Harry Potter Theme Birthday Party in India : DIY Decor, Party & Harry Potter Game Ideas for 8 year olds

 Harry Potter Birthday in India Theme, Décor & Ideas : Anaahita's 7th Birthday


It’s been 25 years, and I still cannot get over Harry Potter and the mystical weaves of JK Rowling. After being a ravenous re-reader of the seven books and getting my hands on any HP merchandise through adolescence, when I thought I can finally put those special first edition collectibles in the attic, my daughter turned 6. And while trying not to be pushy, and yet being hopeful that she might just take a liking to Harry Potter, I decided to read her the first book. And who would know that she would too be so taken into the magical world, that one book led to another, till when she turned 7 we stopped at book 5, respecting her age.


That was however not enough, to stop her from becoming a die-hard Harry Potter fan herself. When friends or parents questioned me on whether she is just mimicking her mother’s liking, my daughter Anaahita would be up for a Trivia challenge anytime – and boy has she surprised me in knowing the HP world to the T, more than I did at my time! So, it was no surprise that the theme for her birthday would be Harry Potter. And since, HP merchandise is either difficult to get your hands on, or too expensive for the general audience, I too, decided to DIY it as much as I could to add the right essence to her memorable day.

 

I must admit, it was going down the memory lane, while tuning into child-like innocence with the art & craft – and I thought, this should totally be my first blog – because like me, there might be many moms looking for the right ideas for Harry Potter theme in India, and what can they do to make their child’s birthday party a hit! So, here we go:

 

The perfect gift from her Maasi, Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle Lego, worked as a brilliant prop to our theme too!

 



 

Before I get into the party décor and things, I like to perfect the edges, so adding Harry Potter hint to the home was important for me. Since, Anaahita has her own room, it was easier to get a harry potter bedsheet set, paste some stickers on her pink walls, and her study table chair is where I the idea just sat right! I placed a HP cushion cover on the back and put 2 pairs of socks on the chair legs, and Voila! Just like that it blended in straight into the theme. It was easier for us, as she really took a liking over the past year to Harry Potter, so on her birthday getting these together for her room wasn’t an end-minute cook up. We also had some stationery friends and relatives had given her, and we just used it around the house, like an HP backpack, pencils, keychains, fridge magnets, and this cute little Hermoine bobble head. I think I spent a week earlier just gathering all these in one place!

 

 

 

 

Birthday Outfit:

We kept it simple with a pleated skirt, very European and I got her  loose tee with the houses embossed on it – it was chic enough for her to be Hermoine, and comfortable enough to play around her party. The wand is what we got her last year Christmas, and the witch’s hat is made at home.

 

 


 

Decorations: You need the walls to spell Harry Potter too!

 

The Welcome Banner: 

The Hogwarts express is something even non-HP fans know about – and since Anaahita was turning 7, most of her friends hadn’t even read the books yet or watched the movie. So, I had to keep the theme alive while taking generic ideas that could jive with everyone. So, I put this banner at the door, and labelled it as Anaahita’s express – getting kids excited as they entered!


 




 

I got my hands on affordable Harry Potter happy birthday streamer, some banners, and selfie-booth props that I got. I used the birthday banner for the cake-cutting backdrop, placed the Hogwarts banner on curtain-rods in the house, and put a string through the selfie-booth props to make those into hangable banners too! Being an advertiser, my husband got a 3ftX 3ft flex of Harry, Hermoine and Ron printed, and that became a themed wall in itself!

 

 



 

Harry Potter Selfie Booth:

The Azban Selfie booth was a super-hit too, I used a cardboard sheet, with some glitter tape around the edges and a black marker pen. Just adding those wings to the alphabets gave it the Roman calligraphy feel! I like art, yes, but I am still working on being patient with using colors, so I just used super-black one.

 

 



 

The Wizard/Witch Hat:

Made from 2 sheets of black chart paper, red and silver glitter tap and stapler pins. You can easily get the tutorial on YT. The hat and the wand gave a magical feel, and which kid does not like magic & props, right! We even had grown-ups wanting to get their special click! You can see it in the outfit photo right at the beginning!

 

The Hogwarts Trunk:

Since I ordered the return gifts online, I had a few empty parcel carton boxes and put one rectangular one to use – just wrapped it in black chart paper and gave it the sparkle tape edges with the handle. It worked as a great side prop near the selfie booth.

 



 

Dobby Trash-Can:

Just use a cardboard, black marker and a cutter – I drew Dobby on one side and cut a big hole near his hand in a circle – this became are Dobby-Trash Can! I used green string to attach it to an old bookstand, pinned a trash bag behind it and placed a trash can to hold the stand in place. We dint plan it to make it a game, just wanted to add the Harry Potter, but kids absolutely loved aiming in this! There was literally no mess, as all the small bottles and juice tetra packs became an aiming contest for them – Wow, what a discover, even trash throwing can turn fun!

 



The Quidditch broomstick:

Indian homes will always store decoration items from festivals, and we too had stored the Ganesh Festival decorations to reuse the next year! I used two sticks and masking tape to make it the broom stick, and leftover cartons to create the Harry Potter broomstick. I wanted Anaahita to have the feel of leaving for Hogwarts, so the trunk, the broomstick, wand (which we had purchased last year) and a simple owl stuff-toy just made a great combination. 

