Harry Potter at Home hub brings magic to social distancing

J.K. Rowling has launched a Harry Potter at Home website dedicated to bringing a little bit of magic to kids and families staying inside because of COVID-19.

With the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis putting many cities on lockdown, people are looking for new ways to occupy themselves until society begins operating normally again. But with kids and families stuck at home all day, it’s easy to get bored. That’s why Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is stepping in to help.

J.K. Rowling has launched a new website dedicated to bringing a little of that Wizarding World magic to kids and families forced to stay indoors because of the coronavirus. According to the Harry Potter at Home hub’s home page, the goal is to start “casting a Banishing Charm on boredom!” And hey, we could all probably use that charm with the current state of things.

Put together with the help of Audible, Bloomsbury, OverDrive, Pottermore Publishing and Scholastic, Harry Potter at Home offers a range of activities for kids (and maybe even some magical adults) to take advantage of. It meshes the types of quizzes and articles once found on Pottermore with word-finding activities, drawing tutorials, and puzzles.

Visitors can find out which Hogwarts House they belong in or spend some time learning to draw one of the magical creatures from Harry’s world. The site also has archives from Pottermore, allowing users to learn a bit more about the Wizarding World — because, let’s be honest, we could all use a bit of an escape from this one anyway.

And, of course, when you or the kids are out of things to do on the Harry Potter at Home hub, you can always pick up the books and films one more time. (After reimmersing yourselves in Rowling’s world, there’s a good chance you’ll want to.)

What do you think of the Harry Potter at Home hub? Does it seem like a good way to keep the family entertained while social distancing, self-isolating, or self-quarantining?