Host a Harry Potter party, part 1

A year ago I wrote about having Harry Potter theme parties because my sister threw one and we attended. Wood Sprite had already been interested in the series, but that really hooked her. (Now she is also hooked on the Goosebumps series­—maybe an R.L. Stine party is in our future?) Today I can actually write more on the topic because we hosted our own party.

I started out by making all kinds of cool crafts—some partial crafts for the kids to finish as well as some finished ones for them to take home. I either used or modified the following ideas from other parents (thanks!).

Wands: I wanted to whittle down some wands from the backyard to use, but we just didn’t have time. Between trunk or treat, work, our Boo Bash and other festivities I didn’t have a spare moment to even collect the sticks! So I made them out of paper here. They turned out really well, but I did skip the final steps due to time constraints. I’d say it took me two hours to make and paint a dozen wands (and I did get very messy). I’m glad I did this one ahead because it does take patience!

Quidditch Brooms: We made these really simple bookmarks. I didn’t have any pretty string to use so we just used a line of glitter glue. I pre-cut the broom shapes but did not make the fringe or anything else ahead of time.

Dragons: We made “Common Welsh Green” dragons out of toilet paper tubes and tissue paper. I pre-painted them and glued in the flames, so the kids only had to decorate them and glue on their eyes.

Pygmy Puffs: I made a pygmy puff adoption center where the kids could just glue eyes on pom pom balls. They really enjoyed making two-headed or multiple-eyed (or Cyclops) pygmy puffs!

Photo courtesy of Sara S.