From: sirtwistalot@juno.com
To: Msmatchtheclown@aol.com
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2001 18:57:10 -0800
Subject: Re: Birthday Parties/Game
Hello everyone.
A few postings back, I posted a link for birthday parties ideas and
games. It seems some of you have had problems getting to the site. I am
sorry, I posted the wrong, url:
http://family.go.com/parties/
The above link will get you there. Here is an example of one of the party
theames they have. You will have to go to the site to see the pictures.
For those of you, who have been watching, I did post a list of balloon
related stuff you can make so this is party in the box for you,
considering the next book is comming out this summer and you may want to
offer your skills to book stores, for their 1st day of sales. Any way
just me thinking out loud again
If your child is one ofthe millions enchanted by J.K. Rowling's
magical Harry Potter series, then Family.com's
Harry Potter Wizard
party is for you! Children can't get enough of boy
wizard Harry
Potter and his out-of-this-world adventures.
They'll love the chance
to play out their favorite characters and scenes
with our
Potter-themed party planner. Party guests will feel
like real
Hogwarts students, enrolling in wizard's school,
battling a Basilisk,
practicing their Quidditch skills, and even taking
a Potions class.
Their feet may not leave the ground, but their fun
and imagination
will soar at this spellbindingly fun party.
INVITATIONS
Kids will love receiving their "acceptance" to the
Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry, just like Harry did.
Fashion the invitations
on parchment paper, written in green ink. Add that
magic touch by
personalizing each envelope with the invitee's own
room:
Ms. Rebecca Tall
Second Bedroom on the Right, Top Bunk
123 Street
Anytown, CA 94123
Feature the birthday child in the invite's
"letterhead":
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Johnny Johnson
(Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Celebrant
of His Ninth
Birthday)
Then officially accept each invitee:
Dear Ms. Tall,
We are pleased to accept you to the Hogwarts School
of Witchcraft
and Wizardry. Term begins on Saturday, June 10,
1:30 PM. Please
R.S.V.P. by owl no later than June 7 (or use your
Muggle phone to
call 555-1234).
Yours sincerely,
Jerry and Judith Johnson
Deputy Headmaster and Headmistress
DECORATIONS
KING'S CROSS STATION
Harry and friends enter the invisible Gate 9-3/4 to
take a special
train to Hogwarts School. Create the same effect by
hanging station
signs for Gates 9 and 10 on either side of your
front door.
BOO!
Hogwarts is an enchanted castle, full of ghosts,
secret passages,
and mysteries. Why not throw in a few surprises to
enchant your
own house? Your child will love recording a special
cassette tape,
alternating moans, groans and cackles with
stretches of silence.
Hide a tape player in the bathroom, and let the
tape play during
the party. Guests may be surprised to get a sudden
visit from
Moaning Myrtle!
THE GREAT HALL
All Hogwarts students meet and eat under the
magnificent starry
sky of the Great Hall. Create your own
constellations using either
store-bought glow-in-the-dark stars or ones
handcrafted with
cardboard and glitter paint. Hang them from the
ceiling with tape
and thread in the room you'll use to play indoor
games.
INITIATION RITUALS
SORTING CEREMONY
When students first arrive at wizard school, they
are sorted into
house teams by the Sorting Hat, an ancient and
revered wizard's
hat. You'll use these teams later in your games and
activities.
Choose two or three teams from the Hogwarts houses
of Gryffindor,
Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, or make up
your own wacky
names. Guests pick the names of their houses out of
the Sorting
Hat (you can make your own with a semicircle of
felt and a stapler,
and a few stars and moons glued on the outside). Or
try rigging the
Sorting Hat with a walkie-talkie and have each
guest put on the hat
in turn. An adult hidden in another room can
"speak" for the hat,
assigning house placement: "Charlotte loves to
smile and grin; she
belongs in Slytherin!"
FRATERNAL FACE PAINT
Once your guests are "sorted," have them choose a
symbol for
their team and paint it on their foreheads or
cheeks. An obvious
choice is the lightning bolt scar found on Harry
Potter's forehead,
but other ideas include snakes for Slytherins,
lions for Gryffindors,
or magic wands, wizard hats, stars, broomsticks or
golden snitches
(gold orbs with wings).
HOUSE RIVALRY
Throughout the school year, the house teams at
Hogwarts earn
points toward winning the House Cup. You can play
down the
competitiveness (everyone's a winner at your
party!) and have each
team try to reach a goal of 500 points. Every team
that reaches its
goal earns prizes in the form of party favors. A
little planning on
your part can guarantee each team's success.
Throughout the
party, adults can relegate the points, to be
tracked on a central
point-tally board. Try 10 points for polite
behavior, 50 points for
cleaning up or good sportsmanship, 75 points for
winning a game
or completing an activity successfully. Adults can
add to the fun by
shouting out the assignment of points: "Twenty-five
points to
Gryffindor for throwing all their cake plates
away!" You'll hears lots
of cheers, and your guests will love running to the
board to add to
their point tally.
OUTDOOR GAMES
THE WINNING FORMULA
If the weather permits, use your house teams for
some outdoor
action. While partygoers can't hop on broomsticks
for a spirited
game of Quidditch, they can play a variety of their
favorite outdoor
sports. Try candle tag, S.P.U.D., dodge ball or any
game that's
popular with your child's age group. Award team
points not only for
winning a particular game, but for good
sportsmanship as well.
FIND THE SNITCH
Gather an armful of Ping-Pong balls and use
permanent marker to
write point values on each ball: 10, 20 or 30
points. Hide them
throughout your yard. Spray paint one ball metallic
gold—this is
your Golden Snitch, worth 150 points to the team
that finds it. Hide
it well, and set those wizards loose to gather
balls and points for
their teams. The game ends when the snitch is
found.
