With some of the country in lockdown and rules on how many people can gather together, now is not an easy time to throw a birthday party.
It also looks like these rules may keep coming and going for a while yet so, you may need to start thinking of other creative ways to throw a birthday party. Naturally, you still want to make the day special and celebrate it with your child and so we have compiled a list of ways to celebrate your child’s birthday while in isolation.
Start The Morning Off With Wake Up Surprises
- Balloons in the bedroom – You can fill your child’s room with balloons while they sleep so when they wake up they are surrounded by balloons.
- Special birthday breakfast – this can be as simple as serving your child their favorite breakfast or creating something special for the occasion. A fun birthday breakfast is Funfetti pancakes.
- Special notes on the inside of the bedroom door – write a bunch of lovely messages to your child about all the reasons why you love them and why they are special. have all members and possibly even friends write notes.
- Decorations – just because you’re not having a typical party with guests doesn’t mean you can’t decorate! Decorating the house is a great way to show your child that the day is important.
Have An Online Party – Birthday In Isolation
Everyone is slowly getting used to the fact that things we usually did face to face will now, for the interim, be done online. There are many platforms in which you could hold an online party like Zoom, Google Hangouts or Houseparty.
Canva has a great resource where you can take your virtual birthday parties with Zoom to new and visually pleasing places. These templates can match your party’s theme (if there are any). They are free, easy to use and can be changed as often as you like for your virtual backgrounds. Find more info here.
Being stuck at home doesn’t mean that your child can’t celebrate their special day with their friends. Before having the online party you could maybe drop off something like a $5 pizza and a cupcake to your childs friends or hand them out during the drive-by birthday wishes (mentioned below)
For the online party you can also hire an online entertainer to host the party. There are many party entertainers who have moved their services online due to the current pandemic. Your child could still have their favourite character turn up to their party even when having a birthday in isolation.
Drive-By Birthday Wishes & Present Drop Off
Netflix Party Movie Night – Birthday In Isolation
Here’s how it works: your child and their friends log in to separate Netflix accounts ( You will need to all have your own Netflix account for this). Pick a movie or show to watch, and Netflix Party will sync the playback across your accounts, so they are all watching the same thing at the same time from the individual accounts. Netflix Party includes a text chat function on the side of the screen so your child and their friends can react and chat in real-time.
You could also create party movie packs to includes things like lollies, popcorn, and a drink, etc and deliver them prior to the movie time or hand them out during the drive-by birthday wishes (mentioned above).
Have An Online Disco
Bop till you Drop has launched a Virtual Disco Party, giving you the power to celebrate your child’s special day safely and in the comfort of your own home via Zoom. So invite all their friends to your unique zoom link which they can access from any location. Plenty of virtual interaction and they can even send you a recording of the whole party as a keepsake! They conduct a fully interactive structured disco party where the children get to be virtual POP STARS. Interacting with the birthday child and their special guests, answering questions, talking about their favourite dance moves as well as playing a variety of virtual party games and even singing happy birthday and blowing out the candles together. Check out Bop till you Drop here.
Image supplied by Bop till you Drop
Have A Quarantine Theme
No one wants to see a birthday party cancelled and it can be particularly upsetting if its a first birthday. However, this family chose to look at the humorous side of having to cancel their child’s first birthday and created a quarantine themed birthday in isolation. Now they have not only created an awesome memory of a birthday like no other but showed their families positivity and humour in tough times.
Image supplied by Kylie Najjar
Have Friends & Family Send Birthday Videos
Take A Virtual Tour – Birthday In Isolation
Make A Cake & Eat It Too
Who doesn’t love cake? Not only will your child enjoy eating the cake but why not include them in the making of the cake also? You can sit down together and pick out a design of the cake you want to make. If you are not a baker extraordinaire then check out Cake 2 The Rescue and their DIY cake kits. They have a huge range of cakes any novice can make and end up with an amazing looking cake! Perfect for you and your child to do together.
Image supplied by Cake 2 The Rescue
Create A Sign For Passing Cars
This one is a super fun one. You and your child can create a sign together, large enough to be readable from a car passing on the road. Then have your child sit or stand in a safe place and wave to the passing cars honking to wish them a happy birthday!