Camp Hogwarts- The Sorcerer's Stone
This week I had the crazy idea to put on a "Camp Hogwarts" in our home. Five days filled to the brim with Harry Potter-themed games, treats, and activities had me a bit nervous--I'm not going to lie. But it's not the first time I've had a wild idea to do a themed week. A few years ago when the pandemic first hit us, we had plans to visit Disneyland which were promptly canceled much to our dismay. I was pretty devastated because I had been planning out our trip for a while beforehand and no one knew when anything would re-open. So I ended up putting all my planning to work and created a magical Disneyhome, complete with rides, character hunts, and theme park treats. The kids had so much fun, that to this day, Tucker claims it is his best memory ever. Once the week was complete, I printed off pictures and put them in a little flipbook that sits on their bookshelves. I can't tell you how many times they've both gotten it out to look through it.
Which is why I knew I could pull this Camp Hogwarts thing off, I had already climbed that mountain. It was exhausting for sure, but the sheer joy it brought my kids is something that I'll always hold dear. So! With this week being the first week of summer and next week being my first week of work (I'm going back part-time and excited and nervous as hell), I decided it was the perfect time to get this thing done.
Day One
Creating the Castle
Luckily, me being the Potterhead that I am, I already had most of the stuff needed to create a magical home castle. I dedicated one living room in the house, the kid's playroom, to the theme and left the rest alone. This cut way back on the set-up time. I spent about 30 minutes frantically sketching out the Hogwarts castle on my chalkboard while I waited for dinner to cook. It's not perfect, but you get the point! I hauled out all my HP decor from Halloween storage and was able to get it all set up in a couple of hours. Last Halloween I purchased these amazing battery-operated candles off Amazon and rigged them up with fishing lines and clear push-pins to hang from the ceiling. The holes were already there from the installation a few months ago so it was only a matter of putting batteries back in and sticking them to the ceiling. I absolutely love the look they give when all the lights are off. It's especially fun while we watch a movie!
The Plan
When planning the week out, I thought it appropriate to dedicate one day to each of the books in the series. Since there are 7 books and 7 days in a week, it worked out great! However, I didn't do a full week and ended our camp on day 5. Mostly because I was exhausted, but also because things get a little dark toward the end of the series and my youngest is still pretty little. There were things I knew I wanted to include in the week; Quiddich, Tri-wizard tournament, butterbeer, chocolate frogs..etc. But there were many things I had to research or come up with on the fly. There is an immense amount of great ideas on Pinterest that I definitely took advantage of. Thankfully I'm not the only crazy person out there trying to create a fantasy world in their home! I made many lists of activities I knew I wanted to include and grocery lists for the menu I mapped out for each day. For organization purposes, and also timeline-wise, I'll discuss each day's schedule below accordingly.
Day One- The Sorcerors' Stone
I tried to tailor my menu plan to the theme of the week and chose meals that are traditional English fare, but also something I knew my kids would each. I utilized both Pinterest and my Unofficial Harry Potter cookbook for the recipes.
Schedule-
Breakfast Menu: Pumpkin Pancakes & Pumpkin Juice.
My kids LOVED the pumpkin juice so much, we had to make a big batch of it to have every day.
Activities: Sorting Hat Quiz, Wand Making class, Making chocolate frogs, Harry Potter Trivia to obtain the stone in the mirror Erised
Lunch: Turkey sandwiches, apple pudding (apple sauce) and potato crisps (chips)
Movie: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Dinner: Beef Stew
The day began with the kids receiving their official letters to Hogwarts. I customized and printed the letters and tied them to a piece of string attached to a balloon with an owl drawn on it. We have a two-story home with a landing at the top so I was able to drop the balloons down to make them fly and called out "Owl Post!" as they landed. I have to admit, it was a pretty stellar way to start the week. They open their letters and the week began!
I had to pace myself with the activities by taking breaks between each one so that I didn't burn out. It's a lot to spend so much time with your kids and I certainly don't spend every second with them every day. So that's one thing I would advise anything trying this themselves, to build into their schedules.
Once everyone was dressed and ready for the day, our other activities started. We had a fun, quick scavenger hunt which ended with them finding tickets to the Hogwarts Express. I made them line up behind me and round around the house a few times, making train noises and pretending to be the conductor. It was silly and hilarious and our dog thought I was nuts. She's not wrong.
It was then time to get sorted. We did a sorting hat quiz and saw how it matched up to what our hat said. Both kids wanted to be in Gryffindor, but only Liv got placed there. Tuck was placed in Ravenclaw and I'm not sure it was too far off for my smart, sensitive boy.
Next, we made wands. I sent the kids outside in search for sticks they could use for wands and took a well-deserved mini-break. They came back in and decorated them with whatever art supplies I had on hand. It was fun to see them get creative and show their personalities in their art.
The middle of the day consisted of lunch and quiet time, where I sent them to their rooms to play on their tablets or do something quiet for an hour. Like I said before, breaks are 100% necessary.
After quiet time it was time for tea and cookies. I made decaff iced tea and served it in my fine china tea cups that never get used, with some animal crackers
We made chocolate frogs using semi-sweet chocolate chips and a fun silicone frog mold I found on Amazon. Honestly, I may just keep these things on hand always because they're too cute and delicious not to.
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| Hazel loves HP too. |
Afternoons are always a bit slower in our home, which I prefer, so we played some HP trivia and whoever got the most answers correct, obtained the Sorcerer's Stone. Then we watched the first movie with it ending just in time for dinner. In that time, I had already prepped the stew ingredients and threw them into the Instant Pot. So all I had to do was serve it and be done!
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| Supper in the Great Hall. Beef Stew and silly faces on point. |
That night we read the tale of the Hopping Pot from Beedle the Bard and tucked in for a magical sleep.
The first day was definitely the most packed day and was absolutely exhausting. It made me hesitant about the rest of the days to follow. But all in all, it was a fantastic start to our magical week.
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