Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the latest film adaptation of J.K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series, comes out in theaters July 17, 2009. The movies, like the books, have sparked a craze of interest in J.K. Rowling's world of wizardry and the adventures of Harry Potter and his friends.
Though J.K. Rowling completed the series with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last year, the opportunities to share in Harry Potter's world through the books and film are limitless. Here are some suggestions for celebrating Harry Potter with children, teens, or even other keen adults while promoting literacy and learning in anticipation of the new Harry Potter film this summer.
How to Host a Harry Potter Party
Invite guests to a themed Harry Potter party or slumber party, for younger fans. Plan a few of the following activities:
- Offer a Sorting Hat test and house badges as party favors.
- Encourage guests to come dressed in costume as their favorite Harry Potter character and stay in character for the event. Offer prizes at the end for the person most like his or her character.
- Suggest guests bring their favorite Harry Potter book with a passage or two marked. Invite all the guests to perform an oral reading of their favorite scenes in turn.
- Select a scene from one of the novels, and encourage more dramatically inclined guests to perform an improvisation of the scene.
- Invite guests to share their favorite spell and explain why.
- For a slumber party, show all of the previous Harry Potter films in sequence.
Other activities can, of course, be added or substituted.
How to Lead a Harry Potter Book Club
Brush up on Harry Potter trivia and prepare to see the new movie by re-reading the Harry Potter series with a group. Ask a library or other community center for free space, if needed, and jump into the world of Harry Potter all over again.
Find other interested people, or host the group for children or young adults. Set a weekly or monthly date, and encourage everyone to read certain portions of each Harry Potter before every meeting, breaking the books down into chunks depending on how often the group will meet.
Begin each book club with some reflection questions, such as:
- What happened since last time?
- What did you like about the reading? What didn't you like?
- What events occurred that confused or upset you? Why?
- What characters do you like? What characters do you dislike? Explain.
- What do you wish had happened differently, and why?
Offer everyone an opportunity to speak and be heard. If the talking gets out of hand, create a "magical" object- such as a wand- to pass to the person talking. Enforce that the person with the magical object gets the opportunity to share his or her experience to maintain order.
Other activities for a Book Club Could include:
- Invite an outside person to attend a club meeting dressed as a Harry Potter character and engage the group in character.
- Take donations for reading a certain number of pages within a certain amount of time, keep a chart of the group's progress, and donate the money to a charity promoting literacy at the end.
- Prepare a play based on a scene from one of the Harry Potter books and offer the event to the community.
- Attend Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in theatres as a group, and discuss how the movie was different from the book at the next meeting.
With some creativity and work, one can use the Harry Potter craze to promote literarcy and fun among fans. As the next Harry Potter movie approaches, take the opportunity to enjoy the series again for some heavy but light reading.
Source:
Warner Brothers Entertainment. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince website. 2008.
Melissa Roberts - A trained hospital chaplain, Melissa is a freelance writer, teacher, retreat leader, and spiritual director.
