Harry Potter Command Game

So most of the high school population has seen the movies or read the book(s), Harry Potter. 

CONFESSION TIME: I have been married to my husband for almost 5 years and it wasn't until a few months ago that I became a huge Harry Potter fan, and yes....I'm hooked! 

So what better way than to incorporate it into the classroom?! I randomly thought of this game one night & got super excited so just "go with me here" (even if you think it's lame)! Okay, so here goes...

First, you have to teach your kids how to make basic commands in Spanish (or any other language you teach). For us Spanish teachers, it's: habla, come, bebe, escribe, etc. 

Once that you feel they have got the hang of it and you're ready to do something hands on, this game works great! 

Here goes: 

1. If you have a big sombrero in your class, you can use it as the "Sorting Hat" (If you have not watched HP, this probably makes no sense) so you can just say Team 1 or Team 2. We sorted between Gryffindor & Slytherin. I let one kid go around and announce with team they were on...it was quite comical. 

2. Once everyone has a team, tell the kids to huddle in a circle with their teams. They get 30 seconds to try to come together & get as MANY commands fresh on their minds. They can't write anything down, so a good memory is needed. 

3. Once the 30 seconds is up, they need to grab a chair, their wand (we used rulers) and form a line facing each other. They need to place their chair BEHIND them so if they get out, they sit down. The two teams will face each other in the rooms. 

4. I tell the kids they must throw a command at the other team by saying it correctly. Make sure you go in a line so it doesn't get confusing & people don't get laughed out. If they say the command incorrectly or lose their train of thought...they have to sit! 

5. Now, once they say their command if the opposing team does not know the command or what action to do immediately, they are out. I let my kids have about 3 seconds to "think" before I told them they were out. 

6. Keep going back and forth. Whichever team can get the opposing team to sit down FIRST, wins!!! 

Make it more interesting: 

Once a "spell" is thrown, I made my kids CONTINUE to do the action...it was funny watching them keeping dancing, or eating, etc. I told them once 3 people on their team IN A ROW were doing an action, then I (the Head Master) would throw a spell that allowed them to stop...(I said "Basta") 


Another thing to make it interesting, I only let each team say their verb "ONCE" and if they accidentally said it, they were out. If you don't make this rule, every other command is "come" or "habla" LOL 

Have fun playing the game & if you have any questions, leave them in the comments below! 

P.S. I think the game was a hit considering I caught my kids talking about it on social media!!! 

God Bless,
Britt Baxter