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Harry Potter Crafts and Activities

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True Harry Potter fans know that the boy wizard’s birthday is celebrated on July 31, so if you want to get in the spirit here are some fun Harry Potter-themed crafts and activities. Stage a reading of one of the books or a movie marathon, make some crafts and you’ll be all set. Don’t forget the chocolate frogs!

First off you’ll probably want some characters to play with. For a super simple version, take cardboard tubes and the printables from Ruffles & Rain Boots to make Harry, Hermoine, Ron, Dumbledore and Hedwig. You can use the same idea and add your own details to make other characters.

If you want to get a little more detailed and make absolutely any character you might want, check out the Harry Potter peg dolls from Artsy Fartsy Mama. These are painted so you can add whatever details you like to make your favorite characters.

And for an even bigger crafty project with a Harry Potter twist, you can make a paper mâché sorting hat with instructions from Brit + Co Guides.

If you’re going to Hogwarts, you’re going to need some books. I’ve seen a few good takes on the Monster Book of Monsters (see Creatively Beth‘s, which is made with felt and googly eyes, or the one from Mama Smiles, which uses furry fabric), or you can make some generally creepy looking books like the ones from Confessions of Parenting.

Make a pencil into a broom with this simple craft from Laura Kelly, and don’t miss my friend Gina’s super cute lightning bolt bookmarks, which you’ll find at Desperately Seeking Gina.

Sugar Spice and Glitter has a very cool crystal ball craft, perfect for your divination class. Of course you’ll need to buy the water globe ahead of time but it’s a really easy project when you have the supplies gathered.

There’s always room for slime, and this potions slime from Little Bins for Little Hands is a fun one to do with a group of kids if you’re throwing a Harry Potter party.

Find the hidden character in these pixel art color by number pages from Homemade Heather.

Looking for more HP fun? Check out our older posts on a printable Harry Potter themed multiplication game, writing prompt pages and printable alphabet game.

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Easy Lacing Cards to Make for Kids

Lacing is a great fine motor activity, and most kids go through a phase where they enjoy working with lacing cards. It helps promote focus and is a great quiet activity for kids to do in the car or to fill time in the classroom. And of course knowing how to lace is the beginning of knowing how to sew, which is great for all kids to learn (more on teaching kids to sew here). 

There are lots of ways to make your own lacing cards. This one is just a pin but it’s easy to make lacing cards with any shape a child is into using cardboard and a nail to poke the holes. This could be fun for letter and number recognition or spelling the child’s name.  Or try this version from Hey Azka, which uses a hole punch to make bigger holes so you can lace with shoe laces. 

You can also just do lacing cards with paper, but it’s a great idea to print them on card stock and/or laminate them to make them sturdier for little hands. Homeschool Share has a set of alphabet lacing cards, which are free with email signup. Deceptively Educational has a set of number lacing cards with numbers 0 to 10. 

Picklebums has some basic shape lacing cards, too.

Living Life and Learning has a bunch of cute printable lacing cards, including back to school designs, shoes kids can lace and learn to tie and ocean themed lacing cards. She also has tips for making your own lacing cards.

A Rose Tinted World made their lacing cards with craft foam, which makes them a little more durable than paper and you can cut it more easily than cardboard. They used a die cutting machine but you can also cut shapes by hand. 

I also love the cat and mouse cards from Seam Whisperer. They also have some spring themed designs. So cute!

If you want to make lacing cards that are more open ended, check out this tutorial form Pretty Life Girls to make lacing cards that are more like geo boards. Theirs are made with wood but you can also do this with cardboard, craft foam or card stock. 

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