Harry Potter's Birthday

Two weeks ago we ran into the library to pick up a couple books I'd put on hold. What started as a 5 minute in-and-out turned into an hour-long adventure when we realized there was a Harry Potter-themed scavenger hunt going on and it would be followed by a "feast".

{warning: crappy indoor photos ahead}

The scavenger hunt was quite clever- they gave the kids a list with subjects to look up and the call numbers where they could find them. It was a great opportunity for the kids to learn how to find books using the Dewey decimal system. Some were real books, but they also put in some fake books.

In each designated book was an envelope with crests from the various houses. The brown paper "books" scattered through the shelves had knuts, sickles, or galleons hidden in them. The "coins" could then be redeemed at Honeyduke's for candy.

After the children had time to find the crests and some coins and eat some candy, they moved into the meeting room for butter beer (root beer floats), pumpkin juice (V-8 splash), cauldron cakes (sheet cake), and pretzel wands (I can't remember what they called them). Sunshine only had the root beer float, but she still had fun.

The kids sat at four tables and talked about their favorite books, characters, houses, etc. The library ladies running it got in the spirit and dressed up.

she said she lost the pig nose she'd been wearing

such a clever idea!

I think we'll have to add this to our list of things to do next summer. 

Did you celebrate Harry's birthday?