Friday, July 20, 2007

Harry Potter Hysteria

NO SPOILERS. Don't worry! It seems everywhere you look there are articles talking about the spoilers (Reuters, CNN, NYTimes, Washington Post), but most are trying preserve this book endings for the huge amounts of dedicated followers.

The other big question (other than who dies), is what to do with your bouncing-off-the-walls fans under the age of 12. Its still 10 hours till midnight, that's a long time to keep them entertained. Let's brainstorm some ideas:

1. Trivia! If you don't have HP Scene It or other games, there are online resources, the best I've seen is the Scholastic version.
www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/challenge/index.htm
www.kidsreads.com/HP07/content/trivia.asp
www.mugglenet.com/games/trivia.shtml

2. Re-reading. Have them refresh on Book 6. A nice quiet activity, plus reading is pretty much always good practice.

3. Send them outside for Quidditch. Use a pool noodle for a broom and playground ball or beach ball for the Quaffle. Nerf or foam balls work well for the Bludgers, as they will be throwing them at each other. And the snitch? A gold painted golf ball or ping pong ball.


4. Use the Public Library! Many of them have events going on, and it's all free.


5. Take them to go see Order of the Pheniox (if they havent already) or pop in a DVD of one of the earlier movies. Another quiet activity... mostly.

If anyone else has ideas I'd love to hear them! Good luck to all you taking kids to bookstores at midnight.

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