Throw a mystical birthday bash for your young witch or wizard with our Harry Potter Party Ideas! Read on for general party planning tips as well as great Harry Potter decorating ideas, food, game, and activity suggestions.
Party Planning
For peace of mind, begin planning 6 - 8 weeks in advance to allow time to purchase and mail invitations, as well as to give your guests time to RSVP and make travel plans, if needed. Don't panic if you find yourself short on time; you can still plan a great party! Planning ahead simply reduces the risk of conflicts with guests' plans and may increase attendance.
To simplify the rest of the party planning process, check out our Party Planning Timeline, take a look at our When & Where to Have the Party page, and read the paragraphs below for information on selecting decorations, supplies, activities, and more for your child's party.
What Do I Need for the Party?
If you plan to use paper tableware and themed party supplies, our Suggested Party Supply List may be helpful when placing an order. Please note that you may not need everything on the list; it is intended only as a guide.
Decorating & Food Ideas
Fun Ideas To Set The Mood
- Make a "Sorting Hat" centerpiece by cutting a cone shape from a 24" x 18" piece of purple poster board, as shown below. Roll it into a cone, and tape or staple it closed. Cut out star and crescent moon shapes from yellow construction paper, and glue them to the hat.
Note: This can also be done as a craft, with each guest making his or her own wizard's hat!
 - Hang two or three stuffed owls around the party area.
- Cut out a number of large stars and lightning bolts from white poster board. Paint them silver and gold, and hang them from the ceiling, mount them on the walls, or attach them to clusters of helium-filled balloons.
- Create placemats that represent the four houses of Hogwarts using plain white construction paper and crayons. Write one of the house names on each placemat, and decorate them with the appropriate colors:
- Slytherin - Green and Silver
- Gryffindor - Scarlet and Gold
- Hufflepuff - Yellow and White
- Ravenclaw - Blue and Silver
Have each guest draw a house name from the sorting hat centerpiece to determine their house and corresponding seat at the party table(s). (Make sure you have equal numbers of house placemats and corresponding slips of paper in the sorting hat.) - If children are old enough, consider having lit candles throughout the eating area.
Snitch Snacks
When it comes to food, partygoers are usually perfectly content to eat pizza or hotdogs, which is certainly much easier on the hosts! However, if you have the time and would like to serve some Harry Potter-themed snacks, consider these ideas:- Freeze multi-colored ice cubes using Kool-Aid or fruit juices before the party. Serve your guests ginger ale or a clear, lemon-lime soda, and let them choose ice cubes to drop into their drinks. The regular drinks will turn into magic potions as the ice cubes melt in the soda!
- Make a wizard hat cake by baking three or four round layer cakes. Stack them, frosting between layers. Use a knife to cut the layers into a cone shape. Frost the entire cake with purple icing. Decorate the cake with yellow frosting stars and crescent moons.
- Serve "Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans." We suggest using Jelly Belly brand jelly beans because of the wide variety of flavors available.
- Make chocolate frogs using chocolate chips and gummy frogs (available at candy stores). Microwave one cup of chocolate chips for one minute or until melted, and stir. Dip the gummy frogs in the melted chocolate, and then place them on wax paper to cool. Keep the frogs chilled until you're ready to serve them.
- There are a number of treats from the Harry Potter stories that are made from everyday products, such as Butter Beer (root beer), Chocoballs (chocolate covered strawberry mousse balls), Fizzing Whizbees (sherbet balls), Rock Cakes (randomly shaped cakes with raisins), chocolate éclairs, and licorice wands.
|
