Between the Valentine crafts for 5 y/o and HP for 8 y/o - we must have very similar lives! I had one for my son last summer, he was also 8. It was the first time we went all out for a party. He usually chooses to just go out with a friend or two. We even had it a few days later than his bday to do it on July 31, Harry's bday. The guests ranged in age from 5 (my own middle child) to 9. I printed invites myself, on parchment in emerald ink, telling guests that they were invited to a summer session of Hogwarts School. I used the same words that Harry reads in his letter (Dr. Mr. xyz, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted...), just changed them a little to suit the occassion. I might have saved it, email me, I could send you the file (in Publisher 98 or 2000) if I did save it. I wrote that it was in honor of Eric's 8th birthday, and concluded that all supplies would be provided, robes were optional. To make quick robes for my own kids, I bought XXXL mens black tshirts and cut a slit up the middle front. They were satisfied, that was before they saw the more glamorous version in the movie though. I have a black graduation robe of my own from HS that would work great, but when you have one thing and two kids that's asking from trouble, so I never even showed them. We only had about 10 kids, some had read the books, some had not. And since it was before the movie, those who hadn't knew very little, so we worked with that. I knew someone else who had a lot more kids and divided the kids into teams according to the houses and declared a house champion at the end of the party. Kids drew their house out of the "sorting hat." But they said it didn't go well because all the kids wanted to be in Gryffindor and some were a little miffed when they weren't. The games were classes -potions class we did some goop you make with kitchen stuff. I actually made (I could kick myself for the time spent, but they looked good) golden snitches. I dipped small styrofoam balls in gold glitter paint and attached white feathers. I made about 20 then hid them in the yard for the kids to find, "Quidditch Practice." One game was Bertie Botts beans in a jar, guess how many. I also sent my crafty aunts on a hunt for frog shaped chocolate molds, which they found. Another time consumer project, but they were the hit of the party. My kids no longer ask me to bake cookies, they are still asking for chocolate frogs or treats. The kids inhaled them, though. If I did it again, I would wrap a few in little bags for their goodie bag instead of just putting them out. We served orange soda and root beer, relabeled pumpkin juice and butter beer. I decorated the patio we had then (man, I miss that patio, we moved) with a roll of purple plastic table cover. It was about $14 for 100 feet (best decorating bargain I learned from college days working in a party supply store). I hung it in strips from the ceiling like curtians and tied it with gold rope. I was going for the great hall look, I put stars on the ceiling and tried to get my white Christmas lights up, but that plan didn't work for me. Always something goes wrong. Everything was purple and gold, the cups were clear plastic goblets. The favor bags were filled with a couple Harry Potter things (pencils, notepads, bookmarks) and cheap magic tricks I bought from a local magic shop. I told the man I wanted things for less than $2 that kids 6-9 could do, he was very helpful and demonstrated the tricks (after they were purchased LOL). So teaching the kids to do the tricks in their bag was part of the spells lesson. If money was no object, I would have hired a magician, I saw a couple ads in local parenting magazines for magicians who had tailored an act to the HP craze. I think everyone had a good time. The golden snitches and the chocolate frogs were the biggest hits, a little pride in myself since I spent FOREVER on them! All the kids wanted to know where I got them -it never occurs to them people make things. So I told them I could not reveal my Underground sources. Oh, and we made wands. That was the first thing we did as kids were arriving, so they had their wand for rest of the party. Can't go to wizard school without a wand. I bought I think about 1/4" dowel rods (I let my son pick what he thought looked best for wands) from home depot and cut them into 10-12" lengths. I had glitter, glue, wire garland with stars and paint markers set out to let the kids make their own wand as they arrived. I know my own kids had fun, they wore those robes and played with those wands for days. I guess thinking about it, everything was pretty much non-competitive, that's just how my ideas came out.

My daughter turned 13 this year. We had her bday party at the skating rink and all of the girls invited had a great time. I called the rink and spoke with the manager before scheduling the party. He recommended having the party on a Saturday night because Friday night they are overrun with teenagers and Saturday and Sunday during the day they have a lot of little kids. It turned out just perfect - the rink wasn't very crowded and the girls had a great time. We decorated the table with plastic purple tablecloths and big butterfly balloons. The rink furnished pizza, soft drinks and ice cream. All I had to furnish was the cake and cake plates/utensils. We bought my daughter an inexpensive DVD player to go in her room and some of her favorite movies on DVD. She also received (from friends and grandparents) CDs of her favorite artists, a small handheld CD player, clothes and inexpensive jewelry. Since your daughter doesn't wear make up, you might consider a manicure set w/lots of nail polish. My daughter also loves bath products from Bath & Body Works. Good luck with the party - and welcome to the teenage years!

Joan, for my dd's 1st b'day party I wanted to plan some major event because it was her 1st!! But the others are right, they are too young at this age to have anything planned so for my dd's party I made it a Minnie Mouse theme - guests had the option of dressing up with 'Mouse Ears', & I had Minnie invitations, a Minnie Mouse head cake, Minnie paper plates and napkins, Minnie decorations and Minnie candy bags to take home. That part is simple and you still have your theme. If your child is a boy, make it Mickey! I hired some toys such as a slide and see-saw for the older kids, and had some toys scattered around. The party only lasts for 1.5 - 2 hours at the most as they will get tired, and some either arrive late or go early for their naps so dont go to too much trouble!! Save that for later parties as we'll have more planning to do!

My company just celebrated it's 50th anniversary and we did it with a Sock Hop, complete with diner food. The music from the 50's is great and impossible to listen to without moving, singing and laughing. We all dressed up in poodle skirts and leather jackets. We found a cheap video of commercials from the 1950s and that was hysterical. Look up a list of what happened in 1959 and it will give you more ideas. The 50's were rockin'! Nobody really wants to be reminded that they are getting old so why not celebrate the year he was born instead?