This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn a link from any qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
A few years ago I threw a Harry Potter party for work, and I was giddy like a small child the entire time. It was so much fun getting into the Harry Potter world and making all the crafts for it! Now that my kids are a little older, I’ve done a bunch of the activities with them. So naturally I wanted to share these super fun Harry Potter party ideas for kids with you as well!
These activities would be great for your own Harry Potter themed party, or just for fun with the kiddos at Halloween (or any time of the year, really)! So if you and your littles can’t get enough of this magical world, here are 5 fun Harry Potter party ideas for kids!
1. Potion Brewing
This is one of the Harry Potter party ideas that was a huge hit with my little guy last year, so I think it’s definitely going to become a Halloween tradition of ours! We set up an outdoor “potions classroom” so that he could feel like a real Hogwarts student! Here are the items we used for our classroom:
- Glass bottles, jars, droppers, etc.
- Witch cauldron
- Stirring stick (we just grabbed one from out in the yard)
- Wood slabs/tree stumps
- Spider webs
- Pumpkins
- Black tablecloth
- Led candles
- Potion labels
- Hogwarts school books (print out covers here and place them over books of your own!)
- Potion Ingredients:
- Moss
- Bark
- Berries
- Flowers/petals
- Seed pods
- Water + food coloring
Once you have all your items gathered and the “classroom” is set up, let them go to town see what their imaginations come up with as they mix their potions! The best Harry Potter party ideas are also a hit at home with the kids!
2. DIY Wands
Another one of the essential Harry Potter party ideas is making wands to use as favors or party props! These are super simple and look really authentic when they’re finished! Not to mention your kids will have a blast playing with them or using them as an addition to their Halloween costume.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 12 inch dowels or sticks of approximately that size (the sticks look more authentic and unique, but both turn out nice)
- Hot glue gun + sticks
- Silver, black, brown, and/or bronze spray paint
Once you’ve collected your sticks or dowels and have them trimmed down to the size you need, use a hot glue gun to create different designs and patterns on the sticks. Make them as creative or simple as you like! Here’s what mine looked like after this step:
Now all you have to do is spray paint them! I used silver, black, and brown for ours. This will need to be done in two steps. Spray paint one side of the wands, give sufficient time to dry, then come back later to rotate them and spray the other side. Voila! The wands are ready! If you want, you can also add fun little tags describing the type of wood, magical core, and length of the wands!
And remember, the wand chooses the wizard 😉.
3. Horcrux Scavenger Hunt
Who doesn’t love a good scavenger hunt? Now your kids can feel like Harry, Ron, and Hermione in their search for all seven horcruxes! And it’s one of the best Harry Potter party ideas for entertaining the guests, wizards and muggles alike! First, you’ll need to gather objects to represent the seven horcruxes. A lot of these can be found around the house or at thrift stores:
- Harry Potter
- Nagini the snake
- Tom Riddle’s diary
- Marvolo Gaunt’s ring
- Ravenclaw’s diadem
- Hufflepuff’s cup
- Slytherin’s locket
Half of the fun for me was finding objects to match each of these! Once you have everything, hide each of these objects around the house or yard. (Personally, I would recommend the yard. It can be harder to recognize the objects inside since they might blend in with the rest of your stuff.)
Then use this free horcrux scavenger hunt printable and you’re ready to start hunting! The fate of the wizarding world now lies in your hands. Happy hunting!
4. Hold a Sorting Ceremony
What would make your kids feel like part of the wizarding world more than being inducted in their own sorting ceremony!? An induction to Hogwarts is one of the essential Harry Potter party ideas! The only thing you’ll need is a sorting hat and a stool to sit on! You can also make your own DIY sorting hat and have an adult act as the voice of the hat to pronounce each child’s new Hogwarts’ house.
5. DIY Brooms
Every witch and wizard needs their own broom, so this had to be included as one of our Harry Potter party ideas! It’s so easy to make these authentic looking witch brooms, and you probably won’t even need to purchase anything! You only need a couple of items to make these, and most of them can easily be found out in nature. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Large stick for the handle of the broom (the height of this can vary depending on the child)
- Long grasses, cedar branches, thin sticks, or dead herb/flower stalks from the garden
- Twine
- Dried flowers or any additional decorative items
- Scissors
That’s literally all you need! Head outside with the kids to hunt for the perfect materials for their broom. It should be pretty easy to locate large sticks/fallen branches if you just head out on a hike or nature walk. We even used one that fell from a tree in our yard after a storm.
For the brushy part of the broom, I’ve used thin, dead twigs that I cut from some bushes, tall dead grass that was growing on the edge of a field, and some dill stalks from our garden that were already dead and browning. (If you do use dead herbs, the broom will also smell amazing afterward!) Any plant that is long, fairly thin, and dried out or dead should work perfectly! And feel free to mix and match.
Once you’ve got all your materials, clump the dead grasses together in a bunch. Trim them up to the desired length. I prefer mine a bit on the untidy side, but it’s totally up to you! Overlap them around the base of the stick at least six inches and arrange so that the stick is hidden in the middle of the grass clump.
Take the twine and tie the grass bundle onto the stick in two different places for extra sturdiness, once near the top of the grass bundle and the second near the bottom where the stick handle ends. Use a hot glue gun to add on any decorative touches.
And that’s it! Now your little witches and wizards can fly! Use these brooms as play items, part of a costume, or as decorations for Halloween and/or Harry Potter parties!
I hope you and your little witches and wizards have fun with these Harry Potter party ideas! If you enjoyed this post, you might also like these spooky Halloween activities or these fall bucket list ideas!
PS – Know someone that would like this blog? Please forward it to them!
