I took the day off school today. I think I was well enough to go, but I didn’t want to risk it and then be stressed out about the party tomorrow, so it was a good move. I could move at a slower pace in getting things ready, and not have to worry about whether my homework was done or not. It felt a little like cheating, but I’m the only one that loses in this case.
Kory and I spent the entire day in preparation for Kaleb's big Harry Potter birthday party tomorrow. We have four empty houses around us that are now transformed into the four houses of Hogwarts (plus ours). Our house is Gryffindor and the kids will come in to our house first and be sorted by the Sorting Hat. Kory made a huge wizard hat out of some very stiff paper. We set a walkie talkie in the tip of it and he’ll be in another room talking into the hat to tell each child which “house” they will be going to. We have 16 kids coming so there will be four kids in each house. Once they are all sorted, we go down to the house called Slitheran. Inside that house is a room entitled “Quiddich Court” and it’s there that all the games will be played. Each “house” (group of kids) will compete in six different games for points. Kory made three plastic rings that hang from the ceiling in that house and the kids can throw the Quiddich ball to see if they make it through. If they do, they get two points. I drew a bulls eye target with a dry erase marker on a window in that house, and I have some stretchy/sticky bugs that the kids can use to try and earn points like playing darts. I also bought some beetles that work like those cars you pull back and then they go forward. We’ll have a beetle race with those. I have a few other easy games lined up as well. The kids can also lose points for cheating or misbehaving so I’m hoping that helps with crowd control.
The party starts at 11 but I’m hoping by 12 we’ll be ready for lunch. The Huffelpuff house is set up with The Great Hall inside, where the kids will eat. All these houses here have the same floor plan as ours so it’s pretty cool that they all have one big open room we can use for this party. We set up a long banquet table and I have grouped the kids from each “house” together with place tags and decorations that match their house. I brought everything from America so I had to plan out this party before we left. I brought a lot of stuff for it, but I’m glad I did as supplies here are very limited. The Great Hall looks great as I hung glittery stars from the ceiling (like in the movie) and have pictures of all the characters from the movie on all the walls. I got Harry Potter plates, tablecloths, napkins all on clearance for 50 cents a pack before we moved here-- major score. And we’re just serving pizza and hot dogs to eat – typical Norwegian kid birthday party food. Kaleb and Tobias made special labels to put over the pop bottles though so now they have the names of different potions so they can mix at will and see how sick they can get from all that sugar. (Kaleb loves to mix pop flavors – he calls himself a “drink smith.”) Kaleb and Tobias also made "cockroach clusters," which are sitting on the kids' plates (I melted chocolate and mixed in some raisins, then they stuck stick pretzels in the side for legs. The look yucky.) I also put a few gummy worms in their drinking glasses and on the rim.
After lunch we go to the Ravenclaw house and in there they will find the classroom set up and decorated with spider webs and plastic spiders. Two tables are ready with arts and crafts supplies for them to make their own wizard hats and when they are done with that, they will make their own magic wands. I bought super sized pretzel sticks from America they will dip in chocolate then put star sprinkles on the outside. They will need the wands because I will be performing a potions class and they will need to help with the magic. I have a ton of science demonstrations set up – everything from the old baking soda and vinegar explosion to the Mentos geyser in the pop bottle (I’ll be outside for that one). I’m hoping they love this part the best since Tobias said he hasn’t seen any of these demonstrations (I had him as my test audience this week while I was preparing). His eyes got pretty big as he was watching me, so that should be an exciting time. I have a few of the tricks for the kids to participate in as well so I’m glad I have a few adult helpers coming.
After the magic lab the kids will go back to our house to open gifts then to the dining hall again for the awards ceremony, and to eat their little wizard cupcakes. I will award them prizes and acknowledge the top wizard of the day. Then I will give them a clue as to where they can find the Maurader’s Map for each “house” and they will go hunting for their party gift bag. Once they find that, they can use some of their coins to go shopping at Diagon Alley – which is located in the last house we are using for this party. I have set up three “stores” in three rooms of that house and each group of kids can go in one at a time and buy things in the shop with their "gallions" (quarters from America).
All these details are straight from the Harry Potter books and I’m sure none of the kids in Kaleb’s class have even read them, but a few have seen the movies. It’s going to be great, no matter what, as Kaleb has told me Norwegian birthday parties are pretty lame in comparison. Kids show up, hang out, watch the birthday boy play on his Nintendo, they all eat hot dogs, open presents and just run around doing whatever they want. Occasionally there will be one game with no prize and sometimes they get a bag with a few pieces of candy in it. So the parties here are very unstructured, very low key. The kids love them anyway, but I can’t wait to see their reaction to this one!
