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HARRY POTTER WIZARD PARTYIf your child is one of the millions enchanted by J.K. Rowling's magical Harry Potter series, then USA Parties' Harry Potter Wizard party is for you! Children can't get enough of boy wizard Harry Potter and his out-of-this-world adventures. They'll love the chance to play out their favorite characters and scenes with our Potter-themed party planner. Party guests will feel like real Hogwarts students, enrolling in wizard's school, battling a Basilisk, practicing their Quidditch skills, and even taking a Potions class. Their feet may not leave the ground, but their fun and imagination will soar at this spellbindingly fun party. INVITATIONS Kids will love receiving their "acceptance" to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, just like Harry did. Fashion the invitations on parchment paper, written in green ink. Add that magic touch by personalizing each envelope with the invitee's own room:
Feature the birthday child in the invite's "letterhead":
Then officially accept each invitee: Dear Ms. Tall, We are pleased to accept you to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Term begins on Saturday, June 10, 1:30 PM. Please R.S.V.P. by owl no later than June 7 (or use your Muggle phone to call 555-1234). Yours sincerely,
Jerry and Judith Johnson
DECORATIONS KING'S CROSS STATION Harry and friends enter the invisible Gate 9-3/4 to take a special train to Hogwarts School. Create the same effect by hanging station signs for Gates 9 and 10 on either side of your front door. BOO! Hogwarts is an enchanted castle, full of ghosts, secret passages, and mysteries. Why not throw in a few surprises to enchant your own house? Your child will love recording a special cassette tape, alternating moans, groans and cackles with stretches of silence. Hide a tape player in the bathroom, and let the tape play during the party. Guests may be surprised to get a sudden visit from Moaning Myrtle!
Invite Davey the Ghost, a hillarious haunt from the Highlands of Scotland to add his own brand of mystery and mayhem to your party! THE GREAT HALL All Hogwarts students meet and eat under the magnificent starry sky of the Great Hall. Create your own constellations using either store-bought glow-in-the-dark stars or ones handcrafted with cardboard and glitter paint. Hang them from the ceiling with tape and thread in the room you'll use to play indoor games. INITIATION RITUALS SORTING CEREMONY When students first arrive at wizard school, they are sorted into house teams by the Sorting Hat, an ancient and revered wizard's hat. You'll use these teams later in your games and activities. Choose two or three teams from the Hogwarts houses of Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, or make up your own wacky names. Guests pick the names of their houses out of the Sorting Hat (you can make your own with a semicircle of felt and a stapler, and a few stars and moons glued on the outside). Or try rigging the Sorting Hat with a walkie-talkie and have each guest put on the hat in turn. An adult hidden in another room can "speak" for the hat, assigning house placement: "Charlotte loves to smile and grin; she belongs in Slytherin!" FRATERNAL FACE PAINT Once your guests are "sorted," have them choose a symbol for their team and paint it on their foreheads or cheeks. An obvious choice is the lightning bolt scar found on Harry Potter's forehead, but other ideas include snakes for Slytherins, lions for Gryffindors, or magic wands, wizard hats, stars, broomsticks or golden snitches (gold orbs with wings). HOUSE RIVALRY Throughout the school year, the house teams at Hogwarts earn points toward winning the House Cup. You can play down the competitiveness (everyone's a winner at your party!) and have each team try to reach a goal of 500 points. Every team that reaches its goal earns prizes in the form of party favors. A little planning on your part can guarantee each team's success. Throughout the party, adults can relegate the points, to be tracked on a central point-tally board. Try 10 points for polite behavior, 50 points for cleaning up or good sportsmanship, 75 points for winning a game or completing an activity successfully. Adults can add to the fun by shouting out the assignment of points: "Twenty-five points to Gryffindor for throwing all their cake plates away!" You'll hears lots of cheers, and your guests will love running to the board to add to their point tally. OUTDOOR GAMES THE WINNING FORMULA If the weather permits, use your house teams for some outdoor action. While partygoers can't hop on broomsticks for a spirited game of Quidditch, they can play a variety of their favorite outdoor sports. Try candle tag, S.P.U.D., dodge ball or any game that's popular with your child's age group. Award team points not only for winning a particular game, but for good sportsmanship as well. FIND THE SNITCH Gather an armful of Ping-Pong balls and use permanent marker to write point values on each ball: 10, 20 or 30 points. Hide them throughout your yard. Spray paint one ball metallic gold--this is your Golden Snitch, worth 150 points to the team that finds it. Hide it well, and set those wizards loose to gather balls and points for their teams. The game ends when the snitch is found. INDOOR GAMES Gather your wizards in the Great