Badge: Harry Potter – House Crafts

You probably won’t want to make and use all these crafts, but pride in one’s house is very important at Hogwarts. A chosen unifying look amongst your participants might be one way to award points for the House Cup.

Steps

1. Pole.

Make a pole and stand that the kids can decorate in house colors or you can decorate before the event. This will give your house a place to meet up, rally around, etc. You might choose to make a banner to hang from your pole as well (see the next step).

For your pole, use a round, long doll rod with groves in the end to attach awards. You could use a flag pole and attach award ribbons at the top. Boy Scout troops do this with troop awards. Create a pole or brainstorm other ways you can track the progress of each house as they attempt to win the House Cup.

2. Banners.

To identify your house location, create a banner. Use a pre-made felt banner or create your own from scratch. You could incorporate the banner with your pole if you wish or make these two different items. Explore these separately and together, then decide what you think will work best.

3. Awards.

Before making your awards, think of how they’ll be displayed. If you plan to use your pole, you will want them weather-proof in case you have activities outside. If you’re using a bulletin board, you can use paper without worries. You could use a folder for each house, but it’s difficult for everyone to see what you’ve earned. Determine your display options.

Here’s a list of ways you might want to make awards for your event. These can be made by you, adult volunteers or even the kids to help build the excitement of winning them.

Certificates printed on paper (size dependent on where you’ll display them)
Circular buttons made with press (pinnable)
Fabric stenciled and stitched patches
Game chips with numbers on them with trackable sheet to show how many points were earned
Laminated cards with space to punch and put a string through for hanging
Repurposed patches
Ribbon with stamped or stenciled identifier
SWAPs designed as awards

Brainstorm other ways to make awards. Experiment and decide which will work best for you.

4. Attire.

Instead of robes, make capes or hats. They are a lot cooler in hot weather and easier to move around in. For a simple cape, cut a circle of felt with a head area cut out and slit down the front. Allow kids to decorate their cape in house colors. You can also purchase cheap witch hats after Halloween or make your own. You might even try other crafts to create a consistent hat for participants to make and wear. Explore your options.

5. Scarves.

You can create scarves in a variety of ways. From cutting strips of felt in house colors and braiding them to loom knitting to crocheting, you can create a scarf to wear. Look through any patterns you have or on the Web to find a pattern you feel is appropriate for the age level / experience of your participants.

NOTE: Scarf design changed over the years in the movies. Find images of the scarves so you can see the difference.

6. Bandannas.

Hold a tie-dying session with bandannas in the house colors. Make additional ones in case any are lost. If you don’t have time to tie-dye, allow your participants a chance to decorate their bandannas. Brainstorm how your participants can use their house bandannas during your event.

7. Bracelets.

Provide embroidery floss, yarn or similar fiber in house colors for friendship bracelets. Practice making bracelets so you can help those who have not made them before.

8. Lanyards.

Make lanyards in your house colors with fibers as in Step 6. You could also purchase blank white ones and use markers in the house colors to decorate them. If you have other ideas on making lanyards for houses, experiment with those and choose one you want to do.

9. Totes.

Totes, bags or another way to carry materials can be decorated by each participant. They will carry their materials during your event. Make sure you have a way to identify each participant’s bag beyond the house colors. Explore ways to do this while utilizing your house colors.

10. Crest.

Each person may like a house crest to decorate in the house colors. You can find printable templates in the supplements below. You can have a contest, allow everyone to make their own in their house colors or however else you wish.

11. Graphics.

For hotter events, explore ways to create a consistent look using graphics to identify each house. Iron-ons of house crests onto t-shirts can be one option. You might also want to do this on your tote / bag. A stencil or screen printing also allows a consistent look of a chosen graphic. Discuss your options and choose one to try.

12. Cheer.

Perhaps you’d like a pendant on a stick with your house’s crest that you can wave. Would you prefer pom-poms for cheering? Brainstorm ways to show support for your house sports team and create your own cheer items to use during active games such as Quidditch.

13. SWAPs.

Create SWAPs in house colors or based on your house. Explore ideas online or come up with some of your own. Unique SWAPs may be used for awards for winning the House Cup.

14. Imagination.

Don’t stop with these ideas. Explore other ways to identify your house and the students that go with that house.

Badge and Supplement Files

Member Level

0EP_B_BPG_HP_HouseCraft_2in_12up_MS1_larajla — generic badge printable
0EP_BLIST_HP_HouseCraft_MS1_larajla — badge items per membership level
0EP_BSET0_HP_HouseCraft_MS1_larajla —badge set and related badges
0EP_SUPP0_HP_HouseCraft_Journal_MS1_larajla — badge journal
0EP_SUPP0_HP_HouseCraft_Planner_MS1_larajla — badge planner
0EP_SUPPL_HP_HouseCraft_MS1_larajla — supplements currently available per membership level

Supplement Fun

0EP_SUPP0_Color Fun_HarryPotter_MS2_larajla – Color Fun: Harry Potter name
0EP_SUPP0_Color Fun_Hogwarts Symbol Blank_MS2_larajla – Color Fun: Outline of Hogwarts symbol
0EP_SUPP0_Color Fun_Hogwarts Symbol_MS2_larajla – Color Fun: Hogwarts symbol
0EP_SUPP0_Found_HP_Gryffondor_MS2_larajla – Found: Gryffondor banner
0EP_SUPP0_Found_HP_Hufflepuff_MS2_larajla – Found: Hufflepuff banner
0EP_SUPP0_Found_HP_Ravenclaw_MS2_larajla – Found: Ravenclaw banner
0EP_SUPP0_Found_HP_Slytherin_MS2_larajla – Found: Slytherin banner
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Blank_01_MS2_larajla – Printable: Blank crest outline
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Blank_02_MS2_larajla – Printable: Blank crest outline
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Gryffindor BW_MS2_larajla – Printable: Crest outline for Gryffindor
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Gryffindor C_MS2_larajla – Printable: Colored starting for Gryffindor
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Hufflepuff BW_MS2_larajla – Printable: Crest outline for Hufflepuff
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Hufflepuff C_MS2_larajla – Printable: Colored starting for Hufflepuff
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Ravenclaw BW_MS2_larajla – Printable: Crest outline for Ravenclaw
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Ravenclaw C_MS2_larajla – Printable: Colored starting for Ravenclaw
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Slytherin BW_MS2_larajla – Printable: Crest outline for Slytherin
0EP_SUPP0_Printable_Crest_Slytherin C_MS2_larajla – Printable: Colored starting for Slytherin
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_Charm_HP Gryffindor_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Charm for Gryffindor
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_Charm_HP Hufflepuff_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Charm for Hufflepuff
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_Charm_HP_Ravenclaw_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Charm for Ravenclaw
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_Charm_HP_Slytherin_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Charm for Slytherin
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_HP_Gryffindor Badge_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Banner for Gryffindor
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_HP_Hufflepuff Badge_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Banner for Hufflepuff
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_HP_Ravenclaw Badge_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Banner for Ravenclaw
0EP_SUPP0_SWAP Fun_HP_Slytherin Badge_MS2_larajla – Swap Fun: Banner for Slytherin

Sites to Explore

Get the infographic here > larajla blog post
Get the PDFs of the badge program / supplements here

Badge: Harry Potter – House Crafts

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