  



Just use brown packaging tape to cover the wooden sticks, you can also use the big sticks we use for Gudi Padwa, or the back holder of an old broom. Cover it up with the tape, and then use a large rectangular carton piece to cover one end of the stick. With scissors, just cut this piece into thin tassels. Since, I am not so neat in art work, I used a masking tape to hold the end of these tassels to the stick, and voila, we had a broom. Mine was a bit shabby, but I bet yours can turn out alot more neater!


Harry Potter Wands for Everyone:

How can a wizarding party be complete without wands! I used potato skewers for this, black tape and glitter tape for the ends. Just simply wound up the black tape across the whole skewer, then add the glitter tape at the ends – we made this into a house sorting ceremony, where I used blue, yellow, red and green glitter tape representing the four Hogwarts houses. We did this activity as soon as the kids entered the home, they picked a wand and posed at the selfie booth. As I had created a batch of each house, having them play as per their houses (groups) was easier for the party games that followed. Its helpful when you have many kids too.

 

With a sign from the Movie – The Wand chooses the Wizard

To add a touch of magic, I placed the sign using a dialogue from Ollivanders – the wand chooses the wizard, just placed the wands with the black tape sides up, so they wouldn’t know which house they would get. As the party was ending, these skewers are great to burst balloons as well! So, the kids went all around the house bursting as many with their made-do wands!




 

I was lucky to stumble upon some stickers and selfie props online, that added a little bit of oomph to my not-so-clean art!

 

Games

If you have thirty 7–8-year-olds in your cozy apartment, the ruckus can be unimaginable, so to not have them scattered in every room, games were so important for us to keep the gang together. Since, most the kids weren’t familiar with Harry Potter terms, we wanted to blend the fun games with just a hint of HP.

 

Pillar – Pillar with the Hogwarts Houses Theme

I used chart paper and placed Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor stickers – placed these signs in the four corners of our living room. We made 4 chits with each house name and put them in a bowl. Then we asked the children to use their wands and point out at the four houses. The game is simple – the children go around in a circle when the music plays, and when it stops, they are supposed to stand in any house corner. The host then picks up a random chit from the bowl, and the house name that comes up, those children are out of the game and have to sit down in their places while the rest play. It gets interesting at the end with just a few players, as everyone wants to know who will win in this game of sheer luck! Also, get kids dancing with each other while the music plays! Since our living room is small, the wands worked best to point out to the house signs.

 

Classic Quiz:

This was a way to give out those little gifts to winner, just super duper simple questions:

Like name the first Harry Potter book, or who are Harrys friends, Who is the headmaster – this was since we knew that they hadn’t yet read the books, but the movies are hard to miss! 

 

Pin the Scar on Harry

Just draw a simple Harry Potter outline on a single white chart paper, large enough to play this game – it’s just a rendition of the classic ‘Pin the Tail on the Donkey’ and I came across this one while searching Harry Potter Birthday games ideas online. But I kept it really simple, I just had one cut-out of the scar, and every time a child went, I just put sparkle tape on the edge and asked them to pin!



 

Harry Potter Treasure Hunt

This game is amazing, as children really love seeking these hidden treasures. Since, we did the house sorting, having them play in their houses was easier to manage as well. I just placed about 20 of Harry Potter props, like an owl, book, crystal etc around Anaahita’s room and in the living room, and it had children busy for 15 minutes straight!

 

Passing the Parcel

I have lost count of the times I must have played passing the parcel at birthday parties when I was young – but nothing can beat the excitement of not wanting to lose! We used the same owl as the prop for this but gave it a fun twist or whoever the owl came to, would perform a dance step, say a joke, or just sing – something that put everyone in the limelight!

 

Make sure you have chocolates or little gifts to appreciate the winners of these games, its makes it more fun for them too!

 

Birthday Cake

I ordered Harry Potter theme cupcakes and a Rose-flavoured cake with Hedwig, the snitch on top. Cake cutting is such a delight for kids, even though they hardly eat so much cake! We asked the baker to make it less sweet and use butter cream instead of whipped, and the cupcakes and the cake was over in a jiffy! 





Return Gifts:

The official Harry Potter merchandise was a tad bit too much for us to spend on for about 35 kids, so we went in for something generic. But I had to cover them with a wizard theme wrapping paper and add the thank-you cards so it jives with the theme! I got the wrapping paper from a local gift shop, and the cards I got it online.

 


Overall, the party was amazing. – one, following the theme was not so difficult, if you can get your hands on some basic art-supplies. We realized for the previous birthdays; we could have done something like that too! This personal touch just elevates the energy of the birthday house, the kids love it, the parents adore it, and you feel so good about creating something for your child. Two, Anaahita was overwhelmed, at 7 her imagination was outperformed, and having her friends play her favorite Harry Potter games – was something she dint think would happen! 

 


I loved being a child myself once again, thinking of craft ideas and drawing, coloring and it just gave me so much more joy to be able to create this for my daughter, Anaahita – without breaking the bank! I hope these ideas help you, perhaps you can have some friends or relatives assist you in these, or just an event planner to create them for you -either way, your Harry Potter birthday theme is sure to be a super-hit like ours!

 



Thank you so much for reading this and being a part of our belated celebration! 


Love & Light

 

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