Edmonton Students Transfigure the Classroom into a “Harry Potter” Playground

Transfiguration may not be a branch of studies in the Muggle world, but second and third graders at Edmonton’s Sweet Grass School have transfigured their class project into a Hogwarts replica, making the castle their new playground.

Complete with painted cardboard walls and winding tunnels, the castle was born from a class read-aloud of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry’s adventures at Hogwarts captured the attention of the young students, and teacher Kristy Lundstrom took up Harry Potter as a means of combining education and imagination.

As a fun read-aloud this year, I was going to read the first ‘Harry Potter’ book, and I saw the buy-in from the kids, so I turned it into a novel study.

Acting, then wandmaking, lessons came from the novel study, and what was once an English project grew into a construction project involving math and science. The students learned to work with 3D shapes and measurements while building a replica of Hogwarts Castle. Students have requested to stay inside the classroom for recess so that they can play in the castle and meet all the Hogwarts ghosts. Principal Vanessa Lecaine is delighted with the response the school’s young learners have had to Lundstrom’s engaging teaching method

They’re so excited to come to school every day and show off what they’re doing. We just know that’s the best way to get them here and to have them keep learning. As long as we’re doing what’s best for kids and we’re following the curriculum, if we let kids help guide what they want in their learning, you’re not going to be unsuccessful at all.

Have you ever had a Harry Potter-themed lesson or did a school project based on Harry Potter? Tell us about it, and watch here to see the Edmonton Sweet Grass School students at work on their Hogwarts replica!