Care of Magical Creatures

We had this class twice. For the first lesson we showed common mythical creatures (I had a Buckbeak stuffed animal and Fawkes from Universal Studios) and some pictures created by J.K. Rowling in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. We also used the book Monsterology: The Complete Book of Monstrous Beasts by Ernest Drake which has some cool interactive features and a lot of illustrations. After learning about various magical creatures, we provided the kids with modeling clay or paper and pens, letting them create their own monsters and the powers that they possess.

For the second lesson, we went into more detail about what various magical creatures can do, reviewing creatures that are more prevalent in the books and other fantasy novels. We explained the powers and ways of handling unicorns, dragons, werewolves, kelpies, grindylows, and sphinxes (we intended to have a guest visit from a werewolf or something). Specific focus was given to monsters who would show up later (especially during the Triwizard Tournament). We also gave a short explanation to each camper about their own stuffed pets that they bought at Diagon Alley and why each one was a good magical companion, which the kids really liked.