2: Levitating Bubbles

Add dry ice and very warm water to a bowl. Have students partner up. One wizard will gently blow bubbles while their partner applies the levitation charm. See how many bubbles you can get to levitate at the top of the bowl.

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Herbology:

We identified and explored the plants in the Greenhouse through a matching game.

Plants included Dittany, Mandrake, Spiky Bushes and Venomous Tentacula. This was a little too complicated for the kids. Next time I will just let them plant an herb like basil or cilantro.

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