Pandemic Birthday Party Ideas for Kids

We all know how important birthday parties can be for little (and big!) kids. Whether you normally do a small get together with a few friends or giant blowouts with the whole class, everyone will have to rethink how to do birthday parties for the foreseeable future.

We came up with the following ideas by polling friends and our readers. Even if you want to keep things super simple you can still make it a special day for your wee one (or for your wife…who is turning 40 this year…hint hint to my husband.)

Parades

This one will obviously involve a little bit of planning and coordination. You will need to reach out to family and friends and ask them to decorate their cars, and then organize in a procession at a specified time. We’ve seen a few of these go by in our neighbourhood and they look SO FUN!

Special Deliveries

Arrange a delivery (or pick-up) of a tasty cake or cupcakes, or maybe takeout from their favourite restaurant. Veronique Chiasson, owner of Emerging Minds in Ottawa, found an edible cookie dough cake for her 12 year-old which was a huge hit!

Social distance visits

Physical distancing doesn’t mean you can’t invite friends over to hang out on the driveway for a while. Or grandparents, who can sing Happy Birthday and drop off presents!

Video compilations from friends

Ask your child’s friends to send in short video clips of them saying Happy Birthday (or ask them to get creative depending on what your child loves - one of my daughter’s friends ADORES animals, so every video sent in featured the family pet!) You can throw these into a compilation or just show each clip separately if you don’t have the time.

Decorations

Cover the driveway in a giant chalk masterpiece, place balloons and signs all over the house, or decorate their bedroom door. Let the whole neighbourhood know it’s your child’s birthday!

Zoom birthday parties

Virtual parties are all the rage now. You don’t have to make it super long - just invite their friends on for the singing of Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles, and then let them chat for a while!

Performers

Many businesses are still offering princess or clown services (at a distance of course!) OR, ask a talented family member to dress up and come for a visit. They could do a unicorn or T-Rex, princess, or any other character your child loves.

Favourite meals all day

Cake for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch and pizza for dinner? Whatever they love, let them choose (there may not be a lot of vegetables in there, but you never know…some kids can surprise us!)

First Responder Visits

Depending on where you live in Canada, a visit from a fire truck may be an option (my brother was able to request this for my nephew in Calgary) However, I reached out to Ottawa Fire Services and they responded to say while they’d LOVE to offer this service, there are challenges and concerns as firefighters will not be able to practice social distancing in the truck for a non-emergency response.

But there’s good news! They will be offering some school aged education programs virtually – stay tuned to @ottFirePrevent for more details.

Plan the “After” Party

Make sure your child knows that you can still do a party with friends at some point down the road. Of course we can’t make a date right now, but they may have fun dreaming up the things they’d like to do. Or perhaps your pandemic birthday party was so epic they won’t need anything else ;)