We recently embarked on one of our most fun book clubs ever: we read Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone.
My Big Helper worked with me to flesh out details of the book that we could bring to life. We spent several days making labels and creating things to turn my yard into a wizarding world.
The day of our book club event dawned bright and sunny with brilliant blue skies. The kids hurriedly donned their Hogwarts gear and ran outside.
After everyone had arrived, we kicked off the day with the Sorting Hat. I sewed it out of some khaki-colored felt and carefully put a small pocket on the inside of the hat. When it came time for our sorting, a friend called my phone, which we then hid in that pocket. As I loudly called each child’s name, he declared the house each child would go into. It was a very fun part of the day, and the kids cheered for their housemates as the sorting continued.
Following the Sorting and welcoming speeches, we moved onto the back deck for History of Magic. We decided to recreate most of the classes that Harry Potter and his friends attended, and we used this class to summarize and discuss the book.
The kids also decorated paper neckties that matched their individual houses. Then they wrote about what they thought they might see in the Mirror of Erised.
Potions class had us relocating to the driveaway, where we used a mixture of powders to create neat reactions.
They were very fun to watch!
Lunch was especially fun. We made many of the foods mentioned in this book, particularly those found on the lunch trolley on the Hogwarts Express, like Pumpkin Pasties …
Golden Snitches ….
and Pumpkin Juice.
We ended the day with a rousing game of Quidditch. We modified it a bit, of course, since our brooms don’t actually fly, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. They had a great time chasing their Snitch around our yard and trying to win the house cup.
The Harry Potter books have become cultural icons. They’re amazing works of literature, but they’re loads of fun, too. Give it a try and see what Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone can do for your book club.
That sounds like SO much fun!!
Thank you! The Harry Potter series has great potential for fun – and also for deep discussion of morals and ethics, as well as literary analysis. So fun to study!