For her 7th, Madeline decided on a Harry Potter themed birthday - we remain about 60 pages from finishing Order of the Phoenix and well, I said ok. Last year the theme was Frozen, so we had plates, a pin the nose on Olaf, and Frozen Bingo.
So. Yeah. How to do Harry Potter theme.
I decided to make stations from Hogwarts. Prior to the party Harris and I made wands for each kid using knitting needles and chopsticks from The Scrap Exchange. We melted hot glue over the tops in different interesting patterns, then I painted them all brown and added colors to the tops. I also printed up signs that looked like educational decrees and plastered them around the house.
Herbology was full of wholesome snacks on one side of the table, while HoneyDukes filled the other side of the table with chocolate and candies. We had Transfiguration class by turning paper into animals, that was harder than expected - most kids made paper airplanes. We took O.W.L.S. by writing down the flavors of jelly beans we all tasted together (aside: it's hysterical reading 1st grade spelling of things like Lime, grape, fruit punch) (aside 2: What does it say about me that I found the sorting of jelly beans into tidy color coded buckets the night before one of the most relaxing aspects of prep?). I told futures in Divination class using their palms, tea leaves, and a bag of bird bones we pulled from the chimney.
And then there was Defense Against the Dark Arts. We learned about dementors and then practiced our patronus charm. Then we walked around the house practicing our charms when Harris appeared on the stairs, dressed in my graduation robes as a dementor. The kids SCREAMED. Some freaked out, then I said, wait! we know what to do! what's the spell! and they are started screaming EXPECTO PATRONUM! and the dementor vanished back up the stairs. I laughed so hard I was crying. Multiple others also found this to be amazing.
We ate a 'Hagrid cake' that Madeline and I made and decorated. It was very tasty, but not very pretty - as it was supposed to be.
And Madeline had a blast! Most important part.
That evening it took Harris and me about three hours to put the house back together afterwards. 15 kids + parents + cake + making things will do a number to you. At the end, I was hand washing the floors because the cake was ground into them.
So. Yeah. How to do Harry Potter theme.
I decided to make stations from Hogwarts. Prior to the party Harris and I made wands for each kid using knitting needles and chopsticks from The Scrap Exchange. We melted hot glue over the tops in different interesting patterns, then I painted them all brown and added colors to the tops. I also printed up signs that looked like educational decrees and plastered them around the house.
Herbology was full of wholesome snacks on one side of the table, while HoneyDukes filled the other side of the table with chocolate and candies. We had Transfiguration class by turning paper into animals, that was harder than expected - most kids made paper airplanes. We took O.W.L.S. by writing down the flavors of jelly beans we all tasted together (aside: it's hysterical reading 1st grade spelling of things like Lime, grape, fruit punch) (aside 2: What does it say about me that I found the sorting of jelly beans into tidy color coded buckets the night before one of the most relaxing aspects of prep?). I told futures in Divination class using their palms, tea leaves, and a bag of bird bones we pulled from the chimney.
And then there was Defense Against the Dark Arts. We learned about dementors and then practiced our patronus charm. Then we walked around the house practicing our charms when Harris appeared on the stairs, dressed in my graduation robes as a dementor. The kids SCREAMED. Some freaked out, then I said, wait! we know what to do! what's the spell! and they are started screaming EXPECTO PATRONUM! and the dementor vanished back up the stairs. I laughed so hard I was crying. Multiple others also found this to be amazing.
We ate a 'Hagrid cake' that Madeline and I made and decorated. It was very tasty, but not very pretty - as it was supposed to be.
And Madeline had a blast! Most important part.
That evening it took Harris and me about three hours to put the house back together afterwards. 15 kids + parents + cake + making things will do a number to you. At the end, I was hand washing the floors because the cake was ground into them.
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