10 Ways to Make Your Kid’s Birthday Fun During This Lockdown

Does your kid’s birthday fall some time during the lockdown period? Let’s make it fun! Lockdown should certainly not keep us from celebrating and enjoying our children’s birthdays!

Everything is in a paused state right now. The world is on hold. Although small relaxations are in place now during this Lockdown 3.0, it is really not safe to venture outdoors. Also, apart from the essentials, no shops are open throughout the day to purchase all the items necessary for a celebration. Therefore, it is left up to the parents to make it a big, fun-filled and most memorable birthday ever. Why should a lockdown be a hindrance?

Here are some tips that I would like to list down to make the day special. These tips are really useful if the kids are of 4 to 5 years of age and above, when they tend to really understand, appreciate and enjoy the celebration to the fullest. Having said that, some of the following tips can absolutely be customized as per your kids’ age and liking. My little boy’s paediatrician made a wise comment when we took him for a consult on a sudden high fever, just couple of days before his first birthday: ”For kids less than 3 years, birthday is just another day and celebration doesn’t matter to them. The celebration is for the adults and by the adults. Why do you trouble the little ones?” We realized the sheer truth in what he mentioned soon after. So, dear parents, you can fit in what you can and based on the choice of your kids. These are just ideas which can be twisted and tweaked as per your requirements and ability!

1. Announce that there is going to be a surprise. Do a countdown: First thing in the morning, let your kid know that there is a surprise planned in the evening and that there is going to be a little celebration. You could also do a countdown every hour till the time of the party to make it more interesting. Allocate a specific room for the celebration and keep your kid away from that place to make the surprise more relishing.

2. Choose a theme. Choose a theme, say, sunshine, a cartoon character, little Krishna, Barbie or anything that your kid loves, and prepare some simple and small props related to the theme. Use them to decorate the room. DIY cardboard and paper crafts are fun to make! You could also involve your kid in putting them together.

3. DIY Confetti. If you have any old decorative paper, it’s time to use them. Decorate the room with that shiny stuff and also make some confetti. Tear papers into little bits and colour them or have them dipped in paint and let it dry. Shower these during the time of celebration.

4. Make a quick chocolate cake/any special sweet that your kid likes. If you are good at baking, then it certainly calls for a superb cake. If not, there are a lot of online tutorials which can guide you in preparing a chocolate cake, pastries or even a small choco lava cake using just biscuits and kitchen ingredients. Refer to them and surprise your child with a nice cake. Also, don’t miss out on that favourite sweet that your kid would love hogging!

5. Take the help of technology. If people cannot be physically present for the celebrations, let’s do it virtually. Set up a time for the celebration and gather your relatives and close friends (do bring in your kid’s friends too) over a group video call to wish your child on his/her birthday. Make the celebration a reason for a little family and friends reunion. That certainly is so much fun and your kid would feel loved, and will cherish the evening forever. If you could plan the evening well ahead, then there is nothing like a wonderful video
combining everyone’s birthday messages for your kid.

6. A small treasure hunt. If your kid enjoys playing it, then organize a treasure hunt with scattered little clues that finally leads him/her to a cute gift. Gift could be anything you can think of, right from the cake (if you are doing it just before the start of the event), any hand-made article or a favourite sweet. Give it a thought and make the whole hunt amusing and entertaining!

7. A cute photo shoot. With so much of effort put into making the day splendid, click some nice photos which stand as proof of the show you pulled off. Memories are priceless. If you have made DIY props, use them all to do a well-planned and great photo shoot. You need not have an SLR camera; just your HD camera phones should do a good job.

8. Make a special dinner. This celebration at the end of a wonderful day sure calls for some great food. Cook your kid’s favourite dishes and have an awesome family dinner!

9. Music. Is any celebration complete without music? Definitely not! Set up a music system, collect some good songs that you would all love to hear and those that make the atmosphere vibrant, and play them on loop and enjoy the evening. A brilliant ‘happy birthday’ song would make your child’s day!

10. End the day with a game. Once you are done with the dinner, choose some games to
close the day. It could be a board game, or anything fun that your kid loves playing. In case of older children, it could also be a movie that you all enjoy watching together. Rules can be bent a little on special days!

These are my suggestions to turn a birthday, locked-down at home, into a wonderful and eventful day. Of course, one’s imagination is unlimited and you can take hints from the above-mentioned tips and create your own plans and make it a sweet day. Go ahead and plan the birthday well!