celebrating lately: a Hogwarts themed birthday

In my family, we have been (only half-jokingly) declaring that everyone gets a Covid birthday! and while it's a bummer for a newly minted 7-year-old not to have a party with friends and family because of it, my birthday boy did appreciate the bonus of having lots of tiny parties that spread out the fun across a week+. I do love putting together a themed party, one of my favorite upsides of the nostalgia rollercoaster that is your baby turning another year older, so the lack of party was a bummer on my side too... but again, in the spirit of making do in quarentimes, I came up with some fun ideas for the only theme that we could have possibly done this year: Harry Potter. 

Read on for some Hogwarts themed and also Covid-era friendly treats, party ideas, and gift ideas - some of these, such as the snitch hunt, would also be perfect Halloween replacement ideas to keep your family home and healthy; the gifts are Hendrik endorsed ones that could go on any little Harry Potter fan's Christmas list too!

Decor

While I normally would go for handmade or at least cute Etsy decor, since we were having small gatherings (aside from the 3 of us inside our home), it just wasn't the time to have my usual fun with decorations. Instead I kept it simple with a curbside pickup of Party City balloons (not something I would usually get, but he LOVED them so much that it was worth it) and themed napkins. Of course Hendrik wore his Hogwarts robe for every one of the occasions.

Treats

Butterbeer: went the simplest route on making this, inspired by this recipe: cream soda topped with butterscotch flavored whipped cream. It was super easy, and a big hit!

Hot buttered rum: for the grownups, especially because we were outdoors in Michigan in October - double warming effects needed here. (I feel like I needed a bit more practice on this beverage, but in general it is a yummy idea for a fall/winter drink. Tried this recipe, and it needs about 1/2 the rum suggested, I think.)

Harry Potter-themed cookies: I ordered some cookie cutters on Etsy, and Hendrik and I had fun baking and decorating (gold sanding sugar is key for the snitches!) together ahead of time. Since we didn't have big party for help eating them, we packaged into little bags and gave to family to enjoy on their own.

"Magical" cake: my dad is the family cake baker, and he always makes chocolate toppers for the theme of the year - aren't these little HP characters adorable? And then the cake was magical because when we cut into it we found something a bit unexpected: allll the flavors. 

Activities

Golden snitch hunt: bought some Ferrero Rocher chocolates and used this printable for the wings, and my mom hid the snitches around her yard for Hendrik to find and collect in his cauldron. He loved it. Would be a great party activity if you could have other kids around, and also could be an excellent trick-or-treating substitute this year, to just hide candy around the yard and collect it that way.

Bertie Bott's Everyflavor Beans guessing game: got a bunch of JellyBelly beans in 6 flavors from our local candy shop, along with some little paper bags and printable labels to package the flavors in separate individual bags. Have the participants taste one at a time, going in order of your number-labeled bags, without looking at the beans, and write down their guesses for each one. The challenge of guessing the flavor without seeing what color it the jelly bean was made it even more fun! I chose 6 yummy fruit flavors, but you could also go for the random (and I think icky) ones like buttered popcorn or toasted marshmallow. And we actually did this one over Zoom with my whole family, as I made the individual bags and distributed them ahead of time.

Create a spell: Hendrik really loves party activities, so I tracked down this random one as well that works when you're 6+ feet apart from your guests... Print out/cut up the list of spell words, place them in 3 separate bags, and then pull out one slip from each to create a silly-sounding spell and then make up what this spell would do.

Forbidden Forest hike: basically a hike but with Ron Weasley costume on - ha! Hendrik was way more excited about tromping through the woods when he imagined it was the Forbidden Forest, and this was another good way to safely replace the traditional party but still be able to spend time in person with grandparents (especially on a day that was too chilly for just sitting in the backyard).

Gifts

The birthday gifts were pretty thoroughly Harry Potter themed this year as well, and Hendrik was all about it. These would be great Christmas ideas as well, if you have an aspiring Hogwarts student in your life too...

Costumes: the great quality Pottery Barn Kids one was worth the investment, but you can spend less on some cute ones at Target too. I also got Hendrik a wand to go with his costume, and some fun glow-in-the-dark PJs as well. 

Books: so many great illustrated editions out these days! Hendrik got the new Quidditch through the Ages one; also highly recommend the illustrated versions of the regular books and the Fantastic Beasts one too. He's also a big fan of the Lego-themed ones like this and this.

Lego sets: mystery minifigures are fun for a small gift, but of course Hendrik is all about the big sets, to add to the Hogwarts castle ones he already had: the Hogwarts Express and the quidditch match sets.

Added some additional ideas to the widget below that I am contemplating for Christmas gifts over here!