Harry Potter - 7 year old  My daughter is an avid fan of Harry Potter and as we had both read all the books, it seemed natural to have a Harry Potter Party.  It was work, but it was fun!  Invitations: Scroll design paper found at Staples/Walmart.  I downloaded the Hogwarts emblem and printed on the top of the invitation. Invitations read: "We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Krimwarts School of Birthday Magic.  Please come to Platform 9 3/4 and board the Krimwarts Express to a Birthday party full of fun and Surprises!" When,time, Where and Why were then listed.  Signed Headmaster/Headmistress. They looked nice. Decorations: Maroon Shower curtain, painted to look bricked and cut to fit the front door/slitted to allow kids to pass through with the words "Platform 9 3/4" painted at the top. Activities: 1. Wands - we had cut/whittled sticks to be used as wands. When the kids first arrived, they chose a wand and then decorated it with markers, paint, stickers etc.  This kept them busy until all the partygoers arrived. Also, decorated bags they would be using for "Find the golden Snitch" hunt. 2. Sorting Hat - Using a pointed witches hat with a large brim, I sewed a pocket into the back brim to hold a walkie talkie, while my husband hid upstairs, out of view with the other walkie talkie. The children would then put the hat on, and the hat (my husband) would talk to them and sort them into one of the four houses. Once they were sorted, they were given a pin with the house emblem.  These emblems were also downloaded from the web, then printed, laminated and had a stick-on pin placed on them (craft stores - $1.25) They kept the pin on for the rest of the party.  3. Pin the wand on the Wizard/ Fortune telling. Split the 12 kids into two groups of 6. One group played pin the wand on the Wizard (drawn on poster paper, with a paper cutout wand), while the others had their fortunes told by Professor Trelawny (using regular playing cards, have the children pull out four cards and make up a story using things you may know about them, ie. you love to dance and will be a very famous dancer if you work at it, but beware of those wearing purple tule... etc.) This took about 10 minutes and then the groups switched. (Prizes for Pin the wand on the Wizard). 4. Potions (Slime). Brought all the kids together in the basement for Potions class. First we just made fizzy water (vinegar and baking soda), then we made slime (recipe with borax - can be found on the web.)  Note: It helps tremendously if you have everything prepared ahead of time. I put all the necessary tools in plastic bags for each child and had measured out the correct amount of ingredients in individual cups and had them ready. But even though I was really prepared, I still needed adult help. But everything worked out fine, and each kid was able to make the slime.  I had plastic bags ready to put it in and markers to put their names on it, so they would be able to take it home.  5. Find the Golden Snitch  - Hid about fifty plastic eggs in the backyard (five different colors), put "jewels" in many of them, but only one golden snitch. Gave each house a color and the house that collected all their eggs of that color first would be the winner. Person who found the snitch would win a grand prize. 6. Pinata (golden snitch)- Round Pinata ball bought at Walmart, painted gold and glued two cardboard wings (also painted gold) on either side to look like the golden snitch. It looked great! 7. Cake/Ice Cream.   8. Open Presents 9. Time to to home!  I had other activities planned, in case we need them - like charades, a game of quidditch, cross over the moving staircase, but we barely fit in everything that we did!  Goody bags - White lunch bags with the Hogwarts label cut out and glued to them, along with their names. I had found a number of Harry Potter items at a flea market and used them in the goody bag. Totally cool!