I need Harry Potter party games for 7 year olds.
September 12, 2017 12:18 PM Subscribe
I fail the Pinterest. Please help me anyway. Have you tried or heard of fun Harry Potter kid's party games? Are the ones I'm thinking of going to work?
The guests will all be around 7 years old. Here's what I have already:
- some sort of edibles decorating - maybe House color cupcakes? So cupcakes are ready made and probably frosted with vanilla already, and I'll have pastry bags of House color icing, and toppers...
- Transfiguration - like charades. Divide into "House" teams. Every kid gets a chance to be the wizard. Wizard (there will be 3 people on a team) gets a lump of playdough, draws a card, and has to make that thing out of the playdough, I guess with a timer. First team to guess what their wizard is transfiguring gets a point. Maybe I will award them a House Cup.
- Honeydukes candy bar
I thought about a find-the-Horcruxes treasure hunt but honestly I don't want to encourage them to root around the house or the yard outside the party area. Last thing I need is them getting into the toolshed or my bedside drawer, you know what I'm saying.
Toad Hop race vetoed for same reason, I don't have a big enough space to make that interesting.
Please help me. I know this has been done before a million times, mostly on Pinterest, but I have spent hours and hours and come up with junk... Every time I click through on something promising just brings me to a vale of tears. What would be some fun Harry Potter games for kids this age?
The guests will all be around 7 years old. Here's what I have already:
- some sort of edibles decorating - maybe House color cupcakes? So cupcakes are ready made and probably frosted with vanilla already, and I'll have pastry bags of House color icing, and toppers...
- Transfiguration - like charades. Divide into "House" teams. Every kid gets a chance to be the wizard. Wizard (there will be 3 people on a team) gets a lump of playdough, draws a card, and has to make that thing out of the playdough, I guess with a timer. First team to guess what their wizard is transfiguring gets a point. Maybe I will award them a House Cup.
- Honeydukes candy bar
I thought about a find-the-Horcruxes treasure hunt but honestly I don't want to encourage them to root around the house or the yard outside the party area. Last thing I need is them getting into the toolshed or my bedside drawer, you know what I'm saying.
Toad Hop race vetoed for same reason, I don't have a big enough space to make that interesting.
Please help me. I know this has been done before a million times, mostly on Pinterest, but I have spent hours and hours and come up with junk... Every time I click through on something promising just brings me to a vale of tears. What would be some fun Harry Potter games for kids this age?
Heads Up with HP Characters - each kid gets a sweatband that holds a card and you place a card on each one where everyone but the kid can see it. The kid has to ask questions of the others to guess which character they are.
posted by soelo at 12:24 PM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by soelo at 12:24 PM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
I like the house color cupcakes. Another edibles option is making wands out of pretzel rods - dip pretzels in chocolatey colored coating of choice, sprinkle with sprinkles of choice, wave in the air saying silly words, eat.
If you had space for a somewhat-contained outdoor play game, maybe something like Redlight/Greenlight, only with "petrificus totalus" and "finite incantatem"
posted by aimedwander at 12:26 PM on September 12, 2017
If you had space for a somewhat-contained outdoor play game, maybe something like Redlight/Greenlight, only with "petrificus totalus" and "finite incantatem"
posted by aimedwander at 12:26 PM on September 12, 2017
Pin the Horntail on the Hungarian Dragon.
Muggle, Muggle, Witch (for Duck, Duck Goose).
Minerva May I.
Sirius Says.
posted by solotoro at 12:30 PM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Muggle, Muggle, Witch (for Duck, Duck Goose).
Minerva May I.
Sirius Says.
posted by solotoro at 12:30 PM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Oooh oooh, I have done this! For 7-year-olds, no less!
For 7-year-olds, "real" Muggle Quidditch might be too complicated, but I have done a vastly simplified version with a balloon as the quaffle and adults holding hula hoops for the goals. House teams try to bat the quaffle through the opposing house's hula hoop to score points. It's pretty chaotic but also good for running off sugar highs. Works best outdoors with low wind conditions.
We've found that regular balloons can pop if they hit grass that's too tough/poky, so we use the tougher kind that's designed to bounce on a rubber band off your hand -- I can't remember what they're called precisely but you often find them in with the kids' party supplies.
Also a homemade-piñata-on-a-balloon-form painted with gold spray paint as the Golden Snitch, and you must sort the kids into houses with an outrageous Sorting Hat at the beginning of the party (give a list of names with assigned houses to one designated adult who is the Voice Of The Sorting Hat).
posted by spamloaf at 12:40 PM on September 12, 2017
For 7-year-olds, "real" Muggle Quidditch might be too complicated, but I have done a vastly simplified version with a balloon as the quaffle and adults holding hula hoops for the goals. House teams try to bat the quaffle through the opposing house's hula hoop to score points. It's pretty chaotic but also good for running off sugar highs. Works best outdoors with low wind conditions.
