Participants

Unlimited

Age Range

6 years old

Description

Ideas for several Hogwarts Classes. Some are simple and some require a bit of labor.

Supplies

See below for different classes

Potions

Jars of various mysterious ingredients which will be used while following Potion recipes

- Instant pudding that is mixed and goes thick

- Tantacula Acid: Vinegar

- Powdered Bicorn Horn: Baking soda

- Elixir of Life: Water

- Blue Moon Liquid: Blue dish soap

- Golden Nectar: Yellow dish soap

- Rose sap: Pink Dish Soap

- Moonstone Juice: Ivory Dish soap

- Lip gloss from Kool-Aide and Crisco melted together

- Insect eggs: Multi-coloured sprinkles

- Ant eggs: Jimmies

- Frogs' Livers: dried cherries

- Dragon blood: Strawberry Qwik

- Dried Bat Brains: raisins

- Baby Bassilisk Eyes: cinnamon hearts

- Roonspoor Lungs: Dried Apple half-slices or Apricot halves

Foaming Potion ~
Tell your students that the successful Potion will turn a deep green and smell like lilacs. Which of course it won't, but that is half the fun!
(This is messy and foams all over the place, so be sure to be on an easy-to-clean not-damageable surface. Do not use aluminum as the vinegar will permanently discolour it. Be prepared to have to wash hands that have this gunk on them.)

Elixir of Life=water
Tentacula Acid=Vinegar
Powdered Bicorn Horn= Baking Soda
Phial / Vial of Blue Moon Liquid=blue dish soap [Vial of Golden Nectar=yellow dish soap, Rose Sap=pink dish soap, Moonstone Juice=Ivory]

Place 1 (tablespoon, it is easiest to use the little cups from Pepto Bismol or cough medicine to measure with, but if you have some rustic-looking measuring spoons, those would be fun, too) Elixer of Life into a small cauldron (Small Styrofoam cup, small bowl).

Add two drops Moonstone Juice (or whatever colour dish soap you are using), stirring counter-clockwise with a porcupine quill (toothpick or coffee stirer) 5 times.

Add 2 (tablespoons, same measuring device as you just used) of Powdered Bicorn Horn and stir until smooth.

Quickly mix in 2 (tablespoons, again use the measuring device from above) Tentacula Acid.

Instant Pudding Potions~
Essence of Mooncalf= powdered milk
Boomslang Powder=Instant Pistachio Pudding
Powdered Yak Milk=vanilla Instant pudding
Bubotuber Powder=Butterscotch Instant Pudding
Powdered Pogrebin=Chocolate Instant Pudding
Elixir of Life=Water

Have your wizards & witches mix a half cup or so in their styrofoam cup “cauldrons”, using the ingredient proportions on the pudding boxes (1 part pudding to 3 or 4 parts liquid). Name your Potion something magical, like: Draft of Peace [according to the books the Draft of Peace has essence of hellebore as one of its ingredients and gives a person a sense of peace. It is a potion which is OWL standard, taught in fifth-year Potions], or call it Invigorating Draft, or something similar. (If you have wizards who are lactose intolerant or allergic to nuts, don't use Instant Pistachio Pudding or powdered milk as ingredients. Instant pudding mix will still thicken up without milk, it just tastes a little plainer/thinner.)

Potion Recipe example: Carefully mix 1 scoop Essence of Mooncalf and one scoop (whichever magically-named instant pudding powder you wish) until thoroughly integrated. Failure to do this well may cause your cauldron to explode.
Stir in 2 scoops of Elixir of Life until thick and smooth.
Add a sprinkle of Ant Eggs (or whatever of the edible cookie decorations sounds appropriate with the particular Potion you are brewing) and test on yourself.

Astronomy ’ ID planets – sky drawings- create a solar system from paint, balls and sting – paper-towel-tube telescopes

Care of Magical Creatures ’ pin the tail on the Hippogriff or Unicorn – make own magical creature from cut-out magazine pictures, make up life story of your creature (where it could be from, what its magical abilities might be, what it eats, etc) – Raptor Rescue creatures display. Skrewt cage (box with burned out end, place in obvious but out of the way place and warn your “students” that the skrewt may be lurking in “the bushes” or “that room”).

Herbology ’ Plant Basil, Mint, flowers etc. in the containers we made before. (Have pre-printed sheets explaining uses of the herbs/flowers planted and their care for each participant). OR Transplant small (3” plants) into cauldrons or other containers. – Make strange Potter-plants from magazine cut-out pictures then identify and explain the magical properties.





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