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DIY Quidditch Pitch

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One of the most magical moments in Harry Potter for me was when he first learned to play Quidditch. Learning about the Quaffle, the Bludgers and that little Golden Snitch really made the Wizarding World that extra bit of fun. I have never been much of athletic person, but I have always wanted to play Quidditch. When my daughter requested a Harry Potter party for her birthday this year, I knew that it was time to live out my Quidditch dreams.

One of the activities for the party is going to be real live Quidditch. I mean, as real live as Quidditch can get when you can’t actually fly on broomsticks and the Snitch doesn’t fly on its own, but I am pretty sure watching kids run around with broomsticks is going to be pretty stinking fun anyway.

For a full Quidditch Pitch (6 Hoops) you will need:

  • 6 hula hoops (I found them at the dollar store)
  • brown spray paint
  • 4 – 2×2’s cut at 38″
  • 2 – 2x2x48 pieces
  • 12- 2 inch screws
  • 6 – 7.25″ cuts of 2×8
  • Drill with 3/8ths bit
  • long nails
Drill two holes in the center of each of the bases. You want to countersink or drill the holes about half way through the piece of wood. This way when you drill the screws into the 2x2s, they won’t stick out and make your Quidditch hoop wobble. After each of the bases have pilot holes, screw the bases and the 2x2s (long pieces) together.
Nail a hula hoop to the top of each 2×2. I have found that the easiest way to do this is to push the nail through the plastic of the hula hoop before you nail it to the wood. It makes it so the hula hoop doesn’t slip around when it is being nailed in.
Spray paint the hula hoops brown to give it all a more uniform look and you have a Quidditch pitch! We plan on laying a sand bag on each of the stands to make sure it doesn’t fall over during heavy play, but we have also talked about drilling a couple of extra holes through the bases and staking them down. It isn’t necessary to stake them, they stand up well on their own, it just might make it easier if you are playing on an uneven surface.

 

My daughter is absolutely thrilled with how the Quidditch Pitch turned out and keeps asking if it is time for her party yet.

Here is what you will need to play Quidditch:
broomsticks (see how I made affordable broomsticks here.)
Quidditch hoops
a quaffle (a slightly deflated volleyball works great!)
2 bludgers (Bludgers in our case will either be foam balls or balloons)
1 Golden Snitch (a golf ball painted gold)

Here are some guidelines to playing Quidditch on the ground.

 

  • Each player must keep their broom between their legs at all times.
  • There are three Chasers on a team. Their goal is to get the ball through the hoops of the opposing team for 10 points each.
  • There is one Keeper. Their goal is to protect their hoops from being scored on.
  • There are two beaters on each team. Their job is to knock people out of play with the bludgers. When a player is hit with a bludger they must touch one of their own team’s hoops before resuming play.
  • There is one seeker whose job it is to find the Golden Snitch, that is hidden in the yard somewhere.
Now, tell the truth, would you play Quidditch?

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  1. My boys would absolutely love this. They are huge Harry Potter fans and Quidditch game is one of their favorite parts. I'll be putting this on our activity list for next summer.

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  4. Girl, you have got the BEST Harry Potter themed ideas. I love these so much. Sharing them for when my kiddos are a little older, for sure!

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  9. oh gosh. I am the world's biggest harry potter fan so this has my name written ALL over it. If I lived in an actually house with a yard and not an apartment, I would totally make it!

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  21. I made a quidditch pitch myself after I saw a picture of a school playgound in the U.K. were the school had made three hoops out of PVC pipe an attached wheels to the bottom to move them around. Mine are a more stable verion like yours but I buried the wooden posts I used about a foot in the ground and stuck it with concrete. And I think hula hoops are a bit flimsy so I used flexable PVC. I want mine to last a very long time and not get destroyed in a storm. Also you have no KEEPER. You listed all the playing postions in quidditch exept the keeper! lol.

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