A Guide to Handling Birthday Parties While On Lockdown

We were supposed to be on our way to Centre Parcs right now. We were actually going to meet up with all of the rest of the members of my family in order to celebrate my Mum’s 70th birthday. I mean, talk about timing right? Obviously, we are all very upset the party isn’t happening because of the virus. However, we’ve already gone ahead and done the optimistic thing by rebooking for next year. We plan on pushing the excitement to her 71st birthday instead. My 40th birthday is coming up this Friday and I was supposed to have a big party with all kinds of dancing and drinking.

Of course, I’m upset I won’t be having that either, but I’m 40 and it’s not the end of the world I suppose. However, for every little kid who is either about to have a birthday or who has had one during the lockdown, I feel horrible about it. Therefore, we’ve been really coming together in order to share stories on how you might be able to pull off an incredible birthday party for your little take. Here are some of the best tips that we’ve come up with ourselves and that we’ve seen across various social media platforms.

Presents, Wrapping Paper, and Decorations

I have a friend who has a girl who just turned 7 the other day. All of the presents they had ordered for her didn’t arrive on time. This is totally understandable given the current climate. Because of this, she ended up using her creativity in order to make tiny gift vouchers that she would be able to use. This included different trips she would take her on, one for her favorite restaurant, and even a voucher for a single toy from her favorite shop. She was also unable to get gift wrapping paper in time. While I told her she should just use kitchen foil, she managed to get an even better idea pop in her mind. She ended up having her other kids create their own wrapping paper out of old wallpaper which is a brilliant idea!

I was on Instagram and I saw a woman with a family who was tasked with self-isolation. Because of this, they couldn’t access supplies. Therefore, they brought down the Christmas decorations and they used it to decorate the house rather than head out to get birthday supplies. This allowed her to put colorful and flashing lights everywhere, which her kids absolutely loved. See here for more fantastic gift ideas!

Party Games

Luckily, there are plenty of party games and fun games to play both online and offline with your family while in lockdown. Check out these party game ideas.

Zoom and Facetime

And a variety of different methods of video conferencing I have not used yet. We managed to put together a Whatsapp call with both my Mum and even my brother with his family today. Our glorious group singing of Happy Birthday made my Mum smile as wide as ever. Another Mum who had her son turn 4 years old a couple of days ago said they were able to Facetime throughout the day in order to share the day with one another. There was even a case I saw online that had a woman who hosted a Zoom party for her daughter who was turning 5! During the party, the little girl put on her favorite outfit along with all of her friends and they had a Zoom disco for 40 minutes with one another.

House Parties

You can use all of your child’s favorite stuffed animals to make an audience. You can even get your little birthday boy or girl involved in the planning stages. Ask them what they want for their birthday meals and give them exactly that! While it may take a lot of preparation and planning, it can be done and you can begin the sourcing process right now. After all, you don’t want to wait till the last minute when you are unlikely to have it come on time. You can let your kids play throughout the entire day. If they would normally be homeschooling during that day, simply let them take the day off instead. You can play games with them all day and do anything they want. Allow them to take control of their special day for the best result.

If you are unable to get yourself a cake, just get creative and use a donut or even make your own flapjacks with candles on it.

Virtual Day Trips

You should be able to take them to the Zoo, the British Museum, or even DisneyLand virtually. This is the next best thing to actually physically going there during the lockdown. You can look at some of our other blogs to find out other good ideas you can use. There are also classes that you can have them get involved in which can help them learn during the lockdown. We have an entire section on our website showcasing online classes and information about it.

Special Birthday Messages

A lot of birthday party entertainers are taking their talents online to offer their own birthday messages for kids during the lockdown… I have a friend who has a boy turning 6 years old next week and she asked pretty much everyone famous she could find if they would create a birthday message for him. After all, you don’t know if they are going to say yes unless you ask! One of the top things I’ve seen during the lockdown is seeing an entire street going to their front door and singing happy birthday to a little girl who was having a lockdown party on the same street. It was precious and you should have seen her face!

As you can see, there are ways you can have a lockdown party and help make a little boy or girl feel special during isolation. All your kids really need is love and by keeping them home and safe, you will be able to save the real celebration for when this is over with. From everyone here at Mumbler, have yourself a wonderful birthday!

 

Feature Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay