This Harry Potter-inspired craft is perfect for children ages 8+. I refuse to put an upper age limit on this because multiple adult staff members took my left over supplies home to make their own 😉
I framed this craft program as “Hogwarts Summer School: Care for Magical Creatures”. I made craft kits for patrons to pick up and a YouTube video tutorial for them to follow along with (and, yes, I dressed up as a Hogwarts professor with a Hogwarts Zoom background).
How to Prepare 22 Kits:
| Material | Amount | Cost | Preparation |
| Hardcover Book | 22 | $0 | Use weeded children’s chapter books (thicker books ~300 pages work best). 1 book per kit. |
| Furry Material (light brown) | 1 Yard | $60 | Measure and cut material against each individual book. Cut enough so it can wrap around, covering the front, spine, and back cover. |
| Craft Eyes | pack of 100 | $15 | 4 eyes per kit. |
| Red Felt | 3 sheets | >$1 | Cut into strips to act as bookmark tongues. |
| White Felt | 2 sheets | >$1 | Cut into rectangles so kids can later cut them into rows of teeth. |
Total Cost: ~$75 (or ~$3.50 per kit).
*Patrons will need to supply their own scissors and glue.
Instructions
- Remove the dustjacket from the book. Then ensure the fabric will cover the entire outside of the book.
2. Use hot glue or tacky glue to stick the fabric to the book. Begin by gluing down the spine and then continue with the front and back covers. Trim off any overhang.
3. Part the fur about 2/3 of the way down the cover (away from the spine). Brush the back of the part straight up and glue the eyeballs directly into that fur. I promise it’s more secure than it sounds!
4. Cut a triangle out of the red felt to make it look like a bookmark tongue and glue it somewhere near the middle of the book.
5. Use the felt to cut out two rows of teeth. Glue one row to the inside of the front cover and the other row to the inside of the back cover.
6. Use your fingers to bend the felt in place so they don’t awkwardly stick straight out of the mouth.
7. Give your monster a hair cut near it’s mouth so you can better see it’s teeth and tongue!
When you’re all done, you’ll have a Monster Book of Monsters that would bring a happy tear to Hagrid’s eye.
There are so many variations on how this project can be completed and what materials you can use – this is just the version that makes me the happiest. But if you’ve made a MBOM too – what did you use? And how did it go?
amycoles.ca 