Yahoo News How to Throw A Kid’s Birthday Party While Social Distancing
For your kid’s birthday bash last year, you threw a Frozen-themed event that catered to her vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar-free classmates. In other words—you’re a party planning pro. But social distancing poses an entirely new challenge (keeping six feet apart from friends and family doesn’t exactly say festive). So, how do you safely celebrate your child’s special day (and get some relief from the grim) during a global pandemic? Here, three creative ideas for your kid’s coronavirus birthday party guaranteed to bring plenty of joy to the guest of honor and all who attend (from a safe distance, of course).
1. Plan a Drive-By Surprise Party
Seeing friends in the flesh—even from afar—is something to celebrate in and of itself right now, so if you’ve got wheels, use ‘em. Reach out to the parents of nearby friends with a date and time to take to the porch (stoops, windows and front lawns all work, too) for a drive-by pop-up party. To really ramp up the fun factor, encourage families to string up some decorations outside their homes or make banners (hey, craft activities are all the rage right now). Other suggestions to include on the invite? Whoops, cheers, air hugs, confetti, and noisemakers are a few extras that will help start the party off with a bang.
Once the drive-by is planned and everyone is on board, all you have to do is get your mini in the car with you. Roll down the windows and take off on a tour of the ‘hood, stopping by each pal’s pad to listen to a happy birthday serenade and feel the love. Best of all, you can disguise this joyride as a toilet paper run—now that’s a big surprise that will bring even bigger smiles.
2. Throw a Birthday Parade
If you need to stay home, consider asking friends and loved ones to put on a birthday parade for your kid. The idea is similar to the drive-by celebration except for this time, the guest of honor stays put while friends and loved ones roll up in their cars, pausing to shout birthday wishes from a safe distance. Who says no-contact means no fun?
3. Organize a Virtual Party
Your conference calls might be boring you to tears these days, but the same technology can be used to host a virtual birthday bash. Set up a Zoom party so your kid can connect with all his favorite friends and enjoy a couple of hours of shared fun without sharing any germs. The platform is easy to navigate and has built-in features like a chatroom function as well as the ability to mute other mics—a handy tool for party games (more on that below).
Before you dial into your Zoom party, plan some activities so that the virtual fete doesn’t take a turn toward chaos...or worse, end up a snooze-fest. Come up with a few games or pick a theme (a costume party, perhaps?) and let the other parents know beforehand so they can get organized on their end.
Here are a few party game ideas to get started:
Pin the tail on the donkey. The classic game except in this version, there are a dozen different donkeys. Kids can still take turns: while one person pins the tail, the rest of the group gets to watch a friend get dizzy and look silly while eagerly awaiting their chance to do the same.
Mad Libs. Create and share a long Mad Libs story with parents in advance (ask them to print it out before the party starts) so each kid can be equipped with the same page of potential laughs. Everyone can fill it out separately in real-time and take turns reading their version for multiple rounds of ridiculousness.
Pictionary. Ask parents to set up a poster board within view of the camera (a big sheet of paper taped up to the wall will suffice). Then kids can take turns creating pictures based on a secret suggestion provided by their parent while the other children try to guess what they’re drawing. (A chicken with a blender on its head?!) Definitely take advantage of the chatroom so the artist’s teammate (i.e., the parent) can read the goofy guesswork aloud without players talking over one another.
Dance party. Share a playlist with other parents and when it’s time to boogie down, the party-goers can bust a move to the same music at the same time...just be sure to mute the other mics so you don’t get a migraine if the timing isn't exactly the same.
3 Must-Have Party Props
1. Cake Topper
A bring-your-own-cupcake requirement works well with drive-by and virtual parties alike but you can kick things up a notch by giving the guest of honor a treat with an extra-special embellishment.
2. Party Poppers
Pick up a pack of party poppers and put on a show for friends to see on their screens, or get the whole neighborhood in on the celebration by sprinkling the streets with eco-friendly confetti.
3. Birthday Decorations
Style out the venue—be it your car or your home—with this mega pack that includes a birthday banner, flags, streamers and garlands galore to help you make a statement on your child’s special day.
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