One of my favorite things to do is plan my kids’ birthday parties! This year I am extra excited because my kids asked for a Harry Potter themed party. As soon as they suggested a Harry Potter party, the ideas started flooding my brain in addition to all the great Pinterest inspiration I found. I thought I’d share all of these great Harry Potter birthday party ideas here, as well as, some of the FREE Harry Potter printable signs that I created.
For most of our birthday parties, my family likes to book our church’s gymnasium so that our kids can have a big area to run around and play some fun games. So I knew we would have to put the gym to use by having a big Quidditch match for the kids. Attached to the church gymnasium, is also a dining hall with lots of tables. So, this area I planned to decorate with all the iconic Hogwarts decorations. Then I could set up different Hogwarts classes with a fun activity at each of the tables. We had to have a table for Ollivander’s Wand Shop, Potion’s Class, Transfiguration Class, and Charms Class. I made signs for each of the tables to help explain the activity. That way, the kids could independently go to each of the tables and complete the activities at their pace. Throughout this blog post, I’ve broken down each of these different activities that we planned and linked any products or free printables that we used. I hope you enjoy and get lots of inspiration!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. This means at no extra charge to you, I may receive a small commission if a purchase is made.
Harry Potter Birthday Party Invitation Ideas
First, I had to share this fun Harry Potter birthday party invitation idea! I created this invitation that resembles a Hogwarts acceptance letter and included a Hogwarts Express ticket too. Once in the envelope, I turned the envelope into Hedwig so it looked like Hedwig was delivering the Hogwarts acceptance letter through owl post! To create Hedwig’s face, I glued on two yellow circles slightly underneath the envelope flap and added a black little circle on the yellow circle. These made Hedwig’s eyes. Then I glued a little black triangle on the tip of the flap to make Hedwig’s beak. Then I just used a black marker to add U shaped feathers on Hedwig’s body. To save some time on cutting out circles and triangles, I put my Cricut to use for cutting out all the pieces. Check out the picture below to see the final product!
For these invitations, I used a cream colored cardstock and white envelopes. The envelopes need to have a triangular shaped flap, not a rectangular flap, to make Hedwig’s beak. I have linked all of the products I used, as well as, the paper cutter and Cricut I used to cut everything. I would definitely suggest to use a Cricut for cutting everything. You’ll get perfect cuts and save yourself LOTS of time. Linked below is one of the best Cricut deals out there and my absolute favorite. Here are all the links for the same products that we used to make these Harry Potter invitations:
- Cream colored cardstock
- White envelopes with rectangular flaps
- Colored paper
- Cricut
Harry Potter Birthday Party Decorations
Usually I don’t do a lot of decorating for parties. I usually just spread out a decorative tablecloth and lay out the activities we have planned for the party in a pretty way to serve as the decorations haha. However, I had to do a couple iconic Harry Potter decorations to transform our space into Hogwarts! Check out the picture below to see how we decorated the main food and cake area. I have linked all of the banners, tablecloths, and plates/napkins that we used for the party and then I’ve broken down each of the DIY decorations into their own section.
Here are the links for all the table and wall decorations in the picture above:
- Harry Potter Happy Birthday Banner
- Hogwarts Tablecloth
- Harry Potter Plates, Cups, and Decoration Set
Platform 9 and three quarters entry
How magical would it be for the kids to enter the birthday party through Platform 9 and three quarters to be transported into Hogwart’s Great Hall? We bought this pretty awesome platform 9 and three quarters banner to hang in the main entrance. It had a slit down the middle so the kids could get a running head start to pass through the platform 9 and three quarters into the magical world. I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of it once we had it hung up but here is the link to the platform 9 and three quarters banner that we ordered from Amazon.
Floating Candles
It seemed like a necessity to add floating candles to the decorations to resemble the floating candles in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. You can see how cute our floating candles turned out in the picture above with the Harry Potter Birthday sign. This is a super simple DIY decoration that can add a magical touch to your Harry Potter party. All you need are some flameless LED candles, some clear fishing line, and some scotch tape. I’ve linked all of these below. All you have to do is cut a strip of fishing line and use the scotch tape to attach it to the side of the LED candlestick. Then hang the candle stick from the ceiling. The clear fishing line disappears to reveal magically floating candles! Here are all of the links for the supplies that we used for these floating candles:
Hogwarts House Sorting
When planning the Harry Potter party, it felt like sorting the kids into houses was a necessity! So I bought this pretty awesome talking sorting hat. Once the kids entered into the Great Hall, they could place the sorting hat on their heads and be sorted into their houses. The talking sorting hat was a hit and made the house sorting feel very authentic. I’ve linked the electronic talking sorting hat that we used here. You can also check out the picture below to see how we displayed the sorting hat. We set it out where it could be seen right when the kids walked into the Great Hall next to Harry Potter glasses and goody bags. That way they could be sorted into their houses, put on some Harry Potter glasses, and grab a goody bag of their newly found Hogwarts house. They could then bring the goody bags with them to each of the Hogwart’s classes to help carry all of their creations. Keep reading for more on the goody bags and Hogwart’s classes in the next couple sections!
