Care of Magical Creatures Class!

So, it's been frustrating trying to round up ideas for my kids for Hogwarts!  I work full time and there just isn't a lot out there.

I finally decided I could make class packets on my own!  So, I did!  So far only one is complete and ready - it's for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/dragoncraftcreations!

It is a digital download and you can get it INSTANTLY!  I've done all the work for you!

I will have updates probably each year AND I'm working on more classes!  Come check it out!

Monsters, Flowers and Eggs! Oh, My!

Today was a very active day in Hogwarts.

We started off by doing our wand worksheets.  We made our wands last time and this time we got to fill in our worksheets about what our wands are made of.  The form we used is on my printable tab.

Next we worked on our dragon eggs!  I got red and green clay (I wanted something that would dry hard, so I got some of the crayola clay that hardens in 72 hours).  We wrapped the clay around plastic easter eggs and then added gems, chains and other designs.  We were not too thrilled with the clay.  I think we will try this again with a better clay that can be molded and sculpted better.  Here is what they look like:

I will report back on how well they hardened.  I believe the jewels are going to fall off once it dries.  We shall see.

After making our eggs, we got to get our first monster for our Care of Magical Creatures class.  I had all the monsters in a bag (like they used on the movie to draw the dragons out of in The Goblet of Fire).  Each student picked a monster and then picked a cage for it.  Then we all filled out worksheets (see the printable page for a copy of it).

Finally, we had Herbology class.  I sent the students out to find small flowers and other things to press.  I read a post on how to microwave your flowers for emergency pressing (or for those of us who have no patience!).  HERE IS THE LINK for how to microwave pressed flowers.

I didn't have any crafts picked out to do with them but we did put them on a page for our Herbology manual. (And of course I have a copy of the form/worksheet on my printables tab!)

It was a wonderful day!  I can't wait for next time!

Hogwarts School Continues

We had another day of Hogwarts at our house!  We had one child who had never come and we were missing one due to vacation, so I had a total of six children, plus my daughter to help teach.

This was a full session.  The child who had never come had to be sorted and given her wand.  She sorted into Gryffindor, so I now have 2 Gryffindors, 3 Hufflepuffs, 1 Ravenclaw, and 1 Slytherin when everyone comes.

Once our newest wizard had her wand, Bertie Bott's Beans and stuffed dragon from the first session, we headed outside to our huge round table where I could fit all the kids.  It was a bit hot, but children never seem to mind.  I kept them hydrated while we had our classes.

I started by giving them each a quill pen.  I made them myself since it involved cutting an ink cartridge and I didn't want the little ones to get covered in ink!  I made each one from a black feather so that no one would be upset by what they got.  I did make the ink different colors - pink, green, blue and purple.  Everyone seemed quite happy with their pens.

Once they had their quills, they were ready to start!  First order of business was to get our Father's Day gifts done.  I had each of them paint a frame (I had markers, paints, stickers, foam stickers etc).  I also had them fill out a worksheet on things they love about their dads.  After they were done, I took their pictures and while my daughter taught the next class, I ran down to the computer and printed them out.  A nice gift for each child's dad.

Next, we moved on to Care of Magical Creatures Class.  We discussed habitats (yes - I do sneak some learning in here!) and they each worked on a habitat worksheet:

Then, I had them watch the snippet from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire where the champions all gather around the magic bag and pull out their dragons that they are to fight.  None of the children had seen the movie so they thought it was wonderful.  I had them reach into a purple bag of my own and pull out their own dragons.  (I bought the TOOB dragons from Michaels so there were plenty to choose from).

I then had each child make their dragon a habitat!  I bought tupperware type containers at the dollar store (each had lids to keep their dragons from escaping! - Not to mention all the things they put inside).  I had moss from the flower section of Michaels, plastic trees (another TOOB item), stickers of trees, rocks, colored rocks, etc).  The kids had a great time making their habitats and discussing the habitats of their dragons and how each dragon lived.  Some wonderful imaginations on these kids!

I manned the hot glue gun station so that kids who wanted to glue down their trees or rocks could have that done, but I didn't want any of them getting burned, so only I did that.

By the time we finished with our habitats for our dragons, we were starved so it was time to move on to Potions Class!

Our Potions consisted of ice cream sundaes!  We had a wonderful time mixing our potions and then eating them!  Quite a success!  We had mini chocolate chips (pixie poop), dragon knuckles (peanuts), essence of ghost (canned whipped topping), crystallized moonbeams (sliced bananas), gryffon blood (chocolate syrup), essence of butterbeer (butterscotch topping), werewolf blood (strawberry topping), dried rainbow pieces (colored sprinkles), dragon scales (m&m's) etc.  The kids thought it was great and then really enjoyed eating their creations!  I was supposed to have them fill out a potions worksheet, but they were all pretty tired by this point, so they wound down by watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (the new child hadn't seen it) until it was time to go home.

It really was a fun day and the kids didn't want to go home.  They can't wait until next session!