Hogwarts Quidditch Match

The Quidditch match was something I was a little bit nervous about.  I did a lot of research to find out how to play and found several websites with different versions of the game.  I finally found one that I thought would work for a group of 7 year old girls.

All the girls needed to have a broom but I did not have it in the budget to buy brooms for everyone and I couldn't find brooms that looked like what I needed for a reasonable price.  I needed to find a cheap way to get brooms for everyone.

One day at Home Depot it came to me...I could make brooms and could do it for free.  I was at Home Depot to get some paint and I saw the long paint stirring sticks and grabbed 12 of them.  Next I headed to Kroger to get some paper grocery bags.  The brooms were easy to make and best of all they were FREE.

STEP 1.

I used some brown paint samples that I had in the garage and painted all of the paint stirrers.

STEP 2.

Open the paper bag and take it apart.  Cut the side with the logo out and recycle.  Cut the bag in half.

STEP 3.

Take one half of the bag and roll it around the end of the stirrer.

STEP 4.

Using a rubber band, attach the paper bag to the stirrer.

STEP 5.

Cut strips into the paper bag and then crinkle them up to give a little bit of texture and "fluffiness".

I made 12 brooms and put them in a bag and stamped "Property of Flying Dept."  I then added a note from Madame Hooch the flying instructor.

For the Quidditch hoops I bought a wood pole from Home Depot that was 5 feet tall and then we attached a hula hoop to the top of it.  We only had one hoop at each end.  

Before we started playing we broke the girls into two teams.  Those in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were one team and those in Slytherin and Hufflepuff were the other team.  On the backs of their house buttons I had written positions.  There was 1 Keeper, 1 Seeker, 2 Beaters and 2 Chasers per team.  The rules that I found online were pretty simple to follow and the girls picked up on it right away.  

Brooms must stay between legs at all times.  The referee will throw the Quaffle (green bouncy ball) up and only the Chasers can get it.  The Chasers can run with the ball and pass it to another Chaser.  The Chasers must try to throw the Quaffle through the hoop and the Keeper must defend the hoop.

Each Beater will be given a small, soft Bludger (a bean bag from a corn hole game).  The Beaters can throw the Bludger at the Chasers.  If a Chaser gets hit with the Bludger they must freeze, drop the Quaffle and count to 10 before moving again.  If the Beater misses they retrieve their Bludger and try again.

The Seekers wait for the Golden Snitch.

Prince Charming was the Golden Snitch.  I made a Golden Snitch out of a plastic golf ball that I spray painted gold and I made two small holes on each side of it and stuck two yellow feathers in them.  The Snitch was then attached to a "flag" that Prince Charming stuck in the back of his pants.  At some point in the game Prince Charming will enter the pitch and start running around.  The Seekers will have to chase him and grab the flag with the Snitch on it to win the game.

GRYFFINDOR/RAVENCLAW WINS!!!!!

This was such a blast.  The girls had so much fun and it was a hoot to watch!