Party ideas for your toddler’s birthday: Pandemic style

It was Neena’s and Prateek’s daughter’s 3rd birthday and hence a very special one. On the contrary as this special day was approaching nearer, they were having birthday blues in the wake of this pandemic  which has made social gatherings and a traditional birthday party off-limits. At no cost did they want this coronavirus pandemic to be a dampener and ruin their birthday plans and let it pass by without celebrating. 

Birthdays are special occasions which can’t be put on hold more so when it is your loved one’s special day as it comes just once in a year and you want to make it a memorable one for them. Even when during this pandemic era “social distancing” and “isolation” have become the buzzwords, birthdays can still be celebrated in big ways and made all the more special by involving family and friends.

The purpose here is to celebrate the little ones in their life when they hit milestones. Here are some interesting ideas to make your loved one's special day memorable for them pandemic style:

1) Sweet delights: How about getting creative and baking a cake or making muffins of your toddler’s choice and tickle his/her taste buds with their favourite toppings?

 In case you are not a pro at this, don’t get disheartened as it can even be ordered from a bakery.

2) Decorating the house: You can get innovative at this and decorate the house with your toddler’s favourite theme in mind. You can use banners, streamers, balloons or even dupattas to make it festive and give it a party look. Balloon showers can also be arranged wherein the toddler is greeted with balloons falling on him/her once they open the door in the morning which would be a good surprise for them and kick start their day with a smile on their face. Also it would gear them up for more surprises during the course of the day.

3) Host a virtual birthday party: Call close family friends and  their children and family including your toddler’s favourite people like his/her grandpa, grandma , cousins , aunts and uncles can surprise him/her on a virtual party on one of the video conferencing sites like Zoom or Google Meet. Everyone together can singalong to the birthday  boy/girl and eat their favourite dessert alongside.

4) Organize a birthday parade: Friends and family members could hold placards with birthday messages written on them, decorate their cars and cruise by your house and shower drive-by wishes, do honking of horns or sing him/her birthday song for a birthday parade.

5) Treasure Hunt: Hide birthday gifts in and around the house and give clues to the child to search for them. You could also wind a piece of string and attach presents alongside it and help the child find his presents by following the string.

6) Watch your toddler’s favourite movie or cartoon with him on his special day. This shall make him/her feel happy by spending quality time with you.

7) Set up a camping marathon by putting a tent indoors or outdoors wherever feasible, enjoy a birthday campout.

8) Video massages can be recorded by family and friends. By sharing  birthday wishes and virtual hugs sent by friends and family, you could make your toddler’s day all the more special.

9) Organize a virtual musical/magical show or superhero/princess enactment by artists: You could organize a virtual show by having a musician and/or a magician and share the meet id with family and friends. Your toddler could also have a blast by having  a chat with his/her favorite princess or superhero on Facetime or a Zoom call.

10) Pamper your child with his/her special meals from breakfast to    

Dinner: You could set aside your healthy diet plan for a day and pamper your toddler  with his/her favourite dishes on his/her special day to make it extra special for him/her.

As some of the children’s favourite activities from outings to in-person parties have already been put on hold courtesy COVID-19 pandemic. It would be a huge disappointment and a let down if celebration of the milestones such as your loved ones birthday are missed too due to this pandemic. Hope these ideas would help you put a new spin to your toddler’s special day and still win the title of Best Birthday Ever!