Kory and I spent the entire day in preparation for Kaleb's big Harry Potter birthday party tomorrow. We have four empty houses around us that are now transformed into the four houses of Hogwarts (plus ours). Our house is Gryffindor and the kids will come in to our house first and be sorted by the Sorting Hat. Kory made a huge wizard hat out of some very stiff paper. We set a walkie talkie in the tip of it and he’ll be in another room talking into the hat to tell each child which “house” they will be going to. We have 16 kids coming so there will be four kids in each house. Once they are all sorted, we go down to the house called Slitheran. Inside that house is a room entitled “Quiddich Court” and it’s there that all the games will be played. Each “house” (group of kids) will compete in six different games for points. Kory made three plastic rings that hang from the ceiling in that house and the kids can throw the Quiddich ball to see if they make it through. If they do, they get two points. I drew a bulls eye target with a dry erase marker on a window in that house, and I have some stretchy/sticky bugs that the kids can use to try and earn points like playing darts. I also bought some beetles that work like those cars you pull back and then they go forward. We’ll have a beetle race with those. I have a few other easy games lined up as well. The kids can also lose points for cheating or misbehaving so I’m hoping that helps with crowd control.
The party starts at 11 but I’m hoping by 12 we’ll be ready for lunch. The Huffelpuff house is set up with The Great Hall inside, where the kids will eat. All these houses here have the same floor plan as ours so it’s pretty cool that they all have one big open room we can use for this party. We set up a long banquet table and I have grouped the kids from each “house” together with place tags and decorations that match their house. I brought everything from America so I had to plan out this party before we left. I brought a lot of stuff for it, but I’m glad I did as supplies here are very limited. The Great Hall looks great as I hung glittery stars from the ceiling (like in the movie) and have pictures of all the characters from the movie on all the walls. I got Harry Potter plates, tablecloths, napkins all on clearance for 50 cents a pack before we moved here-- major score. And we’re just serving pizza and hot dogs to eat – typical Norwegian kid birthday party food. Kaleb and Tobias made special labels to put over the pop bottles though so now they have the names of different potions so they can mix at will and see how sick they can get from all that sugar. (Kaleb loves to mix pop flavors – he calls himself a “drink smith.”) Kaleb and Tobias also made "cockroach clusters," which are sitting on the kids' plates (I melted chocolate and mixed in some raisins, then they stuck stick pretzels in the side for legs. The look yucky.) I also put a few gummy worms in their drinking glasses and on the rim.
After lunch we go to the Ravenclaw house and in there they will find the classroom set up and decorated with spider webs and plastic spiders. Two tables are ready with arts and crafts supplies for them to make their own wizard hats and when they are done with that, they will make their own magic wands. I bought super sized pretzel sticks from America they will dip in chocolate then put star sprinkles on the outside. They will need the wands because I will be performing a potions class and they will need to help with the magic. I have a ton of science demonstrations set up – everything from the old baking soda and vinegar explosion to the Mentos geyser in the pop bottle (I’ll be outside for that one). I’m hoping they love this part the best since Tobias said he hasn’t seen any of these demonstrations (I had him as my test audience this week while I was preparing). His eyes got pretty big as he was watching me, so that should be an exciting time. I have a few of the tricks for the kids to participate in as well so I’m glad I have a few adult helpers coming.
After the magic lab the kids will go back to our house to open gifts then to the dining hall again for the awards ceremony, and to eat their little wizard cupcakes. I will award them prizes and acknowledge the top wizard of the day. Then I will give them a clue as to where they can find the Maurader’s Map for each “house” and they will go hunting for their party gift bag. Once they find that, they can use some of their coins to go shopping at Diagon Alley – which is located in the last house we are using for this party. I have set up three “stores” in three rooms of that house and each group of kids can go in one at a time and buy things in the shop with their "gallions" (quarters from America).
All these details are straight from the Harry Potter books and I’m sure none of the kids in Kaleb’s class have even read them, but a few have seen the movies. It’s going to be great, no matter what, as Kaleb has told me Norwegian birthday parties are pretty lame in comparison. Kids show up, hang out, watch the birthday boy play on his Nintendo, they all eat hot dogs, open presents and just run around doing whatever they want. Occasionally there will be one game with no prize and sometimes they get a bag with a few pieces of candy in it. So the parties here are very unstructured, very low key. The kids love them anyway, but I can’t wait to see their reaction to this one!
