We just can’t quit Harry Potter. All of our children (minus the 6yo!) have read and loved the entire series. The themes of friendship, goodness and a little mischief have certainly been a joy to read. Also, this isn’t our first HP party, check this one and this one.
I hope you love this nod to Hagrid’s first cake to Harry and that butter beer (are those labels killer or what?).
When Master Luke asked for a Harry Potter party, I was happy to oblige. Pandemic or not, we got creative and made it happen. Birthday joy didn’t get cancelled in 2020.
We kept the guest list small, meaning Luke included just two friends (plus our crew, so it was still a par-tay), and we set everything up outside so we could enjoy the fresh air and still maintain social distancing. Hey, you do what you gotta do.
First up? Pin the scar on Harry. This has long been a Whitaker party staple. We’ll pin anything on anything. Ha! The secret is we use a foam core board, draw or paint the image on it, then hang it with twine over a fencepost. And, the kids’ masks doubled as eye coverings. Brilliant!
You can’t have a party without kid-friendly libations. Enter: potions class. We dropped a few squirts of liquid food coloring in the bottom of the cups, then added ice. As the boys filled the cups with potion (aka Sprite), their cup contents turned different colors. Normally, we add a few pop rocks for added pizzaz but we forgot them! They were still a hit, though, especially the cup with contents that turned yellow. God love boys.
Then, we enjoyed a little Harry Potter bingo – four corners, diagonal and then blackout. I guess 11-year-olds enjoy bingo just as much as 91-year-olds!
Our last game was a creative spin off the sorting hat. The boys took a quiz and then we distributed cupcakes (gluten-free for Luke), that had different colored icing when you bit into them: red (Gryffindor), blue (Ravenclaw), yellow (Hufflepuff) and green (Slytherin). There were lots of laughs and thankfully, the birthday boy got sorted into the house he desired.
We ended the party with sugar, and lots of it. The boys feasted on popcorn, cupcakes, owl cookies (Anna-Laura made these!), Hagrid’s cake, gummy worms and butter beer (aka root beer).
They left with a small party favor from Weasley’s Wizarding Shop – levitating lemon drops and Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans. But, not before we snapped a photo of the muggles by the 9 3/4 platform!
This Covid, mask-wearing, socially distant Harry Potter party was deemed a success by Luke and his buddies. And, that’s all that mattered!
If you’re looking for more ideas, check my Pinterest board. And, here’s all your sources. If it’s not linked below, check Pinterest or one of my other HP parties.
Butter Beer Labels: Behance
Harry Potter Bingo: Paper Trail Design
Cupcakes: Polkadots
Sorting Hat Quiz: Puddle Wonderful Learning
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