Harry Potter Goody Bag Ideas
So the kids have been sorted into their houses and can now grab their house goody bags. I know it sounds weird to already grab a goody bag! Usually goody bags are for the end of the party as a farewell gift (or at least they are at our birthday parties lol). But, for this Harry Potter party, my intention was for the kids to grab a goody bag of their newly assigned Hogwarts house and carry it around to each of the Hogwart’s classes to collect more and more goodies to take home. This sign is the first of many free printable Harry Potter signs. Click the download button below to get the Harry Potter birthday party goody bag sign pictured above.
Harry Potter Goody Bag SignThis sign would fit perfectly in the acrylic sign holders linked here or you could put in some elbow grease and make your own table centerpiece like I did that’s pictured above. To make these table centerpieces, I just glued the signs to a birthday centerpiece from Dollar Tree or one of the honeycomb table centerpieces linked right here. I did a full tutorial on how to make these centerpieces in my Three Little Pigs Birthday Party that’s linked below.
Ok, I couldn’t write a section on goody bags without linking some of my favorite goodies! Check out all these awesome Harry Potter goody bag items:
- Wand pencils and lightning bolt tattoos
- Bertie’s Botts jelly beans
- Wizard notebooks
- Invisible ink pens
- Round wizard glasses and lightning bolt tattoos
- Wizarding school goody bags
Ollivander’s Wand Shop
One of the stations at our Harry Potter birthday party had to be a wand making station. For this station, we simply set out chopsticks, a glue gun, paint, and a little fan to help speed up the glue and paint drying process. The kids (with a parent supervising) were able to design their own wand by putting hot glue onto the chopstick. Once the glue was dry, they could paint their wand and allow it to dry as well. This activity was an absolute hit! The Ollivander Wand Shop sign pictured above was set out on the table to help guide the kids and adults through the wand making process. This Ollivander’s Wand Shop sign is my next free printable sign. Click the download button right below to get your own copy.
Ollivanders Wand Shop SignI have linked the supplies that I used for the wand making below:
Potions Class
The next Hogwart’s class for the kid’s to take part in is Potion’s class! This was also an absolute hit. Each child was able to get their own potions vial to create a custom potion following the recipe guide listed on the Potions Class sign above. They first used a funnel to add a scoop of glittering fairy dust (aka glitter). Then they could add one drop of magical color reactant (aka food coloring) to color their potion. Next they could chose what type of magical liquid (aka water) they wanted to add to their potion. This was the fun part for me because I labeled clear cups of water with fun “magical liquids” like phoenix tears, gillyweed extract, troll bogeys, basilisk venom, etc. Check out the picture below to see all the magical liquids. The kids were to add a dropperful of the magical liquid/s to their vial. They should only fill the vial about one third of the way full with the magical liquids (aka water).
Next, they can fill the rest of the potions vial with “Magical Goop” (aka Dish soap), seal it, and shake it to mix it up. The dish soap will thicken the potion and cause the glitter to magically swirl around the vial. Then the kids can name their potion and apply a label to it. The kids were absolutely intrigued by all the mixing and squeezing and squirting. It was so much fun! The Potion’s Class sign above is also a free printable sign. You can download this free printable Potion’s Class sign by clicking the Download button below.
Potions Class SignAll of the products that we used for the Potion’s class are linked below:
- Potion vials with corks and funnels
- Fine glitter
- Squeeze bottles
- Liquid dish soap
- Mini clear disposable cups
- Food coloring
- Water droppers
- Label stickers
Transfiguration Class
How cute is this tattoo application idea for a Transfiguration class? I was pretty proud of myself for this idea and it was a crowd pleaser for a lot of the younger kids that attended our birthday party. I just set out a bunch of Harry Potter tattoos including the Harry Potter scar tattoo. Then I laid out scissors to cut out their favorites tattoos. They could then apply the tattoos using a cut up Dollar Tree sponge and little Dollar Tree cups filled with water. This would also be a good spot to lay out Harry Potter glasses to help ‘transfigure” yourself into Harry Potter. Click the link below to download this free Transfiguration Class sign.
Transfiguration Class SignLinked below are all of the supplies that we used for the Harry Potter Transfiguration Class:
Charms Class
The last Hogwart’s class had to be Charms Class. At this class, the kids could use their newly created wands to practice some different wand motions. Then they could color their own spellbook coloring page too. You can find the spellbook coloring page and several other awesome Harry Potter coloring pages over at The Kids Activity Blog. The free printable Charms Class sign that’s pictured above can be downloaded by pressing the Download button right below.