INDOOR GAMES
Gather your wizards in the Great Hall, turn the
lights down low, and
let the stars glitter overhead for some enchanting
indoor fun.
WHOMPING WILLOW
Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand meets a sad fate when
it crosses
paths with this disgruntled tree! Choose a child to
be the
Whomping Willow and securely blindfold her eyes.
The rest of the
partygoers sit in a circle surrounding the tree.
Two at a time, they
silently switch places, always staying within the
circle, while the
Whomping Willow tries to catch them. Each catch
earns points for
the Whomping Willow's house team. Whoever is caught
becomes
the next Whomping Willow.
THE BASILISK'S STARE
Harry must conquer the dreaded Basilisk, a giant
serpent that turns
people to stone with its evil stare. In your game,
the children sit in
a circle and pick from a deck of cards. Whoever
chooses the Ace of
Spades is the Basilisk (but keeps this information
secret). During
play, the children quietly stare into each others
eyes. The Basilisk
blinks both eyes at its victims, who must silently
count to 10 and
then turn to stone (a favorite part of the game,
usually
accompanied by an agonizing scream and collapse on
the floor!).
The Basilisk continues to turn children into stone
until a surviving
child figures out who it is (that wizard earns
points for their team).
Kids love this game and will want to play it over
and over.
TRANSFIGURATIONS CLASS
A little imagination can help these young wizards
transform
themselves into a variety of shapes. Children play
the classic game
of charades, but their choices are limited to
animals and inanimate
objects (teapots, toasters, and so on). Each
successful
transfiguration—that is, when someone correctly
guesses the
object—earns house points.
POTIONS CLASS
Students at Hogwarts create all sorts of magical
brews in Professor
Snape's Potions class. Your party guests can do the
same using
simple kitchen science chemistry (and some adult
supervision).
Clear plastic cups work great for these
experiments. Try writing up
the instructions on sheets of paper, then let each
house team work
as a group to complete them. Award points for each
successful
experiment. Your guests will love cooking up this
magic!
SLIMY GOOP
Another great party favor. In a cup, mix 1/3 cup
very warm water
and 1 tablespoon Borax until it dissolves. Add a
couple drops of
food coloring. In a separate bowl, mix 2 cups
Elmer's glue with
1-1/2 cups water. Add the Borax mix to the glue mix
and stir. A
rubbery blob will emerge from the brew, which the
wizards can divvy
up into plastic zip-top bags to bring home.
INVISIBLE INK
Have the young wizards dip cotton swabs in lemon
juice and write
messages on blank sheets of paper (use just enough
juice to
moisten the paper). Once the paper is dry, iron it
using a hot
setting (adults should help out here), and the
messages will
magically appear.
BUBBLING BREW
This foaming brew is sure to cause lots of
excitement. Fill a cup
with 2 tablespoons of water and stir in a
tablespoon of baking soda
until it dissolves. Place the cup on a tray (to
catch the overflow),
add all at once 2 tablespoons of vinegar, and poof!
RAISING RAISINS
Pour warm water in a cup until it is 3/4 full. Drop
some raisins in the
cup. Stir in 2 tablespoons of baking soda until it
dissolves. Add 2
tablespoons of vinegar. Say, "Raisin Elevatum!" and
watch them
levitate.
RUBBER EGG
Have your wizards create their own party favors!
Place an uncooked
egg in a glass jar (large baby food jars and small
eggs work well),
cover the egg with vinegar, and screw on the lid.
Instruct each child
to let the egg sit in their refrigerators for a
couple of days. The
vinegar will dissolve the egg shell but leave the
membrane intact,
making the egg feel like a rubber ball. Very cool.
WIZARD TREATS
A meal in the Great Hall is always a fabulous
feast.Your own spread
can include a pot pie with newt eyes and bat
tongues, lightning bolt
peppers and ghostly onion dip. Make magic wands by
dipping the
ends of pretzel sticks in chocolate and then
sprinkles. And don't
forget that fabulous sensation: frothy Pumpkin
Milkshakes (you
can substitute hot apple cider or hot chocolate
topped with whipped
cream). When you sing "Happy Birthday," bring out a
sensational
Frozen Witch Hat.
PARTY FAVORS
A Harry Potter party wouldn't be complete without a
visit to
Honeydukes candy shop in Hogsmeade. House teams use
their
accumulated points to earn treats to fill their
goody bags.
Repackage candy into Harry Potter-themed brands,
such as
Dumbledore's Favorite Lemon Drops, Bertie Bott's
Every Flavor
Beans (Jelly Bellies), Droobles Best Blowing Gum
and Dementors'
Relief Chocolate Bars. In addition to the usual
assortment of weird
gummy shapes, try dipping gummy frogs in melted
chocolate for
an extra creepy treat. Throw in a broomstick for
each guest:
toothbrushes with the words "Nimbus 2000" or
"Firebolt" painted on
the handles using fabric craft paint. And don't
forget those rubber
eggs and bags of goop from Potions class!
THANK YOU NOTES
After the term at Hogwarts has ended, send "report
cards" home to
each guest. In addition to a personal note of
gratitude, print up a
list of classes—Transfigurations, Potions, Defense
Against the Dark
Arts, Quidditch—followed by a grade: A+!
On a side note, as I was writing this, someone just said to me, "I can't
belive you are promoting Witchcraft, you of all people..............."
OK, yes one can make a good case for this and I would welcome that
discussion in another forum, but not this one. Each of us will have to
decide, what he or she is willing to do, for a party. As an example, I do
not make swords or guns and I do not do "Blue" items, this is my choice.
So, I am hoping and praying, I can post this with out any religious
questions comming up. If you have them or are so inclined, please just
email directly.
Just me Sir T
Post a reply to this message.