Harry Potter: How to Throw a Fabulous Hufflepuff Slumber Party

Want to know the best reason to host a Hufflepuff Slumber Party? Because it's an innovative and somewhat surprising twist on the familiar Harry Pottery series. A Hufflepuff Slumber Party will quickly turn one of Hogwart's less notable Houses into your daughter's favorite while impressing all her friends' and making their moms wish they'd thought of this idea first!

A Hufflepuff Slumber Party is a "Girls Only" premiere event suitable for the hard to please sophisticated young ladies. Geared specifically toward tweens, preteens, and teens the theme is Harry Potter, sorority style! J.K. Rowling has presented Hufflepuff as mediocre at best and they are generally regarded as the unimportant underdogs. It's time to change that and give the girls a night to remember which will boost their self- confidence and empower their creativity!

A successful event requires thoughtful planning and organization. Familiarize yourself with the following key characteristics that make Hufflepuff unique:

1. Hufflepuff colors are black and yellow.
2. The Hufflepuff mascot animal is a badger.
3. The Founder is Helga Hufflepuff.
4. The Head of House is Professor Pomona Sprout.
5. The Ghost is the Fat Friar.
6. The Common Room is in a cellar.

These key characteristics should be kept in mind as you decide on Invitations, Activities, Crafts, and Food.

INVITATIONS

Invitations in the style of a Hogwarts Acceptance Letter are quite popular. The idea can easily be adapted to suit your Hufflepuff Slumber Party, or to seem more like the girls' first initiation into a Hufflepuff sorority. Use your computer to design invitations and print them out on yellow cardstock. Some design suggestions include the Hufflepuff crest on the front of the card, the Sorting Hat's house description, or even a simple black and yellow checkerboard pattern. Be sure to enclose a list of supplies for first year students so your guests know to pack items such as a Slytherin Sleeping Bag, Fluffy Pillow Puff, and Parseltongue Toothbrush.

ACTIVITIES

There are countless activities to go along with this theme! Enlist your daughter's help and let her assist you in planning the activities she thinks her girlfriends will enjoy the most. Chances are she will have a few ideas of her own and she will quite possibly know more about the book, the characters, and the plots than you!

If you are inviting the girls to Hufflepuff House, then your House should look the part. You can really go all out with this idea if you want to, but a quick magical transformation should be sufficient. If you have a basement GREAT! Since the Hufflepuff Dormitory is located in a cellar, a basement is an ideal location for the sleepover. Print out simple signs labeled with specific room names and hang these either on or beside doorway entrances. The door leading to the party room should be labeled "Hufflepuff Dormitory" or "Hufflepuff Common Room." If you have more than one bathroom, label one bathroom the "Room of Requirement." Place a caution sign that reads "Moaning Mrytle" on the second bathroom and turn on a spooky Halloween CD of loud screams and shrieks. If there is a specific room or area of your house that you want to be off-limits, label that room the "Forbidden Forest."

If you have a large appliance or moving box handy, cut a large rectangle out of both the front and back, and turn this into a three dimensional photo frame for the House ghost, Fat Friar. If Dad is willing to dress up and play along, the girls can say a password code to Fat Friar in order to actually walk in through the frame. As Head of the House, Mom should prepare to role-play as Professor Pomona Sprout. This is a really great idea for as soon as guests arrive you can take everyone on a tour of your house and lay down a few rules if you'd like. As Head of House you can also announce that you have the authority to award points as well as take them away. Younger girls may take you a bit more seriously, but your older daughter and her friends will probably find your antics hysterical and be willing to play along with you!

If you want, plan a small Triwizard Tournament. These can be individual tasks the girls compete in to earn points and prizes, or this can be a series of silly challenges each girl must complete before she receives a House Cup - a yellow plastic cup she can write her name on, decorate as she chooses, and take home after the party. This is a great idea so the Head of House is not stuck cleaning up extra dishes too! Consider the following Triwizard Tournament ideas or make up your own:

The First Task: Huff and Puff

You will need 1 black and 1 yellow balloon for each guest and a stopwatch.

Each guest receives 1 black and 1 yellow balloon. Using a stopwatch, or clock with a secondhand, time each girl individually to see who can inflate her balloons the fastest. When all the balloons are inflated, the girls can use them to decorate their Common Room. To make this task more challenging for older teens, consider purchasing twisting balloons and see who can make the best-looking or most creative Hufflepuff badger.

The Second Task: Lumos and Nox

You will need 1 working flashlight with batteries and a stopwatch.

