Badge: Harry Potter — Miscellany

This badge covers all the miscellaneous items that didn’t fit into the other badge programs in this set including:

Harry Potter: Christmas at Hogwarts
Harry Potter: Games
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Activities
Harry Potter: House Crafts
Harry Potter: Magical Crafts
Harry Potter: Recipes
Harry Potter: Science

Steps

1. Houses.
Depending on the size of your event, you may choose to only have one house or all four. You may also choose to create new houses so no one is upset when they don’t get the house they want from Hogwarts choices. Decide how you will run your magical event.

NOTE: All steps in the Harry Potter badge set are based on Hogwarts four houses. You may need to adjust to make these usable for your event.

2. Type of event.
Your choices of activities will depend on the length of your event. Decide on the type of event, then the time devoted to activities. Adjust your activities to fit your time frame or ask participants to bring certain materials from home to help with time limitations. Some types of events may include:

Single evening event (1-2 hours)
Overnight (2-4 hours in evening, possibly 2-4 the next day as well)
Lock-in (8-12 hours of activities)
Day camp (2-4 hours daily over a period of 2-5 days)
Resident camp (2-6 hours daily for length of camp)
After school (1-2 hours daily with rotating activities)

3. Bring your own.
To help reduce the number of activities, you can ask participants to create one or more of the following to bring with them to your event. This is especially useful for your participants if you plan to run a Harry Potter event more than once. Feel free to add your own ideas to this list.

Cloak
Wand
Blank tote
Blank book

Provide Web links if you have specific items in mind for patterns or supplemental information.

4. Work with volunteers.
Make sure your volunteers are familiar with all areas of your event, even if they do not think they will interact with parts of it. Your participants may ask questions of any volunteer and they all need to know what’s happening.

See about hosting a pre-event to allow your volunteers to try the activities, see the props and more.

5. Change it up.
If you’re planning on running more than one Harry Potter event, think about changing it up. Running the exact same event over multiple years may make it easier for you, but you’ll be reducing the number of people interested in attending your event. For additional ideas, look at the Harry Potter: Classes supplement (Harry Potter: Hogwarts Activities) as one way you might do activities based on the year.

Theme ideas

6. Fonts and graphics.
Using fonts and graphics helps your participants visualize your theme. Find fonts and graphics, including those provided by the AEP, to incorporate into your preparations and event.

7. Letter of acceptance.
For camp or special events, two weeks before camp, mail postcards to each participant with their acceptance to Hogwarts. You might include a little note about needing to use the post because all Owls are busy reporting on Voldemort, escapes from Azkaban, discovery at the Ministry of Magic, the Tri-Wizard Tournament, etc.

For meetings or after school activities, hand out cards to your participants. Fold the letter in half, add an owl sticker or owl stamp on the outside to simulate Owl mail. You might also want to create scrolls with wax seals.

Check out the AEP supplement for ideas and printables to make letters, postcards or scrolls.

8. Signs.
From Hogwarts Express to signs that identify where classes are located, signs are another way to add the theme into your event. Create your own signs, find some on the Web or check out our signs to print for your event.

9. Movies.
You may choose to watch one or more of the movies during your event. Set up and make sure all equipment is working before anyone arrives. Your sound levels will vary greatly between an empty room where there is nothing to stop the sound waves and a room full of people. Make sure your audio is strong enough so everyone can hear over munching and whispering. Also, make sure everyone will be able to see the screen. Remove any obstructions you can and point out those you cannot.

10. Photos.
Make sure you take a photo of the members of each house. If you have the time, take individual photos as well. Look into a site where you can place the photos privately and email the participants the link to allow them to download and print those they want. Providing photos is a low-cost additional activity. Look at various photo sharing sites online to find one you like.

11. Non-permanent printables.
You may want to make your event a little more specific to your area and participants. Some printables that you may want to personalize for this are:

Wanted posters — create your own escaped Azkaban prisoner notice
Marauder’s map — map our your camp or area with areas noted
Daily Prophet — either highlight happenings at your event, throw in troubling events from Azkaban, Muggle sightings, etc.
Graduation certificate — make these specific to your event

What other items might you add that highlight your unique event?

12. Identification.
Prepare name badges / stickers beforehand if possible. If you sort your participants before the event, the identification can have the logo of their house. For volunteers, add titles so your participants know who they are supposed to represent.

13. Creating your areas.
From assigning areas for the houses to using the various locations mentioned in the books and movies, you can hold activities to help carry the theme into your event. Search the Web for specific areas that fit the places you plan to utilize from the steps of the other badge programs or from your own ideas.

Additionally, check out the supplement Harry Potter: Places to get more information and ideas that are area-specific.

14. Incorporating studies.
See the AEP supplement on Harry Potter: Classes for a listing of classes per year as well as some general information and ideas to work with them. Do research on the Web for additional ideas.

15. Costume contest.
To encourage participation and get everyone excited about your event, hosting a costume contest as an extra part of the activities will allow you to eliminate the need to make or provide any clothing or accessories. You can then focus on classes, places and the like.

16. Beyond Potter.
Share the fun of reading. See the supplement reading list recommendations. Not only might this spark interested in another series, you might find another event on your horizon.