Birthday Party - Hosting a Zoom Celebration for your Child

Aside from decorating your home, here are some other ways to make your child’s Zoom birthday party unforgettable.

Even at home your child’s birthday can still be an unforgettable one. Arrange a Zoom celebration together with dress codes, tasty treats and gift bags to make the birthday truly memorable for your little one.

Pre Planning

Invites

Easily create gorgeous invites online to suit your party theme; be sure to include the time and date of your Zoom party.

Create a guest list for your child’s birthday party. It should include up to about 10 guests, all your child’s closest friends or cousins. If it’s a mixed gender birthday party, ensure the theme is fairly gender neutral. Examples could include Under The Sea rather than just mermaids or Magical Kingdom instead of fairies.

You can design these easily online, using the templates from Evite, Greetings Island or Canva. Be sure to include the date of the party, the time you’d want the Zoom meeting to start and your address if guests are sending over gifts. Also, do add in a dress code so everyone can get in on the fun and feel a little more involved. For example, you could give them a colour theme to follow, or have the guests wear their craziest Halloween outfits, or try Sea Apple’s Something Fishy series for an underwater theme.

While you could mail the invites over to your children’s friends’ homes, you can also email or WhatsApp the mums the invites and get their RSVPs.

Party Favours

To spread a little cheer to your child’s friends, you could also send them gift bags that correspond to your theme. For example, if your theme is mermaids, or under the sea, gift ideas may include a Melissa & Doug Seaside Sidekicks Sand Baking Set ($24.90), Pirate or Mermaid Puffy Sticker Play Set ($8.90). Of course, package them in a pretty gift bag ($8.90 to $9.80).

Decorations

Decorate your home with birthday garlands, foil balloon animals and balloons for your child’s special day.

Additionally, be sure to decorate your home on your child’s special day, especially the area where you’ll be holding your Zoom birthday party. Ideas include these garlands ($14.80 to $22.90), foil balloons, and other decorative elements from Talking Tables. These comprise napkins, plates, cups, lights and an adorable pastel cake stand. Moreover, if you can take good pictures of the setup, you can share it with your kids’s friends so they can set it as their backgrounds too.

The Actual Day

Moderate the Zoom call with a scheduled list of activities to keep it fun and engaging.

Zoom calls are free of charge for the first 40 minutes, so you may want to plan the meeting accordingly. Of course, essential elements include blowing out the candles to a birthday song, opening a couple of presents, and playing a few games together. Other resources for group calls include WhatsApp, FaceTime, Google Hangouts and HouseParty.

Game Ideas

Examples of these games could include charades, where the children can think of an animal, fictional character or item they want to describe and act it out. Other game ideas are I Spy, Simon Says, Pictionary and Hangman using the whiteboard feature, Musical Statues, and a scavenger hunt.

Cake Cutting

Of course, singing the birthday song and blowing out the candles on the themed cake is a must for any birthday party.

While on the Zoom call, one essential activity is cake cutting. Order your child’s themed cake from bakeries like River Ash Bakery, Swensen’s for ice cream cakes, Lynn’s Cakes, White Spatula, Elements Cake and The Butter Studio. The guests can sing the birthday song together - even if it’s slightly out of sync - and your child can blow out the candles. Additionally, a crafty activity for your guests to try might include DIY cupcake decorating ($25 to $27) with The Butter Studio. These are great for themes like mermaids, unicorns, dinosaurs, and rainbows.

Entertainment Ideas

Princess Meet and Greet

Have a princess make a special guest appearance with Ever After Events. Founded by Brie Benfell, with extensive knowledge of the art of “princessing”, each actress stays perfectly in character, from the costume, voice, to performing the songs, bringing your child’s favourite storybook character to life.

For your child’s virtual birthday party, choose between a Zoom Sing-a-Long with at least four children from different households and the Princess Academy. First, the singing session lasts from about 15 to 20 minutes, where the chosen character will sing three to four songs along with the children. This also includes a personalised video after the call, a virtual picture, hello and farewell. Meanwhile, the 45-minute Princess Academy session, great for a minimum of five, features story time, educational games, arts and crafts, as well as teaching children to be princesses or princes.

Jellybean Party Virtual Magic Show and Balloon Sculpting

Your child can ask for his/her own favourite balloon creation, which will be delivered to your house within the hour - an additional charge will be incurred for additional balloon requests.

For an easy and hassle-free experience, all you have to do is let the entertainers at Jellybean Party know when the party will take place. Next, they’ll send a link to the online party room on Zoom, which you can forward to your child’s friends to join in the fun, action-packed comedy magic show.

Another fun activity your child can experience during this time is Virtual Balloon Sculpting, where the entertainer will take your child’s request to make his/her favourite balloon sculpture. Once the sculpture is completed, you’ll receive it within the next hour via a third party, contactless courier, so your child can enjoy their very own personalised balloon creation. While there are no additional charges for more participants, there will be an additional $35 charge for each additional sculpture to be made on the spot and couriered to your guests’ homes.

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