Five easy ways to celebrate children’s birthday parties during COVID-19
It's a whole new world!
Celebrating a birthday is a highlight of the year for most kids, but COVID-19 has meant that many haven’t had the big party they may have wanted. According to data from the ABS, over 700,000 Aussie children under six have missed out on celebrating their birthday due to the pandemic.
Shazia Juma-Ross, CEO at Australian kids activities company, Skills and Thrills says, “Every parent wants their child to have the best birthday possible, regardless of the current restrictions on social gatherings. Even if you can’t have all your family and friends in one room, there are easy ways to create a special celebration for everyone to remember.”
Here Shazia has shared her top tips for throwing a birthday party for your child amid the coronavirus …
Go to the park
Even though some states are currently allowing up to 20 visitors at a home, you still need to account for social distancing. This may not be possible if you only have a small space available, so you can go to a park instead! With spring in full swing, it’s the perfect time of the year for an outdoor party and kids can not only stay socially distant but also get active and run around. Take some sports equipment and it will keep them entertained for hours!
No parents
Children’s parties often involve all your child’s friends, plus their parents, which doubles the number of guests. If you choose to have a small get together at home, consider asking parents to drop off and pick up their kids, so you can keep the number of people to the required limit. This also means you only have to entertain the kids, not the parents as well! Invite one friend to help you with supervision, and make sure there is hand sanitiser available during pick up and drop off times.
Shazia Juma-Ross is the CEO and Co-founder of Skills and Thrills, and former global COO at Macquarie.
Single serve food
Even if you only have a few friends over for the party, you need to limit the number of people touching the food and cutlery. So, create single serve food options rather than allowing kids to share from platters. This can be as simple as ensuring one person dishes the food into plates for each child. It’s also a good idea to have cupcakes rather than a big birthday cake, so your child isn’t blowing out the candles over the whole cake!
Virtual party
One of the easiest ways to get around any COVID-19 restrictions is with a virtual party, particularly for families in Victoria. With so much technology at our fingertips, it’s never been easier to livestream your festivities. To take the celebration to another level, companies such as Skills and Thrills have started offering a range of themed virtual parties to suit any child. They have everything from virtual character parties to virtual science parties and even virtual silent disco parties!
One of the easiest ways to get around any COVID-19 restrictions is with a virtual party!
Decorate the house
Whether you can invite any guests over or not, go all out and decorate the house to celebrate your child’s birthday. Order balloons, buy party hats and get creative with some homemade decorations that kids can make themselves. You can even take it a step further by decorating the outside of your house with fairy lights. Get dressed up in your best outfits to top it off and make it feel like a special occasion for your child.
