Potter Party
Celebrate the boy wizard’s birthday, or observe your child’s own with a Harry theme.
Keep the magic alive
Before the party even begins, start the magic by asking guests to come dressed as a character from the books. Some essential characters include: Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley (and the rest of his family), Neville Longbottom, Draco Malfoy, and of course, Harry Potter. Have older family members dress as professors from Hogwarts, such as Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, or even Hagrid.
To start things off, have guests choose scenes to act out from one of the books for a fun activity that will put everyone in an enchanted state. Or have them get together in groups and act out scenes they think might happen in future books.
Decorations
Set the scene with candles, broomsticks, toy snakes, fake owls, and bats. For a magical touch, paint ping-pong balls gold, representing the Golden Snitch from the game of Quidditch. Hang them around the room with clear thread or fishing line. Display banners shaped like pennants with the house names printed on them. The house names and colors are:
Hufflepuff: yellow and black
Ravenclaw: blue and bronze
Slytherin: green and silver
Gryffindor: scarlet and gold
If you're letting the party go beyond one room in your house, put up signs for different areas in the books. For example, the kitchen could be "Diagon Alley," the living room, "Gryffindor Common Room," and the backyard, "The Forbidden Forest."
Food & Drink
Set up an area as the Leaky Cauldron. For Butterbeer, make root beer and ginger ale floats, pouring the soda over a scoop of ice cream in a clear cup or mug. Label food with magical names — cupcakes become "cauldron cakes" and malt balls are "chocolate frogs." And naturally, you'll need some jellybeans to stand in for Betnie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. You can also put some jellybeans in a separate jar and have guests guess how many are inside.
Games & Activities
The Story Continues
Since the children can't read the next book yet but are anxious to guess how it all comes out, try this fun group activity. Get a journal or notebook and make up a first sentence. The books have always begun in the summertime, so consider that as a starting point. Pass the book around and have each child add a sentence or two to the story. For added fun, make it a "mystery chain" story — instead of each writer reading everything that has been added before adding the next sentence, each child only reads the very last sentence that was written. You can do this by having each child write his sentence on his own page and when he's done, he passes on the journal with only his page showing. The next child reads the sentence on the page showing, turns to the next, writes, and passes. When everyone's had a few turns, read the story aloud!
Make Your Own Wand
Have a crafts table stocked with straws and chopsticks for children to decorate and conjure up some fun. Creatively label yarn, feathers, and sequins with names like "Unicorn Hair," "Phoenix Feathers," and "Dragon Scales." You'll also need safety scissors, cardboard stars, colored markers, and glue.
You can also have party guests make their own wizard hats by making cones out of cardboard and decorating them with the same materials as the wands.
Magical Treasure Hunt
Before guests arrive, hide golden eggs, a Sorcerer's stone, plastic rings, Wizard's gold, and other surprises around your house and/or yard. To make it challenging, hide riddles in easy-to-see places that give clues to where certain items are hidden. You or another family member can also act as a "gate keeper" for one-of-a-kind items like the Sorcerer's Stone or a Goblet of Fire, requiring those who seek the prize to answer a riddle, give a certain amount of Wizard's gold, or answer a trivia question. If you choose to challenge with Harry Potter trivia, make sure to have the books handy so kids can search for answers.
More Fun
- Have a relay race and pass wands or brooms instead of batons.
- Instead of capture the flag, play capture the Snitch!
- Fill a spider piñata with toys and candy. Or use a dragon or unicorn.
- Splurge and hire a magician to entertain. For favors, give magic tricks!
