My 5th grader has to do a Book project every month. He has to read a book and then make something that goes along with the book. They bring in whatever they make and talk about their books.

I’m very much a fan of this book project, instead of the kids having to write about their books.

Their projects can be pretty simple. So far, my 5th grader has made some rock candy (for The Candy Shop War), an arcade game model (for The Candy Shop War: Arcade Catastrophe), and a vial of poison (for a 39 Clues book that had this as an integral part of the story). It’s a sort of prop while they talk about their books.

For January, my son read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. My other two have read the series already, but while my 5th grader has seen the movies and loves the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, he hadn’t started on the books until now. He choose the illustrated version for this month’s book.

His book project idea was to make a Harry Potter Wand.

It’s super easy to do, with paint, a paint brush, a glue gun, and a dowel rod (or a stick- we had to go the dowel rod route because we’ve had so much rain lately that everything outside was still so wet). I already had paint brushes and a glue gun/glue sticks. I bought the paint and a pack of dowel rods at Walmart for under $1.50, so this is a really reasonable priced project, along with being easy.

My 3rd grader really wanted to make a wand, too, so he made one as well. He was very excited by how fun this was and how easy it was to make. He asked to make a video so he could share how to make a Harry Potter wand.

This is on his YouTube channel and he gets super excited by views and likes, so if you would be so kind… 

More Harry Potter posts you may like:

• What You Need to Know to Plan Your Trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• The Harry Potter Fan’s Guide to Universal Studios Orlando
• Pygmy Puff Naming Ceremony
• Butterbeer for Underage Wizards (and a Butterbeer Recipe for Their Parents)