With the last Harry Potter movie set to be released soon, these books and movies continue to serve as a timeless party favorite for kids.  Whether for a Halloween party or a birthday party, Harry Potter is chock full of fun and fabulous ideas to bring alive for your party guests.  iVillage has a wonderful slideshow of 12 Easy Ideas for a Wizard-Worthy Harry Potter Birthday Party that have been created by Jennifer Sbranti, the Hostess with the Mostess.  Everything from Official Hogwarts Invitations to Magic Drinks to Quidditch Broom Favors, this Harry Potter slideshow has you covered.

Photo: iVillage

It’s autumn and time for a series of holidays that will keep your kids busy throughout the next few months. First up is Halloween … which leads into Thanksgiving only 4 weeks later. What is wonderful about these holidays is they fall within the fall season and use the same color scheme. As a result, many of the things you purchase for one can be used for the other. This reduces the amount of money you need to spend on the kids’ fun during this season.

Here are some examples:

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Are you a Snickers bar fan or do you crave M&M’s?  Did you know that one quarter of all the candy sold annually is for Halloween night? Celebrations.com’s Jeanne Benedict from Celebrations.com has all the fun facts on Halloween candy that will make this holiday sweeter than it already is!

History & Tradition: Halloween Candy Fun Facts

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‘Tis the season for that super sweet kernel of candy corn that everyone can agree reminds them of Halloween past, present, and, most likely, future!  Besides eating all of that candy corn that may be laying around your home this week, you can also play some fun and simple games with these bright candy kernels.

1. Send the kids on a Candy Corn Hunt.  You can do this a couple of different ways.  Create a path of Candy Corn that they must use to hunt around and cannot sway from the path.  Alternatively, hide small bags of candy corn around your yard and send the kids on a traditional hunt.
2. Fill a large pumpkin pail with candy corn and see who guesses the number of candy corn. Whoever guesses closest, wins!  Share the Candy Corn with everyone.
3. Create Candy Corn Artwork with heavy card stock, candy corn, and a glue stick.  This may get messy, but will be fun!
4. Make Candy Corn Strings, just like popcorn.  Decorate the room and front doorway with the Candy Corn Strings.
5. Make a homemade batch of Candy Corn.  A great idea for older children.
6. Serve Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats.
7. Play Candy Corn Fooz Ball.  Using a large table surface, set up two kids at different ends of the table.  The children throw candy corn to the other child, who must block it from going through and making a goal.  The child can block it using a solid cookie cutter.  (Make sure it is one that will not scratch up your table.)
8. Make Candy Corn Sculptures using frosting to hold the sculpture together.  Make sure to place paper down on your table to keep the mess minimal.
9. Serve up Jones Soda Candy Corn flavor to match the fun!
10. Finally, send them home with bags of the sweet stuff!

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It’s Halloween week and you may want to put together a quick Halloween party for your child and her friends before they head out to trick or treat or just as a fun play date.  Here’s an easy theme: orange and black!  That’s right, take those classic colors and create a fun party room.  It’s easy:

• Blow up black and orange balloons: create a sea of black and orange balloons on the floor for the kids to romp through and kick about. Fill other balloons with helium and add orange and black ribbons to these.
• Purchase inexpensive black and orange table covers and cover your furniture and tables in the room with them.  Place black and orange balloons around the furniture too.
• Black and orange streamers hanging in doorways will have the kids enjoying crossing from one room to another.
• Scatter black and orange confetti.
• Hang orange lights around the party table for added festivity.
• Serve orange juice or orange soda. (Jones Soda has some fun orange flavors like Orange & Creme and Crushed Melon.) For snacks, serve black and orange candies, Jell-O gelatin jigglers in those favorite colors, and cupcakes too.  The kids can decorate them with orange and black frosting and candies.

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Look what Bakerella has whipped up with a favorite classic cereal: Spider Trix Cupcakes.  That’s right, those colorful little spiders are made from Trix.  You may want to make up your own batch this week for the kids to take to school or as a Halloween dessert!

Truly inventive!

Help! My kid is heading out to a fall festival party on Halloween and so I won’t be home to hand out the candy! Should I just turn off the light and forget about the trick or treaters or put out a bowl of candy and pray it doesn’t get stolen?

The BEST part of the trick or treaters is actually seeing all of the kids dress up and come around to your home. Without being there, if you turn off your light, no one will stop and you won’t be around to notice.

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