Summer Fun Mini-Theme: Hogwarts MiniCamp Part 4

We've been busy wizards and witches here at Hogwarts MiniCamp and it's been a lot of fun! But it's not all Polyjuice Potions and Quidditch practice here! The students have been working on the arts and writing as well in some magical and creative ways...










Maurader's Map: If there's one thing that captures the interest and imagination of a little wizard in training, it's a map! Even better if it's a very long and fancy looking one like Maurader's Map. I may or may not have stayed up way too late one night last week printing, constructing and folding my own replica of Maurader's Map, and thanks to YouTube, you can, too! You can also just set out some fun prints of clip art, paper, glue and tape and maybe some nice calligraphy pens and markers for your younger map makers to use and create their own replicas of Maurader's Map. S took some wonderful creative license and made his own treasure map for a backyard scavenger hunt to find The Sorcerer's Stone (stay tuned for more on that...)


School's out for summer! No more pencils, no more books...but as for quills and ink and some clever ways to sneak in writing practice? Hogwarts MiniCamp has you covered!

All 3 of the young wizards here loved this one! We just used some craft feathers, black tempera paints and our Hogwarts journals.

What is growing inside this egg? A dragon, of course!
And for a fun and playful little craft activity, we made our own little pet dragons like Norbert in the first book! We used toilet paper tubes, yarn, cut up paper straws and pony bead stoppers for the legs and strings and uncut paper straws for the handle. The boys used tape and stickers for decorating and we also added in some orange tissue paper flames. Unlike the book, however, we kept our pet dragons and trained them at Dragon Obedience School. Norbert, Suzie and Ofal were very busy in their lessons last week and it was great fun and amusement for all. This project was pretty heavy in adult support and assembly but well worth it for the amount of fun we all had playing with our pet dragons afterward. Older children can definitely do more independently and even help out with younger ones.

Speaking of fantastic beasts, we also had a lot of fun at our Fantastic Beasts and Where to Make Them station at the beginning of the week. I set out our recycling bin full of "treasures for the taking," some pipe cleaners, stickers, colored tape, scissors and glue and 3 young wizards ready to play and create. C had a lot of fun emptying the recycling bin and playing with everything! Y and S both had a lot of fun constructing their own fantastic beasts. S used pipe cleaners to construct a friend for Pickett. Y loved using tape and pipe cleaners together for his critters.

And for some lovely more process-based art with a very short supply list...you can make your own Wizard Wands! We took a wand walk in a nearby wooded area. The perfect wand must choose its wizard and the boys each found a "wand" (stick) they felt most drawn to. They also selected one for C. When we got home, they used a sanding block to smooth any rough parts and acrylic paints to decorate their wands. If you want to use these outdoors, I'd recommend a layer of varnish or spray adhesive.

It's fun to make a piece of art; it's even more fun to use a piece of art. Our wands have been very busy here at Hogwarts MiniCamp and so have we! Come back next time to see what else these wizards are working on. Until then...

Happy Playing!