Welcome to a magical week of wizard themed learning and play! Since Harry Potter’s birthday is on July 31st, I conjured up some Hogwarts themed toddler activities I know your little is going to love! I mean, it’s never to early to foster a love of all things Potter- am I right?!
–Sorting hat play: You just can’t do a Harry Potter week without first being sorted into a house! I printed out badges from each house, cut them out, then “laminated” them to make them more sturdy by covering them in clear packing tape. Then I covered an old peanut can with black paper, cut out and hot glued on a sorting hat for the front, cut a rectangle slit in the lid and we were ready to play! First, I had my little pick a badge from the hat (with the lid off)- he got Ravenclaw! Then as he took out each badge we reviewed our colors. Next I put the lid back on and had him work on fine motor skills by putting the badges back into the can.
–Dragon eggs: Make and egg shape out of playdough then have your little decorate it with plastic gems or sequins! I got this idea from My Baba and both boys loved it!
–Troll boogey slime: This fluffy slime was SO MUCH FUN! I think it’s my favorite out of all the slime recipes we’ve tried! My toddler was still not a fan because it stuck to his hands and freaked him out, but my preschooler played with it for a good 20 minutes! It’s similar to regular slime, you just add in shaving cream! Check out the recipe at STEAM Powered Family!
–Revelio: The revelio charm causes hidden things to become known- and it works like a charm for this fun color change fizzy activity! Mix half a small pack of yellow jello with a cup of baking soda in a bowl. In another bowl do the same with red, and in another with blue. Scoop some of the mixtures into the spaces in a muffin tin (ie. yellow in some spots, blue in some, etc). Then put a different color on top (red and blue will make purple, yellow and blue will make green, yellow and red will make orange). Have your little use a pipette to squirt vinegar into each space, revealing the first color…and then as they add more vinegar, revealing the second color when the two mix! This is really fun to play around with and the jello cuts the vinegar smell nicely!
–Engorgio: This spell makes things grow- just like the soap in this activity! It only works with nice fresh Ivory soap, which has a high water content (we used some that we had on hand and it didn’t get quite as big as it did when we first bought it and did the experiment a few months ago.) You literally just microwave it and it grows and gets super crumbly! Once it’s cooled off it makes for a fun bath time sensory play activity too! We got the idea from Gift of Curiosity!
–Polyjuice potion: (aka fizzy cauldrons) We used some tiny cauldrons we got around St. Patrick’s Day for this activity, but any small cup would do (although I bet you can get them in the Halloween aisle knowing how stores roll these days with their holiday set ups!). Mix a teaspoon of blue and a tablespoon of yellow jello with 1/4 cup of baking soda. Place it in your cauldron and give it to your little along with a pipette and a small cup of vinegar with a drop of red food coloring in it. When they mix the vinegar with the baking soda, it’ll turn brown and bubble just like real Polyjuice potion! (It probably tastes just as bad too!)
–Catch the golden snitch: Paint several ping pong balls gold (I highly suggest you use spray paint- I used brush paint because I had it on hand and it took 3 coats! LOL Though chemically I guess it’s safer for littles, especially if they decide to chew on them…) then let the fun begin! My littles both enjoyed throwing the balls all over the place and gathering them back up, but we also worked on fine motor skills with both boys by placing the balls in an egg crate by hand and using tongs. We practiced counting with them and also gross motor skills by trying to throw them back and forth to each other. These were definitely a hit the whole week! Plus they’re so pretty!
–Dobby handprint art: Have your little make two handprints for Dobby’s ears using paint. Fill in his face and body (or if you’re doing this with an older child, have them do it themselves!)
–Hedwig hand and footprint art: Make dear old Hedwig using your little’s hand and footprints!
–Fairy egg fine motor practice: So originally this was supposed to be a doxy egg fine motor practice…but I didn’t actually look up the color of doxy eggs until after we did this (they’re black, not rainbow colored) and apparently they’re bean sized and poisonous (triple oops), so let’s just call them fairy eggs! In any case, my little loves this activity and it’s SO easy to set up- throw some pom poms in a whisk and show your little how to take them out using the pincer grasp- then let them try! I got this idea from Hello Wonderful!
–Hogwarts 1st year supply list:
- baking soda
- vinegar
- small caldron or cup
- playdough
- plastic jewels
- ping pong balls painted gold
- egg carton
- tongs
- glue
- contact solution
- shaving cream
- pennies
- salt
- blue, yellow and red jello
- pom poms
- whisk
littlelovesandlearning.com 
Such cool, fun stuff!
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