Harry Potter Themed Birthday Party to Delight any Muggle
Our oldest, Grant, turned 10, and poof a whole decade has gone by. He is such a joy to have around and a blessing to our family. I’m so thankful God gave us the gift of a little red-headed boy. He’s also great at dreaming up awesome birthday parties!
Planning a Wizard Party
Every year we discuss his birthday plans in depth. First, we decide on the location. I give him all kinds of suggestions but he most always prefers home parties. He loves being at home and hosting at our house gives us the freedom to create the kind of party he desires. After the date and time are set we talk about the theme.
This year he chose Harry Potter. I was excited but knew little about the books so I found the audio version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone at the library and got to listening. Initially, I was not really interested in Harry Potter and honestly would not have read the book if not for Grant’s interest but I have loved connecting with him over it. Next, we set the budget, discussed food ideas, dessert, a game option, and gift ideas he is interested in.
A Feast Reminiscent of Hogwarts
We got The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook from the library. He spent time reading it and deciding which recipes might be good for the birthday lunch. Instead of having a large birthday with friends every year we alternate years. One year is a friend party and the next is a family-only party. This year it was family only and we were having 9 people over. The meal needed to be something simple that was not too costly.
From the cookbook, we landed on Kreacher’s French Onion Soup from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Grant had never had French Onion soup, so I was a little shocked he wanted it, but he is pretty adventurous with food. We made the soup together the night before his party and reheated the day of. We both really enjoyed cooking something new together.
For the main course, he picked Lightly Seasoned Broiled Chicken Drumsticks. These are what Harry brings Sirius while he’s hiding out in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They were super easy to make. I marinated them the day before and ended up roasting them instead of broiling. Grabbing a chicken leg and taking a bite out of it really makes it feel like a feast. We also served bagged Ceasar salad along with the onion soup and drumsticks. In the end, Grant didn’t love the onion soup, but I was so proud of him for trying something new.
Scroll down to read about our Butterbeer experiment.
Just Like Harry’s First Birthday Cake
For the dessert, Grant wanted Rosa’s Mud Cake which is what he picks almost every year. I thought it would be fun to recreate Harry Potter’s first-ever birthday cake from the book. Do you remember the one that Hagrid pulls out from his coat pocket? We frosted it with chocolate frosting. By mixing powdered sugar, green food coloring, and a bit of milk we created the green icing to write, “Happy Birthday Grant” on the top just like Harry’s.
For the candles, I found these black and white ones which I felt were very fitting for the theme. We served the cake with vanilla ice cream. I baked the cake the night before and kept it covered in the fridge overnight. The morning of the party I frosted it and wrote on the top with the green icing.
Decorating without a House-elf
You guys I totally geek about about these types of things! I found a free Harry Potter font that we downloaded and used for the decor. We also found a Hogwarts crest online that we printed and Grant colored. I made a nine and three-quarters sign plus a Happy Birthday Grant sign with the font. On our little chalkboard, I created the Hogwarts banner.
Instead of buying paper plates and plastic silverware, like I usually do for birthdays, I decided to use real plates and silverware. It was nice since we were having a proper meal. I did still use plastic cups.
We found these free printable bookmarks which the kids really liked. We used them as table decorations placing one at each table setting.
Non-Quidditch Gaming
We modified this charades game into a Pictionary-like game. We all had a good time drawing, guessing, and laughing. We took out all the words that would be challenging to those who have not read the books and kept the others. Examples of the ones we kept were: chocolate frog, London, two-way mirror, golden egg, etc. It was great because kids and adults could play. We used Alexa to be our two-minute timer. She did excellently.
Gifts that didn’t Require a Trip to Diagon Alley
Our youngest, Dean, really wanted to get Grant a gift but was all out of spending money so I told him he could get something for under $5. He found this candy which was super cool.
Since Harry grows a year older in every book we have only allowed Grant to read through book 3 thus far. For his birthday we bought the illustrated version for book 4 which he is really enjoying plus book 5.
Don’t Forget the Butterbeer
As a special treat, we had butterbeer which is a non-alcoholic drink that Harry and his friends drink in Hogsmeade. The recipe we followed contained cream soda, ice cream, and butterscotch syrup. Apparently, this cold blended version is like the one found at Universal Studios Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
A Letter from Professor McGonagall
As a final little surprise, I created a letter for Grant from Hogwarts. It looked so good, it was on Hogwarts letterhead and everything but my computer would not print it so I had to screenshot it and print it from another computer. In doing that, spellcheck remained highlighted on the word Hogwarts. The font was so small so 40-year-old me did not notice. Immediately after opening the letter Grant saw the red squiggles and knew it was a fake. Can’t win them all!
We are looking forward to watching the first movie soon. I can’t wait to see his reactions.
What would you add to a Harry Potter Themed Party? Waiting on your owls in the comments below.
You may also like How to Plan for Children’s Christmas Gifts without Stress or How to Bring Back the Kindness.
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