Disassemble the flashlight into as many pieces as possible, but make sure that the guests cannot see you do this. The object of this task is for each guest to put the flashlight back together as quickly as possible, turn the flashlight on and say, "Lumos," and then turn the flashlight off and say, "Nox." The flashlight must turn on and then off, and the guest must remember the magic words of the spell in order for this challenge to be completed successfully. This can be a lot of fun as when you are rushing it is easy to put the batteries in wrong! A flashlight with four batteries will be a bit more difficult than a flashlight with one or two batteries, and some flashlights are more challenging to put together than others. Consider the age of your guests to determine which type of flashlight is best suited for your party.

The Third Task: Leaky Cauldron

You will need: Stopwatch, Paper cup, pencil, large mixing bowl, a five-gallon bucket of water or a readily available sink.

Fill a five-gallon bucket with water. Using a pencil, poke a hole in the bottom of a paper cup. This is the "leaky cauldron." Fill the Leaky Cauldron with water from the five-gallon bucket, plug the hole in the bottom, and then carry the cauldron across the room and empty it into a large mixing bowl. This continues repeatedly until the mixing bowl is filled with water. Use the stopwatch and time each guest to see who can fill the mixing bowl the fastest. You can increase the difficulty of this game for older guests by having them balance the cup on their heads or require that they only touch the cup with one hand.

If a Triwizard Tournament of party games really isn't your style, there are plenty other suitable activities that are sure to be a hit! If your girls really like to dress up and primp, have a pre-party Yule Ball. The girls will love getting all dolled up while they discuss which Harry Potter character they would most like to go to the ball with. Assist them with fixing their hair, putting on make-up, and doing their nails. Be sure to have yellow, black, and glittery nail polish available. Fingernail decals or stickers are also an inexpensive way to create a more "magical" mood. Don't forget toenails either!

CRAFTS

Perhaps the most important aspect of planning a party for young ladies is letting them create something special that they can take home and use. This is a much better idea than providing party gifts and girls particularly enjoy making them. Small and sentimental is appropriate and easily done inexpensively. Depending on the timeframe of your party, you may want to choose one or two crafts to keep your guests busy.

As Head of House, Professor Sprout, or Mom, should certainly plan to teach a Herbology lesson. Allow your guests to color their own flowerpots and plant a mandrake. You can purchase small individual flowers from a local greenhouse or let the girls plant their own flower seeds. The flowerpots can be purchased in most large chain craft stores or the Oriental Trading catalog carries them for a little over a dollar apiece. While working with the mandrakes be sure to have a pair of earmuffs handy for your guests to wear!

Charms is another magic lesson sure to be a hit! Let each guest make her own charm bracelet in the Hufflepuff colors of yellow and black. You will need an assortment of yellow and black beads and black cording.

If you'd prefer to try your hand at Potions, give each girl a body pouf and let them make their own bubble bath, lotion, or soap. Kits are available in most craft stores that should have ample supplies for a sleepover.

Have each guest make a Remembrall out of a Round Photo Holder Snow globe. If you have a digital camera and can print out photos at home, take some silly photos and print them out specifically for this craft. Photo Frame Water Globes can be purchased in the Oriental Trading catalog- a set of 6 globes is $6.95. The Oriental Trading catalog also carries Magic Color Scratch items. Using a wooden stick, each guest can scratch the surface to magically reveal her own design. There are several different designs of Magic Color Scratch frames available for less than fifty cents each.

Have each guest create her own Puff Paint T-shirt. You will need a yellow t-shirt for each guest and an assortment of puff paints. (Note: If you would rather not purchase a shirt for each guest you could always add that to the list of supplies when you send out your invitations.)

FOOD

Try to think of creative refreshments to go along with the Hufflepuff theme. It's okay if they seem a bit silly. A bowl of yellow and black jellybeans or other candies can be labeled "Hufflepuff Stuff." Mini chocolate éclair creampuffs, chicken salad creampuffs, Ice Cream creampuff sundaes, Jet Puffed Marshmallows, or Cheese Puffs are a few ideas to get you started. If you can find a frog candy mold, Chocolate Frogs are cute and easy to make yourself. You can also make your own Ice Mice by adding a gummy bear to your freezer ice cube trays. For breakfast the next morning, consider serving a selection of Puff Cereals - Cocoa Puffs, Corn Puffs, Reese's Puffs, etc. You could also add a little bit of yellow food coloring to the milk jug and presto chango! As you can see, there are a lot of great ideas here to help you to host an incredibly unforgettable Hufflepuff Slumber Party! As your night of fun continues, be sure to have Harry Potter videos to watch with Hufflepuff popcorn! The girls can always create their own little game about how the Dementors will get the first one to fall asleep!