Hall, turn the lights down low, and let the stars glitter overhead for some enchanting indoor fun. WHOMPING WILLOW Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand meets a sad fate when it crosses paths with this disgruntled tree! Choose a child to be the Whomping Willow and securely blindfold her eyes. The rest of the partygoers sit in a circle surrounding the tree. Two at a time, they silently switch places, always staying within the circle, while the Whomping Willow tries to catch them. Each catch earns points for the Whomping Willow's house team. Whoever is caught becomes the next Whomping Willow. THE BASILISK'S STARE Harry must conquer the dreaded Basilisk, a giant serpent that turns people to stone with its evil stare. In your game, the children sit in a circle and pick from a deck of cards. Whoever chooses the Ace of Spades is the Basilisk (but keeps this information secret). During play, the children quietly stare into each others eyes. The Basilisk blinks both eyes at its victims, who must silently count to 10 and then turn to stone (a favorite part of the game, usually accompanied by an agonizing scream and collapse on the floor!). The Basilisk continues to turn children into stone until a surviving child figures out who it is (that wizard earns points for their team). Kids love this game and will want to play it over and over. TRANSFIGURATIONS CLASS A little imagination can help these young wizards transform themselves into a variety of shapes. Children play the classic game of charades, but their choices are limited to animals and inanimate objects (teapots, toasters, and so on). Each successful transfiguration--that is, when someone correctly guesses the object--earns house points. POTIONS CLASS Students at Hogwarts create all sorts of magical brews in Professor Snape's Potions class. Your party guests can do the same using simple kitchen science chemistry (and some adult supervision). Clear plastic cups work great for these experiments. Try writing up the instructions on sheets of paper, then let each house team work as a group to complete them. Award points for each successful experiment. Your guests will love cooking up this magic! SLIMY GOOP Another great party favor. In a cup, mix 1/3 cup very warm water and 1 tablespoon Borax until it dissolves. Add a couple drops of food coloring. In a separate bowl, mix 2 cups Elmer's glue with 1-1/2 cups water. Add the Borax mix to the glue mix and stir. A rubbery blob will emerge from the brew, which the wizards can divvy up into plastic zip-top bags to bring home. INVISIBLE INK Have the young wizards dip cotton swabs in lemon juice and write messages on blank sheets of paper (use just enough juice to moisten the paper). Once the paper is dry, iron it using a hot setting (adults should help out here), and the messages will magically appear. BUBBLING BREW This foaming brew is sure to cause lots of excitement. Fill a cup with 2 tablespoons of water and stir in a tablespoon of baking soda until it dissolves. Place the cup on a tray (to catch the overflow), add all at once 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and poof! RAISING RAISINS Pour warm water in a cup until it is 3/4 full. Drop some raisins in the cup. Stir in 2 tablespoons of baking soda until it dissolves. Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Say, "Raisin Elevatum!" and watch them levitate. RUBBER EGG Have your wizards create their own party favors! Place an uncooked egg in a glass jar (large baby food jars and small eggs work well), cover the egg with vinegar, and screw on the lid. Instruct each child to let the egg sit in their refrigerators for a couple of days. The vinegar will dissolve the egg shell but leave the membrane intact, making the egg feel like a rubber ball. Very cool. WIZARD TREATS A meal in the Great Hall is always a fabulous feast.Your own spread can include a pot pie with newt eyes and bat tongues, lightning bolt peppers and ghostly onion dip. Make magic wands by dipping the ends of pretzel sticks in chocolate and then sprinkles. And don't forget that fabulous sensation: frothy Pumpkin Milkshakes (you can substitute hot apple cider or hot chocolate topped with whipped cream). When you sing "Happy Birthday," bring out a sensational Frozen Witch Hat. PARTY FAVORS A Harry Potter party wouldn't be complete without a visit to Honeydukes candy shop in Hogsmeade. House teams use their accumulated points to earn treats to fill their goody bags. Repackage candy into Harry Potter-themed brands, such as Dumbledore's Favorite Lemon Drops, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (Jelly Bellies), Droobles Best Blowing Gum and Dementors' Relief Chocolate Bars. In addition to the usual assortment of weird gummy shapes, try dipping gummy frogs in melted chocolate for an extra creepy treat. Throw in a broomstick for each guest: toothbrushes with the words "Nimbus 2000" or "Firebolt" painted on the handles using fabric craft paint. And don't forget those rubber eggs and bags of goop from Potions class! THANK YOU NOTES After the term at Hogwarts has ended, send "report cards" home to each guest. In addition to a personal note of gratitude, print up a list of classes--Transfigurations, Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Quidditch--followed by a grade: A+!
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