Teaching Resources for Harry Potter Book Night Posted on 26 January 2017 by Becky Millen - Kent-Teach in General | Resources Harry Potter Book Night is on Thursday 2nd February 2017 and this event is an excellent way to encourage children to exercise their imagination and influence them to read more. This year’s theme is ‘The Professors of Hogwarts’ and the main purpose of the night is to pass the magic of J.K. Rowling's books to the next generation. Not only is the celebration fun for children, it’s great for big kids too! So get your wands, owls and butter beer at the ready for a fabulous night celebrating the famous teachers of the magical Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!There are so many ways to celebrate Harry Potter Book Night; you could turn your classroom into Dumbledore’s Study, dress up as your favourite Professor or act as Quiz Master and hold a Harry Potter themed school quiz.Find great ideas on the Event Kit page of the website where you can register for the free downloadable Professor of Hogwarts event kit. This kit can also be photocopied as the necessary copyright has been cleared so you can provide worksheets for your students.The Event Kit provides a range of ideas and resources such as anagrams, word searches and class plans to deliver to your students for Transfiguration and Herbology lessons. There are also colouring sheets of Professor Snape and fantastic preparation tips to turn your classroom into the wizarding world. My favourite exercises include:1) House Sorting - write the Hogwarts House names (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin) on separate pieces of paper and put them in a box. One by one, the children will wear the ‘sorting hat’ (any witches hat will do) and pick out a name from the box - this will be their Hogwarts House!2) Hagrid’s Magical Creature Class - this activity involves reading out creature descriptions and asking the children to guess the creature. You could even include muggle animals to cater for children who have not read or watched the Harry Potter films. If you have a troop of Potter fans in your class, how about using the new Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them as inspiration?3) Professorise Me! - Children are required to draw themselves as a Hogwarts Professor providing their name, subject, and house they are associated with plus any spellbinding skills they possess. How about award your class ‘House Points’ after each activity and the winning house could be awarded with a prize.With all these fun and engaging activities your class will feel like they have passed the barrier onto platform 9 3/4, boarded the Hogwarts Express and become a witch or wizard!Bloomsbury is also running a National Schools Competition where you can win a trip of a lifetime for your class to visit The Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London as well as a hardback box set of the books and Harry Potter themed goody bags! To be in with a chance of winning, the students need to create their own Magical Professor and you can find more information and the T&Cs here. Don’t forget to share your Harry Potter Book Night pictures with us; we want to see how you have transfigured your classroom. Share these pictures on our Twitter and Facebook pages. If you include the hashtag #HarryPotterBookNight, you will also be entered into the Bloomsbury Competition for the best decorated Harry Potter Book Night where you could win some magical prizes. If you are looking for some more ways to encourage children to take up reading then check out National Story Telling Week 2017 for some great resources and event ideas.