Being a party planner/party printable designer during this time is not ideal. Since yeah, no one is having parties! But why not? There are still birthdays to celebrate! My Facebook feed and groups have been filled with parents helping other parents with ideas on how to make their kid’s day special without friends and extended family.
I posted THIS blog post to give some ideas on holding family parties during this time of social distancing. But I am seeing so many fun and inspiring ideas pop up that I wanted to compile them and add a few more that I thought of since my first post!
I saw this idea on a Mom’s Facebook group in my local area (St. Louis, MO). The group has exploded and I believe there are more groups for other areas. The idea behind this is to have friends, family, neighbors, really anyone – drive by the child’s house in their car and wave to the Birthday kid! These groups are organizing a “parade” of cars. You could easily do this on your own with just your family and friends or even school classmates!
With Facebook neighborhood groups and the Nextdoor app – it would be easy to ask your neighbors to put out a Happy Birthday message for your kiddo. Then you can take a walk or drive around to see the greetings! Wouldn’t that be fun to see your name all over your neighborhood!!
Great way to celebrate your Grandma’s birthday or any family members living in assisted living, etc. Works for kids too!
Drop off flowers, a gift or a card on the porch! No contact but it can leave a big impression and smile on the birthday kid’s face!
My 2nd grader’s class is going to try and do this for the kiddo’s in class that are celebrating birthdays while school is out! Normally they would get a special sticker and attention from the principal at school. Since online learning started this week, our principal is recording a message each morning and mentioning birthdays like she would do on a normal school day! Love our school so much!
We live in an age of amazing technology – so use it! Zoom, Facebook Messenger video, FaceTime (Apple), Google Duo (Android) calls – there are so many ways to connect via video! Call their friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and party together virtually!
If your kiddos birthday is still weeks out – you can send a message to your friends and family far and wide (Facebook is easy for this) to request notes, cards be sent by mail to the birthday child! Mail (other than junk) is always fun to receive!! Make a card, grab a birthday card from your stash – add some confetti (Quick Tip: Make confetti by hole punching colored paper) – and drop it in the mail!
If you haven’t heard of Cameo – check it out! You can pay to send a video message from your favorite celebrity, sports star, reality or youtube star – even animals!! Something a little EXTRA if you have the cash – to brighten the birthday child’s day!!
Since many rental companies likely have had client’s cancel, you could probably get a pretty good deal on a bouncy house right now. Call around to your local rental company and see if you could rent a bounce house for your own back yard.
Here is another opportunity to support a local small business! Find a party entertainer in your area that does balloons and see if they can deliver one to your door! Brian the Balloon guy in the St. Louis area is offering balloon characters delivered. He is in the picture above – so much talent!
Hiring a character to come to your party is so much fun! Many companies are offering video messages/phone calls in place of in person visits during this time. In the St. Louis area, Enchanted Events has packages for virtual character visits. I am sure you could find one in your area as well!
These yard signs have been around for a while. They aren’t necessarily cheap but with the money you are saving by not throwing a party – you can order a yard sign kit and set it up for your child’s birthday/birthday week! Google for a local company or check out the online options. With a quick google search I found this one that even does custom signs!!
I hope this round up of ideas helps you to make your kiddos birthday in quarantine one of the most memorable ones!