Just two short months ago, none of us would have ever known what the heck a social distancing/quarantine birthday celebration was. Just two short months ago, we were thinking we’d have our normal family party for our big SIX year old, complete with Jersey Mike’s subs, patio-sittin’, and plenty of laughs and present opening. But on April 24th, Harlyn turned 6 and we partied as best we could 🙂
Here are some ways to help make your kiddo’s birthday special, even while we are safe at home!
1.Arrange a class Zoom call.
About a week and half before Harlyn’s birthday, I emailed the parents and asked if they’d have their kids hop on Zoom for the big day. We had both of Harlyn’s teachers and about 10 kids come on the call to wish Harlyn a happy birthday and sing to her. It was about as awkward as you’d expect with a bunch of kindergarteners, but I know she appreciated it so much.
2. Decorate the house.
We put up a Happy Birthday banner. We bought a helium tank and filled up allllll the balloons. We put balloons on the mailbox and did a chalk Happy Birthday in the driveway. Since there’s no real party, decorating and making everything as special as can be is really important!! Also, be sure you have at least one GIANT balloon if the birthday kid is younger and still likes that sorta thing. We have a huge unicorn hanging in our living room!
3. Have a parade or arrange gift/card drop offs.
I’ve seen some really fun birthday drive by parades on good ol’ Facebook as a result of quarantine. While we didn’t do that, we did make sure to give my mom and step dad, and my dad, some time to pop over and give their presents from the driveway. It just added some excitement and normalcy to the day to be able to see the grandparents. (And we’re so thankful because my MIL had already been quarantining with us, so Harlyn got to have her whole birthday with her “Ma.” And we had a friend from Kindergarten drop off a handmade card to Harlyn, which was so sweet. Harlyn stood in our yard and the girls said a few words to each other in between their shyness 😉
4. Let the birthday girl/boy choose dinner.
We decided that even though we couldn’t go out for dinner, we’d let her pick what takeout we got. Our girl decided on Chili’s because that is her absolute favorite! We let the kids have the Blue Fizz for their drinks and they were living their best lives!
5. Consider splurging on a cool cake.
I make a pretty good tasting cake, but they aren’t very pretty. This year, we spent way too much on a beautiful Barbie cake that only a few of us were ever going to eat. It sure did make Harlyn’s day though! She was soooo excited about this cake and it made it totally worth it. Even though neither kid really ate much of it on Harlyn’s birthday and neither asked for a piece the next day either…
6. FaceTime with family.
I think Harlyn truly enjoyed all the FaceTime calls she got–she showed off basically every gift she got to every single person that called. She doesn’t always want to be talking on the phone, but man was she pumped to show off all her new stuff!!
7. Play with the birthday kid.
If your birthday kiddo is young enough to still beg you to play on the regular, this is the time to do it. This day SHOULD be all about them!!! Harlyn begs for us to play Barbies all the time, so on her birthday I made sure we did just that. We also made sure to play a LOT outside–the weather was perfect and we spent a good part of the day playing in her new sandbox!
As strange as Harlyn’s birthday was this year, I think she still ended up with a great day. With just a little bit of effort, we can still give our kids a very happy birthday during this strange time of social distancing.
If you’re celebrating your child’s birthday during the Coronavirus, be sure to leave a comment letting me know how you’re making the big day feel special!
