Monday, April 6, 2020

Once Upon a Birthday in Quarantine...


Once upon a quarantine, children everywhere faced the prospect of a less than "happily ever after" birthday scenario.

Is your family facing the nefarious birthday foe - Coronavirus?  Do you fear there is nothing for it but to spend this special day in defeat?  

But wait, have you visited your arsenal lately?  With the weapons of love, imagination, and work this birthday does not have to end poorly.  It could still be a day to remember but in a good way!   Here are some suggestions to get those creative ideas flowing....

Lego Challenge Birthday:  send friends/family a Lego building challenge (related to the birthday child's favorite things of course - build a birthday hat out of Legos and wear it, build a scene from the child's favorite book, build a birthday cake, etc.) and have several times throughout the day when kids (or family members) go online to share their "builds".  You could even award online prizes (gift cards to Amazon, etc.).

Fairytale Birthday:  Be your child's servants for the day!  Plan special pampering activities or jousting (pool noodles make an unexpected comeback here) in the backyard!  Have friends dress up like royalty from different make believe kingdoms (you could even have a guessing game to try to figure out which kingdoms they might be from based on their costumes)and plan to have a royal assembly online in the evening.  Maybe friends could write stories where your child is the hero or heroine and take turns reading them out loud to the birthday girl/boy.  They could also simply draw and share royal pictures for the birthday child.

Drop-in Birthday:  Have friends/family drop presents off on the doorstep throughout the day.  They can stay in their cars to watch the birthday child open the gift.

Hourly Birthday:  Open one gift item hourly along with a phone call or video call from the giver so they can watch the birthday child opening the gift.

OR

Open a gift item hourly from just your immediate family (use items from dollar store, even party goods for that day could be a gift, or provide a card that gives them $5-$10 to spend at a store online, etc.).  Having presents to open every hour of your special day is certainly something to look forward to!

Scavenger Hunt Birthday:  Create a simple scavenger hunt to look for gifts throughout the day.  The birthday child searches for an item,  provides what you asked for, and you give them one of their gifts to open or have the gift sitting with the item they are looking for.  

OR

A technology enhanced scavenger hunt with friends could be fun as well.  Send out a complete list (or send an item hourly) and have friends hunt for items in their homes.  Meet at the end of the day on Zoom or FaceTime, etc. to share finds (or kids can send pics of their treasures via phone if doing an hourly hunt).  Prizes could be $5 to Amazon or some other store.  

Mission Impossible Birthday: Wake your child up to the theme music from the show and hand them an envelope with instructions inside written on toilet paper or tissue paper (you’ll see why when you reach the self-destruct part below): 

Your mission is to find your presents by day’s end.  This message will self-destruct in 10 seconds!

Make sure you have a water gun ready to spray the message down (to destruct it) and it can’t hurt for memory’s sake if the birthday person also gets a little wet, right?  Provide clues throughout the day to help them hunt for presents.  If you have yarn on hand, string it across doorways or throughout a room creating a "laser" field they have to get through in order to find their next clue or prize. If you happen to have black balloons - throw some surprise bombs at them which they have to dodge every once in a while.  You could even have them interview “suspects” inside your house and allow the suspects to let some clues slip out while being interrogated.

"Clue" Birthday:  Hide presents, dress up as characters from the Clue game or make up your own, and try to figure out who hid the presents, where, and with (or in) what.

Floral Birthday:  Have friends or family deliver one flower each hour (or randomly throughout the day) on the doorstep with a special note as to why they chose it for the person (the color made me think of your bright personality, etc.).  Another variation would be to possibly attach a special flower message (old custom of flowers having meanings or messages behind them.  If you search online, you might be able to find some sites that will list meanings). By the end of the day, the birthday child will have a special bouquet full of sweet significance.  

Surprise POPty (party):   Fill the birthday child’s room with balloons to wake up to in the morning. Place a small slip of paper inside each balloon with a fun activity for the child to complete on his/her birthday (play a game of choice, special movie, eat ice cream, make cookies, new game on iPad, etc.).  The slips of paper could also tell of a present they are allowed to open (present from sis or present from grandpa, etc.).  The birthday child pops balloons throughout the day.  You could even have times written on different balloons if you wanted them to be popped at a certain time.  Also have friends or family members "pop" online (Zoom, Google Hangout, etc.) to wish a happy birthday throughout the day at random times.  

Movie Night Birthday:  Pop some popcorn and call up friends to “watch” a movie together.  Start the movie at the same time and enjoy texting or Skyping while watching together.  You could send friends/family some small birthday “invitation” packages beforehand with items inside (microwave popcorn, movie candy in boxes, and a movie ticket styled invitation) to be used on the birthday movie night.

Game Night Birthday:  Play card games or other online friendly games (FaceTime, Zoom, etc.) with friends.  Send each person attending the birthday game night the name of a favorite book character, favorite historical figure, etc. of the birthday person.  During the party - let each guest give three clues to their identity or allow people to play 20 questions, etc. until someone solves the mystery of who each guest is supposed to be.

Book Party:  Surprise your child by having a themed party based on their favorite book.  Have family/friends dress up as characters from the book (those who don't live at home could do this and visit via an online site like FaceTime, etc.).  Serve themed food from the book.  Play guessing games during the day or in an online party with quotes from the book (who said this quote ____ or fill in the quote).  Have family/friends purchase a book or two as gifts and leave them on the doorstep throughout the day.  

Party in a Box:  Send a simple birthday package with fun items inside for celebrating someone’s special day – their favorite treats, or items for making a cake in a mug (or pre-made kits), party hat, party t-shirt, confetti, noisemaker, etc.  You could even make it a themed party box!

These are just a few possibilities, but there are so many more!  If none of these feels right for your child, enlist creative family/friends to help brainstorm some special activities!  Feel free to add your ideas to this list via the comment section as well!

If all else fails, give the birthday child a puppy or a pony.  Trust me, it will probably be a birthday he/she (and you) will never forget.  ;)

And they celebrated (hopefully) happily ever after!

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