The Big Harry Potter Birthday Party

Elisabeths's long awaited Harry Potter Birthday Party came off, not exactly without a hitch, but it came off nonetheless, and I think it was a success. The kids all seemed to have a good time anyway, and that's all that really matters. I was too busy to take photos, but thankfully Jon took a few...and some video too. We had about 18 kids there and a whole lot of 'magical activities'.

For starters, the whole family spent about two weeks making these wands. It was hard work and time consuming, but well worth it. We were all really proud of the final product.

When the kids arrived at the party they received their robes with the Gryffindor badge and then they went into our office, 'Ollivanders Wand Shop', I handed the child a wand and told them to say 'lumos' to light a pumpkin....nothing happens, then I tell them to pick a wand that looks good to them and try again. I told them to 'swish and flick' and then say the charm.
Then, wonder of wonders, the pumpkin lights up. We had a lot of theories floating around about how it worked....younger ones definitely believed it was magic, older ones were thinking of motion sensors or specialized remote controls inside the wands...I was just pushing the switch on the power cord with my foot. It was great fun! We did this one at a time so it could be a surprise to each child.
Meanwhile, Elisabeth was showing the other kids how to make Pigmy Puffs ( a magical pet invented by the Weasley Brothers). Notice the chocolate frog in the picture also.
Then the kids made their own Hogwarts Books out of felt and we put in pages with our potions ingredients, names of spells and what they do, a flavor chart for the Bertie Botts every flavor beans, and some blank pages for pictures and other stuff. The book is in the background of the pigmy puff picture too.

On to potions class! We made wizards goo...only I forgot to tell them to stir at a crucial moment and so we ended up with a blob instead of actual goo. I was disapointed (especially since I had tried it out earlier that morning and made perfect goo!) But the kids seemed to like the blob alright. Such is the life of a potions teacher ;)

By this time the kids had worked up an appetite, so we all ate some Weasley's weezy cheezy pizza....from domino's. Along with some 'Butter beer' (cream soda mixed with butterscotch syrup) or they could make their own potions drinks out of various colors of soda and juice and some pixi-stick powder which really fizzed up a lot!

Next we were off to Quiditch practice. The kids each took a turn on the broom, flying through an onslaught of bludgers to make a goal.

Then it was time to pull out their wands...they were practicing 'Wingardium Leviosa' on some balloons. This is a spell to make things float for those of you who don't know. The kids were supposed to tap the balloons with their wands and keep them up off the ground. If I had to choose one activity that the kids enjoyed most, this would be it. They never wanted to stop...except those whose balloons popped.
The kids quickly found out that the balloons would go very high if they were over by the air conditioner!

We also used the wands to play a magical version of freeze dance. When the person who was it said 'Immobulus' every one had to freeze. The person who got out, was the next to say 'Immobulus'. Then they all came in for 'Cauldron Cakes'. Here's the birthday girl with hers.

The kids got to go Shopping at 'Honey Dukes' candy shoppe after the cake. We had Chocolate Frogs, Sour Snakes, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, Candy Skeletons, Golden Snitches...and I can't remember what else. Then it was time for Presents. That was the end of the official party, but those who wanted to, stayed after to watch Harry Potter 3 projected on our wall.

Whew!!! I think that was everything. What a party. I only wish we had taken more pictures =). Here's a video of the kids playing the balloon game.