Would You Send Your Kids To A (GASP) ... Witch Camp?

I read all the Harry Potter books, except the last one. The ones I did read, I read eagerly and quickly, as if they were a good meal I couldn't consume quickly enough.

I don't know what it was about the last book. I have it, I just haven't read it. Perhaps after seeing all the movies, I reached my saturation level for Harry Potter.

I haven't been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, but I hope to one day. It looks like they created every detail with care. I can't even imagine how spectacular it is, but it's definitely on my list as a place to visit.

Did you know that there are actual Harry Potter summer camps? I didn't. There are camps that are literary camps and focus solely on Harry Potter for one week.

Other weeks have Star Wars, The Hobbit, and Percy Jackson as the themes. There are online Wizard camps, and full-on, real time, full-summer session Harry Potter camps.

If I had children and they wanted to go to Harry Potter camp (and I could afford it), I'd absolutely pay for it. The main Harry Potter camp I looked at reduced its rates from last year, and this year was offering a summer session at a very reasonable $210.

I know that some people think anything witchy and magical is evil and dark, but I don't. The spells they teach the children aren't real, brooms don't fly, and owls don't deliver messages.

At the Harry Potter camp, the kids do things like wand making, dueling, studying astronomy, and even studying "magical" creatures such as owls and snakes. 

All photos: Harry Potter Camp

What these camps do is encourage imagination, and immerse kids into literature. The Harry Potter books inspired kids to read and to get excited about books. And we have a debt of gratitude to J.K. Rowling for that.

If I had the chance to go to a camp based on my favorite book as a child, I would've been thrilled.

I wish I could go to a Wizard/Witch camp now as an adult, though I guess the Harry Potter amusement park, the conventions, and Harry Potter film locations are in their own way an adult camp.