[kerteach2]

I have the house banners hanging across the front of my classroom. The class is divided into the 4 houses. We give or take points from each house at 5 points at a time (or sometimes I'll do bonus rounds of 20 points etc) I went to Dollar Tree and purchased 4 round glass vases, 4 colors of ribbon, and 5 colors of glass beads. I printed out each house banner about 3 inches big. The ribbon is wrapped around the vase and the house banner is glued onto it, so each house now has a container for their house points. I keep the colors coordinating, red ribbon for Gryffindor etc. I picked up clear beads that are worth 50 points a piece - when we count up the totals each day, we are also learning the 5's times table and how to count on.
At the end of the month, we add up each full container and see which house wins the House Cup. I traced on on construction paper and added glitter to it - it stays on the board with the name of the House that won for the month.
Each month the children get "sorted"into new houses - they sit in a stool and pick a piece of appear out of a basket, then they announce to the class which house they will be in for the next month. We hold the Sorting Hat over their heads while they do it.
My class really enjoys it.