We've found that regular balloons can pop if they hit grass that's too tough/poky, so we use the tougher kind that's designed to bounce on a rubber band off your hand -- I can't remember what they're called precisely but you often find them in with the kids' party supplies.
Also a homemade-piñata-on-a-balloon-form painted with gold spray paint as the Golden Snitch, and you must sort the kids into houses with an outrageous Sorting Hat at the beginning of the party (give a list of names with assigned houses to one designated adult who is the Voice Of The Sorting Hat).
posted by spamloaf at 12:40 PM on September 12, 2017
Response by poster: BALLOON QUAFFLE YES there it is
not sure my yard is big enough but by God I will try to make this happen.
Mods, I understand we're not here for back and forth but I hope you let me acknowledge Balloon Quaffle.
posted by fingersandtoes at 12:43 PM on September 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
not sure my yard is big enough but by God I will try to make this happen.
Mods, I understand we're not here for back and forth but I hope you let me acknowledge Balloon Quaffle.
posted by fingersandtoes at 12:43 PM on September 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Best answer: For an HP party for much the same age group about 15 years ago, at the hot dogs & birthday cake meal, I had a number of pitchers of different kinds of drinks: apple juice, orange juice, some sort of blue-raspberry drink, some cola, some other stuff. Nothing ucky, poisonous, or alcoholic of course. The kids had large, clear plastic glasses and made "Potions". The results looked like flood effluent, but were all quite tasty.
I also bought a bunch of large, shrink-wrapped candy sticks and had stickers, glue, chenille stems, and the kids made "wands" as they arrived at the house.
Also mixed my metaphors a bit and stashed a bunch of gold-foil covered chocolate coins (enough to give each kid 10 coins). Made up a "treasure clue" map, cut it into pieces and scattered the pieces around. The kids had to a) find the map pieces, b) cooperate to reassemble the map, c) find the "Gringott's Vault" where the "galleons" were hidden. Then the stash was divided equally among the kids, cuz that's how I roll.
posted by angiep at 12:45 PM on September 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
I also bought a bunch of large, shrink-wrapped candy sticks and had stickers, glue, chenille stems, and the kids made "wands" as they arrived at the house.
Also mixed my metaphors a bit and stashed a bunch of gold-foil covered chocolate coins (enough to give each kid 10 coins). Made up a "treasure clue" map, cut it into pieces and scattered the pieces around. The kids had to a) find the map pieces, b) cooperate to reassemble the map, c) find the "Gringott's Vault" where the "galleons" were hidden. Then the stash was divided equally among the kids, cuz that's how I roll.
posted by angiep at 12:45 PM on September 12, 2017 [1 favorite]
Pin the witch on the broomstick? :)
posted by heathrowga at 12:57 PM on September 12, 2017
posted by heathrowga at 12:57 PM on September 12, 2017
Best answer: I did this! For 7 year olds! I floated invitations into the living room with white balloons with owl faces drawn on with sharpie (and the invitations were free printables I found online, customized with the kids' names). Pinterest has a lot of good resources for this.
Then I sorted the kids into houses, used quick costumes made out of men's black t-shirts cut up the center and fastened with a decorate frog at the throat (silk frog fastener, not actual frog), used bamboo chopsticks for wands, and had them construct their own hats.
The biggest hit was "Potions" - I put a couple drops of food coloring in the bottom of plastic party cauldrons (sold as pots of gold containers for St. Patrick's Day) and then used glass cruets and jars to hold dishwashing detergent (Dragon Snot), baking soda with a scoop (Dried Unicorn Horn) and vinegar (Worm's Breath). Et voila. Volcanoes. Have the kids do their mixing with the cauldrons outside or in a plastic storage bin to contain the overflow.
I splurged on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs from Amazon. Grandma made a Monster Book of Monsters cake that was pretty astonishingly awesome.
It's been two years and I still get requests to "PLAY HOGWARTS!"
posted by annathea at 1:47 PM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Then I sorted the kids into houses, used quick costumes made out of men's black t-shirts cut up the center and fastened with a decorate frog at the throat (silk frog fastener, not actual frog), used bamboo chopsticks for wands, and had them construct their own hats.
The biggest hit was "Potions" - I put a couple drops of food coloring in the bottom of plastic party cauldrons (sold as pots of gold containers for St. Patrick's Day) and then used glass cruets and jars to hold dishwashing detergent (Dragon Snot), baking soda with a scoop (Dried Unicorn Horn) and vinegar (Worm's Breath). Et voila. Volcanoes. Have the kids do their mixing with the cauldrons outside or in a plastic storage bin to contain the overflow.