Charms Class SignQuidditch Match
I mentioned above that we rented out our church’s gym and dining hall. So, we had to put the gym to use by organizing a Quidditch match for the kids. We used the basketball court that was already set up and hung three golden hoops from each of the basketball hoops. In the picture below you can see the golden hoops hanging from the basketball hoops with paracord. We simply made the Quidditch hoops by duct taping three Dollar Tree hoola hoops together and spray painting them gold.
For the game, we split the kids into even teams and used Dodgeball as the Quaffles and Bludgers. The kids could throw the Quaffles through their team’s assigned hoops to score 1 point. They would also use the dodgeballs as bludgers and throw them at the opposing them. If a team member is hit by a bludger then they would have to drop the quaffle they had and run and tag their goal before they could resume playing. Oh one more thing, each player had half of a pool noodle that they had to have one hand on and keep between their legs like they were riding a broomstick. In the last minute of the game, we bounced a golden bouncy ball to mimic the snitch. Whichever team caught the snitch received 10 extra points. Once the snitch was caught, we totaled the points and the team with the most points won. I have linked some of the Quidditch supplies we used below. However, the hoola hoops and pool noodles we purchased from the Dollar Tree.
Table Quidditch
Here’s another Quidditch party game idea. Players on opposite sides of the table take turns throwing ping pong balls through the Quidditch hoops and into the golden cups. The first player to get a ball into each of the cups on the opposite side wins the game. This was pretty easy to make. I got all of the supplies for this one from Dollar Tree. I cut out the center of a golden paper plate for the hoops and hot glued it to a plastic balloon holder from Dollar Tree. I then poked a hole through the bottom of a golden plastic cup and pushed the plastic holder through it. I used the leftover gold spray paint to spray the plastic tube to make it all golden. This was a pretty simple DIY Harry Potter game that the kids loved to play.
Free Dobby Sock Toss
Here’s another awesome Harry Potter game idea – Free Dobby Sock Toss! For this game we just used 4 balled up (clean) socks and tried to toss them into Dobby’s hand to help free him. For this game, I just used two foam poster boards from Dollar Tree. I duct taped them together at the top so the poster boards could create a triangle with the ground. I also duct taped a little string between the two boards to keep them from sliding apart and falling down. Then I cut a hole in the board to toss the sock through. I quickly sketched a picture of Dobby with his hand right below the hole. You could also just print a picture of him too and tape it on. For the game, the kids stood behind a line and had four tries to toss the sock into Dobby’s hand (through the hole) to Free Dobby. This was a simple, but fun game.
Harry Potter Game Ideas
Here are a couple more game ideas that would be great for a Harry Potter Birthday
Wingardium Leviosa Balloon Relay: For this game, the kids get broken up into even teams and each team lines up. The first person in line uses their wand to gently tap and keep a balloon up (magically levitating) while saying “Wingardium Leviosa.” They must continue to keep the balloon levitating while racing down to a designated line and back. Once they get back, the next person in their line can go. The team who finishes first wins!
Immobilizing the Pixies: For this game, Professor Lockhart has released a bunch of pestering pixies into the room. These pixies are hidden all throughout the party room and the kids must go on a scavenger hunt to find all of them and return them to their cage. The kid that finds the most pixies wins a prize. When hunting, the kids can even use their wands and yell “Immobulus” to freeze the pixie once found. A printable pixie sheet can be found over at Zoo and Roo.
Pin the Scar on Harry: Here’s a fun spin on the traditional pin the tail on the donkey game. You can make your own version of this or just purchase the game that’s linked here.
Harry Potter Cake Ideas
So you may have noticed from previous posts, but my daughter and son have the same birthday just on different years. So for now we have a joint birthday party that they agree on, but they always get their own cakes. So my daughter wanted this Hedwig cake and my son wanted a smores cake that I added a fun Harry Potter cake topper to. I unfortunately do not have any recipe for you because I always use boxed cake mixes for my cakes. That’s my way of saving time so that I can instead use my time for decorating the cakes. What I can share though is a couple tips for making these cakes.
Tips for the Hedwig cake:
I just used a closed star piping tip to pipe white frosting all over. For Hedwig’s eye, I melted some white chocolate and added a few drops of yellow food coloring. Then I poured the melted chocolate out into 2 yellow circles for the eyes and a smaller triangle for the beak. Once they were cool and hardened, I used a black icing pen that I bought from Dollar Tree and added the black pupils and colored the peak black. I pressed these chocolate pieces into the icing and then just used a little extra white icing to kind of clean everything up and cover any smooshed frosting. Lastly, I added the cream colored curly candles to the top that I also got from the Dollar Tree.
Tips for the Smores cake:
For the smores cake, I frosted the whole cake with chocolate frosting and then dripped chocolate ganache down the sides. Then I piped some white frosting on top and added the smores chunks. For the smores chunks, I just broiled graham crackers, chocolate chunks, and mini marshmallows for around 2 minutes. Lastly, I topped the cake with gold candles and the fun Harry Potter cake topper. I’ve linked this cake topper here!
I hope that this has given you some good inspiration for your next Harry Potter birthday party!
