Making Wands 2015

We finally had everyone here for Hogwarts classes!  We watched some of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and also made our wands!

Each child had their own hot glue gun and we used 2 different sizes of wooden dowels.  We wrapped the hot glue around the end of the dowel to make our handle and even used hot glue down the dowel on some wands to give extra character!

Even the teachers made new wands!

After the glue had dried to the shape everyone wanted, we painted them!  We had lots of paints to choose from - from glitter paints to metallic paints.  It was fun to watch the kids creativity take over - they all did a fabulous job!

Some of the kids left before I could get a picture - I'll have to get them all together and take a picture of all of them.

And of course we used the wand worksheet which I have saved on the printable forms tab!

Week One Done!

Well, I had expected to start off the Hogwarts Summer Academy today, actually.  But the girls were all so excited that we ended up starting last week!  So far they have watched movie 1 and 2 and are working on 3.

I didn't have any supplies for the wands as I didn't expect to start so early, but we did do a few things:

We did fingerprint art and created magical creatures with our thumbprints and ink pads for Care of Magical Creatures class.

Next, for Transfiguration class, we did crystals!  I had bought a kit and it turned out really well!  They had a great time!

I handed them out their Hogwarts Summer Academy notebooks which I made out of 3-ring binders.  I also made a fairy book that has fairy coloring pages I found on the internet as well as "information sheets" for them to tell about their fairies (learning about habitats and using their imaginations without even realizing it!).

Two of the girls have gone to visit their father for 3 weeks, so we will be doing some things with them through skype and some things they will just have to wait to come back to enjoy.

I'm looking forward to it all!

2015 Summer Academy

We are getting ready for another Hogwarts Summer Academy!

As soon as school was out the kids were all asking when it would begin!  Their owls brought their invitations the last week of school!

This year we have two new kids across the street that will be joining us!  One has never read the books OR seen the movies and the other has read the first book - so this will be a grand eye-opening experience for them!

We will start with watching the movies so the new girls will know what it's all about!  They are old enough to make their own wands this year (I've learned from experience that hot glue and little kids are not a good combination), and I have to figure out what to do this year for their familiars (some years I take them shopping and let them pick something out, and some years I buy them ahead of time, wrap them and have the kids draw numbers out of a magic bag).

I have gotten a lot of the workbooks ready, as well as added new worksheets!

If I can remember how to do the pdf upload thing, I'll post them for you!

Happy Hogwarts 2015!!