I splurged on Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Chocolate Frogs from Amazon. Grandma made a Monster Book of Monsters cake that was pretty astonishingly awesome.
It's been two years and I still get requests to "PLAY HOGWARTS!"
posted by annathea at 1:47 PM on September 12, 2017 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans guessing game - sort out little matching packets of jelly beans and the kids get prizes for getting the most flavours right. This went down very well with my nieces years ago but I can't remember what ages they were.
posted by Azara at 1:49 PM on September 12, 2017
posted by Azara at 1:49 PM on September 12, 2017
Best answer: Oh wow, I just found my list in Evernote with all the stuff I set up for the party - in addition to the above, the other two Potions we made were cornstarch goo and "butterbeer" - mixing different sodas with cream soda. Wingardium Leviosa with balloons - basically using their wands to keep balloons afloat the longest. We did Herbology by using those little peat pots that grow from a disc and planting seeds to take home. And I made an Azkaban Wanted Poster for everyone to use as a photo booth:
http://blog.uniquelygrace.com/2012/06/prisoner-of-azkaban-wanted-poster-photo.html
posted by annathea at 1:52 PM on September 12, 2017
http://blog.uniquelygrace.com/2012/06/prisoner-of-azkaban-wanted-poster-photo.html
posted by annathea at 1:52 PM on September 12, 2017
My friend just did this. Besides some of the above ideas, the kid made cute little handmade wands as gifts for the guests, and everyone had a fun time making "potions" (which were actually slime which is apparently all the rage right now)
posted by latkes at 3:44 PM on September 12, 2017
posted by latkes at 3:44 PM on September 12, 2017
Best answer: It's easy to want to do everything for these sorts of parties, and to have lots of organised activities. The reality is that if there's a remotely consistent stab at a theme, if there's junk food to eat, and if kids are allowed to run around shouting 'EXPELLIARMUS' at one another, you can probably be hands off after that.
You can try Pottering. Get a camera, get some brooms, take pics.
My food suggestions (including tips for Honeydukes) from 2013 here.
You can play Wingardium Leviosa in pairs. One kid gets a wand, the other one of the very soft, small billowy feathers you get at craft stores. Starting at one side of the room / yard / whatever, the first kid has to waves their wand shouting 'WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!' while the other keeps the feather aloft just by blowing. If your feather hits the ground you go back to the start. First team to get to the other side of [predetermined area] wins. You can also do it on your own, but you must cast the spell and wave your wand between each blow.
You can also turn scissors paper rock into wand duelling. Face one another. Wands at attention, wands by your sides. Bow. Turn. Five paces. Turn. One, two, cast! You can attack (Stupefy!), defend (Protego!) or disarm (Expelliarmus!). Protego beats Stupefy, which beats Expelliarmus, which beats Protego*. Two Protegos, duel again; two Stupefies or two Expelliarmus, both out. If kids can't get the words they can just (or also) do actions - point your wand to attack, hold your wand sideways (or pointed at the ground in front of you) to defend, swish your wand upward to disarm. They can also just say attack, defend, and disarm.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:53 PM on September 12, 2017
You can try Pottering. Get a camera, get some brooms, take pics.
My food suggestions (including tips for Honeydukes) from 2013 here.
You can play Wingardium Leviosa in pairs. One kid gets a wand, the other one of the very soft, small billowy feathers you get at craft stores. Starting at one side of the room / yard / whatever, the first kid has to waves their wand shouting 'WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!' while the other keeps the feather aloft just by blowing. If your feather hits the ground you go back to the start. First team to get to the other side of [predetermined area] wins. You can also do it on your own, but you must cast the spell and wave your wand between each blow.
You can also turn scissors paper rock into wand duelling. Face one another. Wands at attention, wands by your sides. Bow. Turn. Five paces. Turn. One, two, cast! You can attack (Stupefy!), defend (Protego!) or disarm (Expelliarmus!). Protego beats Stupefy, which beats Expelliarmus, which beats Protego*. Two Protegos, duel again; two Stupefies or two Expelliarmus, both out. If kids can't get the words they can just (or also) do actions - point your wand to attack, hold your wand sideways (or pointed at the ground in front of you) to defend, swish your wand upward to disarm. They can also just say attack, defend, and disarm.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 6:53 PM on September 12, 2017
Response by poster: I've seen some adorable photo op frames, but I'm not clear on the concept. Is the idea to take photos, and then email to the kids' parents or otherwise distribute digitally later?
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:30 PM on September 12, 2017
posted by fingersandtoes at 7:30 PM on September 12, 2017
Yeah, email as keepsakes / upload to Facebook etc.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 7:36 PM on September 17, 2017
posted by obiwanwasabi at 7:36 PM on September 17, 2017
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posted by Mchelly at 12:24 PM on September 12, 2017