|
Can be fancy dress
or not, as you please.
You will need a big
sheet of paper pinned up for each house, scores get put up after each
game
Sorting hat
As the children
arrive put a sorting hat on them (anything you like, but a witchy type
pointy hat was in the film), sit them on a computer chair, twirl it
round 3 times and pull the name of their house out of a hat. Child then
has the letter for their house painted on their forehead. This is a fun
activity in itself, but also sorts the children into teams for later
games. Make sure teams have even numbers.
NB You may want to
omit Slytherin from the house list – it’s up to you. The other houses
are Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
Find the
snitch
Hide table tennis balls
around the library, some white, some orange (you can buy them this
colour) and one gold. One person from each house holds a basket and on
the command the rest of the teams try and find as many balls as possible
and put them in their team’s basket. Have a time limit of this.
Score as
follows:
Each white
ball 10 points
Put up
points on house score sheets
Mummy mummy
One person in each team is
the mummy and stands straight facing their team holding a roll of white
toilet paper. The rest of the teams stand behind a line some way away.
On the command ‘Go’ the first in each team runs to the mummy, grabs the
paper and starts bandaging the mummy, beginning at the feet and working
upwards. After 20 seconds, player 2 dashes up, takes over and carries
on. Player 1 goes to the back of the team. After 20 secs, player 3
dashes up and takes over etc. The first team to use up all the paper is
the winner.
Winning team
10 points, next 5, next 2, next 1
Make a wand
Roll up a square of
black sugar paper and place a magic object in the middle e.g. a hair
from their head, a jellybean…..Block off both ends of the wand, one with
tape and the other by stuffing shredded paper or streamers in to make
the swooshy bit of the wand. Decorate with stickers, sparkle, magic
symbols in gold or silver pen etc
Petrificus totalis
One team is IT. They have one minute to touch as many players as
possible with their wand. If touched, the one with the wand has to
shout ‘Petrificus Totalis’ and the player has to freeze.
Team gets
one point for every frozen player after the time is up. Play until each
team has had a go.
Creepy crawly
One team has to stand
legs apart in a long line, with their feet touching. The players in the
second team have to take turns to crawl in and out of the legs, slalom
style without touching. If they touch they are out. Each team gets 2
mins.
Teams then
swap round, until every team has had at least one go. Winning team is
the one with the most clear rounds.
Quiz
Teams can confer and
write answers to questions about Harry Potter books. Adults mark
answers. Winning team gets 40 points, 2nd 30 points and so on. Mix of
easyish and not-so-easy questions –they know heaps!
Seeker gets the snitch
2 teams stand in a line an
equal distance from the snitch. Give everyone in the team a number
starting at the right-had end. Call out a number e,g,4 and that player
from each team has to dash into the middle and try and grab the snitch
first. Whoever gets the snitch then tries to get back to their team
without being tagged and the other team member tries to tag them. If
they are tagged, the other team gets a point. If the kids reach the
snitch together, they have to hover over the snitch and snatch it by out
smarting each other – no physical stuff allowed!
2 points for
getting the snitch, one point for tagging.
At the end
of the games, add up the team scores. Everyone gets some jelly beans.
The winning team get beans and some thing else e.g. a chocolate frog.
If you have
made it a fancy dress party, award a prize for the best costume.
Notes
We
tried playing blow quidditch on a table – blowing the quaffle into the
goal, but it was too messy – too much spit flying around and too hard to
control. Not necessary anyway as there are so many other games, but
quidditch would be fun if anyone could invent a good way of playing it.
Refreshments
essential – they will get very thirsty. We gave them juice and jelly
beans.
Playing all these
games with a break for refreshments will take a good 90 mins – plenty I
assure you! You will need at least 2 helpers.
I made the parties
age 8 and over.
Finally, lots of
well-known games can be adapted for themed parties. If you like the
approach try it yourself with a different series of books, the summer
reading challenge theme or even an individual title.
If you need any more info please contact. |
