We recently had a Harry Potter-themed birthday for Lexi, and I’ve had a ton of questions about all the things we used for our activities and decorations. So this is a post detailing all the Harry Potter birthday party ideas for activities, decorations, and supplies we used for our own Harry Potter-themed birthday party!
FULL STORY ON OUR HARRY POTTER THEMED PARTY
Table of Contents
HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY PARTY IDEAS: ACTIVITIES
Here are all the detailed descriptions of all the activities in Lexi’s 7th Harry Potter Themed Birthday Party post. All the printables, signs, and ideas can also be found under my Harry Potter Pinterest board.
Hogwarts Acceptance | Sorting Hat ceremony | Olivanders | Platform 9 and 3/4
Before entering the house, every child had to knock loudly three times. Upon entry they were handed a Hogwarts Acceptance letter and a ticket to platform 9 and 3/4. All printed on parchment paper that can be found here. Then they were sorted into their houses by the sorting hat. I played these youtube sorting videos on a speaker every time we had to sort a kid out. Then they proceed to pick out a wand (found here). If the wand was good for them a bell sounded (we found a bell sound on Apple Music) and if it was bad, then a loud crash came from the speakers (we used Halloween sound effects on Apple Music).
After the wand, they got to take a picture with the HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WIZARD sign and in front of the platform 9 and 3/4 backdrop next to the life size Harry Potter characters (scroll down to see all the decorations from our Birthday in a Box).
Supplies Used:
Herbology
For Herbology, we got owl ceramic pots (both these and these) and potted succulents as Mandrakes and had the children repot the succulents into their owl planters as fast as they could, water them, and keep these Harry Potter-themed plants as party favors.
I printed the Herbology sign from one of the resources online (please see my Harry Potter Pinterest board for all the printables that we used).
Supplies Used:
Divination
We used clear cups that had a drop of food coloring placed at the bottom a few hours prior to the party. When the kids were ready to have their fates revealed to them, we brought out the cups filled with ice (so that they couldn’t see the bottom with the food coloring) and one by one poured La Croix (but any white fizzy drink would do) into their cups (Tip: make sure you have them cup the bottom of their drink to prevent them from accidentally seeing the bottom).
Once the fizzy water touches the bottom, the food coloring creates a specific color. Make sure to announce which color mean what. We used the following predictions:
- YELLOW = HAPPINESS
- PURPLE = MONEY
- GREEN = ADVENTURE
- ORANGE = SADNESS (Tip: I don’t recommend negative predictions as some of the kids might be really upset they get this one)
- RED = LOVE
- BLUE = MONEY
Supplies Used:
Transfiguration
For this we did a simple game of Headbandz, which is similar to 20 questions. Each person gets a card that they display on their forehead without being able to see it. Whatever is on the card is what they are. And they can only transform back into themselves when they have guessed what they are by asking questions.
Supplies Used:
Defense Against the Dark Arts
This was our first class and we prepared the kids beforehand, knowing that some would be too scared. We had a trail of spiders leaving to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room with the sign that said “Follow the spiders, Hagrid!”
Before they entered the room, we explained how this works and how to defeat a dementor. Inside the room, I was dressed as a dementor with creepy cloth all over me and a bright light ready to be turned on upon their first patronus charm (Tip: I’d suggest wearing all black under the creepy cloth or simply hanging the cloth off of the ceiling). It also can be realistic to buy skeleton hands for the dementor.
Supplies Used:
Potion Making
There are several different ways to do these potions, but I found that mixing water and corn syrup or water and oil produces really fun effects. Kids had a blast creating their own potions. This was probably their favorite activity.
Supplies Used:
- Glitter
- Colorful Feathers
- Gems and small shiny items to put inside
- Empty Vials
- Corn Syrup (it’s thicker than canola oil and makes amazing effects with glitter)
- Water
- Canola Oil
Quidditch
There are two ways to do Quidditch. If you have the back-yard or front yard space, you can do the outdoor options which is more fun, more physical, and closer to the real thing (that’s what we did). If you have to stay indoors, you could do the beer-pong version found in my Harry Potter Pinterest board.
The outdoor quidditch was very easy to put together. All you need is 6 hula hoops, 6 stakes, and spray paint. The hula hoops get nailed and taped to the top of the stakes and then everything gets spray painted and 3 hoops get placed in each of the two opposite corners of the field.
We used a dogdeball for play as it is soft and easy to grab and the kids got so excited about it that no one cared about the rules. They were just happy running around trying to get the ball through one of the opponent’s hoops.
Supplies Used:
- Hula Hoops
- 6 Wooden Stakes
- Red Spray Paint
- Ball
COMPLETE LIST OF HARRY POTTER SUPPLIES FOR ACTIVITIES:
Here are all the supplies we used for our Harry Potter-themed birthday party:
- Plastic Spiders
- Spider web
- Headbandz
- Clear Plastic Cups
- Food Coloring
- La Croix
- Spell book
- Succulents
- Owl Pots: Here and Here
- Wooden rods
- Plastic cups
- Creepy cloth
- Sorting Hat
- Potion vials
- Parchment paper
- Hula Hoops
- 6 Wooden Stakes
- Red Spray Paint
- Ball
- Glitter
- Colorful Feathers
- Gems/Confetti
- Corn Syrup
- Water
- Canola Oil
HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY PARTY IDEAS: DECORATIONS AND SUPPLIES
Our basic Harry Potter birthday party supplies and decorations came from a Harry Potter-themed Birthday–in-a Box Set
Birthday in a Box Supplies
This included everything shown below:
- Harry Potter Happy Birthday personalized banner
- Harry Potter plates, cups and utensils
- Harry Potter balloons
- Harry Potter themed 4 houses decoration set
- Harry Potter flags
- Harry Potter favor bags
- Harry Potter photobooth Props
- Harry Potter cardboard stand up
- Harry Potter 9 and 3/4 backdrop
- Harry Potter invitations
Harry Potter Stand Up
HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY PARTY SUPPLIES
HARRY POTTER BIRTHDAY PARTY IDEAS: DIY DECORATIONS
The rest of the Harry Potter decorations were ordered from Amazon, handmade, or found on Pinterest.
Edible Snitches
This a fun and easy food craft. A 24 pack of Ferrero Rocher with white wing cut outs taped to the top make a great party favor, decoration or treat for Harry Potter parties.
Supplies Used:
Harry Potter Floating Winged Keys
Floating Winged Keys were pretty easy and cheap to make. You can find keys here, and the wings were made out of tulle, found here, and hung with tape and this nylon string which made them invisible. The guests then took a key with them upon departure as a keepsake.
Supplies Used:
Harry Potter Printables
Most of the printables were found online and are saved on my Harry Potter Pinterest board. We used parchment paper to print those that were supposed to look old and white paper for the magazine print outs for the table backdrop, which looked really cool. You can see all the photos below.
The Lumos/Nox signs were printed on parchment paper and then the edges were slightly burnt.
Harry Potter themed Outfits
You can’t have a Harry Potter-themed birthday without the proper outfits and attire! We got dressed up for the occasion, of course, and here is what we wore:
- Harry Potter themed scarf
- Harry Potter themed socks
- Harry Potter themed potter cats shirt
- Harry Potter themed necklaces
- Harry Potter themed skirt
- Harry Potter themed tie
Additional Supplies and Decorations
We also had some little Harry Potter themed supplies and decorations that we used around the house:
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