Hosting a Virtual Birthday Party for Kids

 A virtual birthday party celebration for your little one is the perfect way to share their special day celebration with friends and family near and far. Due to Covid-19 celebrating a birthday party for your child in the traditional way carries some safety concerns for your child and others. So I say if you have such concerns why not use today's technology and still make your child's special day an extra day to remember?

Friendship cards
by Weddings_Forever

Since there are more than a few different video-calling platforms available start by picking the video-calling platform you like and feel comfortable with. The different face-time providers have different participant limits some as low as 8 participants (Facebook Messenger) and others like Face Time allow up to 32 participants. Explore video chat apps like Bunch, Air Time, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger Rooms, whoever you choose do a little research on them (google it) even give the platform you choose a test drive by trying out the virtual provider yourself.

Once that's done it's time to start thinking about sending out invitations to the names on your guest list.  Use e-invites to reach the parents of the children on your electronic invitation list and do your best to explain the virtual concept to anyone not totally clear about a virtual birthday party idea. 

Choose a theme, if that idea appeals to you, decide on party decorations, and set up a loose schedule. Choose a craft or activity that can be completed by virtual party guests while video chatting. Be sure to give the other parents a heads-up about what supplies will be needed in advance. Depending on the size of the virtual part crowd you're expecting you can also safely hand-deliver or send out party crafts or supplies to each virtual attendee.

Since many of your child's favorite superheroes, fairy tale creatures, and princesses have turned to technology to keep them safe, and active, during these shelter-in-place days. And, also have access to the internet in their kingdoms and secret hideouts. Given enough warning, (and a costume if needed) it is totally possible to have your child's favorite character make a virtual appearance in your virtual party setting, on your child's special day.  Decide on a gift, and for goodness sake don't forget to sing happy birthday!

Another good virtual activity is sharing favorite YouTube videos or watching a movie as a group. Of course, the guest of honor gets to choose the movie on a streaming platform like Netflix Party all of the virtual party goers will be able to enjoy a motion picture together and at the end, after the credit roll, chat with each other about their favorite parts of the movie. Consider dropping off small packages filled with a juice box, popcorn, or another fun movie snack if the attendees live close enough to where you are or suggest these items when letting the other parents know what will be needed beforehand.

My favorite is a game of virtual Bingo Tabletopia is a platform that offers over 800 different board games to choose from. It's a good idea to choose, or have your child choose a few games in advance to avoid spending a large part of your virtual time browsing all of the available options.

Bring out the birthday cake, encourage your child to make a wish, and blow out the candles. Keep an eye on the clock and do your best to stick to your virtual birthday party agenda. The Goal as always is to make sure your little birthday bundle of joy feels special and safe. 

Plants vs Zombies Party Theme

 If you're thinking about having a Plants vs Zombies Party Theme then this post will help you find decorations, wallpaper, and wrapping paper that will totally fit your theme. My grandkids were in love with these creepy little dudes (talking about the Zombies) when they used to come to play video games here at my house and most of the information I have now, I would have loved to have had it back then, especially when it came to birthday party time. Anyway, between this game at a later version called Garden Warfare, I got to hear about and learn about all of the creepy Garden Warfare and Plants vs Zombies characters and why my grandkids liked them so much.

When it comes to a party theme as I have pointed out in other posts nothing pulls your party ideas together like a good party theme so if this topic is on your party planning list let me share with you some of the little extras that just might come in handy. Things like wall decorations, wallpaper, and wrapping paper from my Kid's Party Blog Affiliate. There are several different kinds of zombie designs on the wrapping paper choices that are sure to bring smiles to your little party guest's faces. Kookie designs meant more to amuse than scare the fun out of you.

Plants vs Zombies
by GK Designs

Any of these cool zombie wrapping paper designs will help you set the party mood for this theme. Plants vs Zombies is a very popular video game and I was surprised to see how much fun the little fans of this game have bringing some of their plant and zombie characters to life with their costumes. With or without costumes enjoying the Plants vs Zombies theme seems to be great party fun.

There are Plants vs Zombie stickers that can be used to decorate presents, cups, even party guests.

Zombie Cartoon Classic Round Sticker
by Hodge_Retailers

The stickers are round and available in two different sizes, large is 3 inches in diameter and there are six stickers to a sheet, the small stickers measures one and a half inches in diameter and come 20 stickers per sheet. There are larger stickers, that are not round-shaped, that can also add to your Plants vs Zombies theme. The sticker that is shown below measures 3 inches long, and is 11 inches wide.

Guns vs. Zombies vs. Plants Bumper Sticker
by ZombieHuntersHQ

My favorite is the zombie wrapping paper because it can be used not only to cover a birthday gift but also to decorate a table, perhaps even some chairs. I see many different decoration possibilities when it comes to adding to a Plants vs Zombies theme. There are Plants vs Zombies party games, Plants vs Zombies banners, and birthday cakes, so whether you choose to look for Plants vs Zombies party supplies at Walmart or DIY some of your own have a beautifully creepy party for all of the Plants vs Zombie lovers you know and remember.

If your little zombie lover or plant lover would be excited and pleased to have their very own Plants vs Zombie theme birthday party, you will find a lot of the party decorations and party invitations you need right here. 

Charlie Brown, Peanuts theme

 Charles M. Schulz Peanuts comic is featured in this post for party, and room decoration ideas and to share a little fun history about the Peanuts comics and characters. It's believed that Schulz came up with the idea to name his comic strip Peanuts because back in the late 1940s Peanuts was a well-known term for children. In fact, when the Howdy Doody Show was first shown in 1947, they called their audience section for children the Peanut Gallery. The very first Peanuts Comic Strip was published in October of 1950 and the first- time people would read about good ol' Charlie Brown, Schultz's alter-ego in the comic strip. That would also mark the first appearance of Shermy and Patty in the Peanuts comic strip.

I grew up reading the Peanuts comic strip that used to come surrounded by lots of other comics I used to enjoy. Over the years I have had many of my questions about the Peanuts comic strip answered, questions like is Snoopy male or female? The answer is male which was confirmed in the November 1950 Peanuts comic strip. Another question was, why is Charlie Brown bald? I would later learn that Charles Schulz visualized his alter-ego, Charlie Brown, with very close-cut hair that only appeared not to be there. Somehow it did make me feel better knowing that Charlie Brown really did have more hair than the little curl of hair on his forehead I had always focused on.

Peanuts | Charlie Brown and Gang Birthday Banner
by peanuts

How about you, did you ever have any questions about any member of the Peanuts comic strip family? If you're planning a Peanuts theme party of any kind, we can connect you with a banner like the one above, and given enough time your banner can be personalized to add that little something extra special to your party fun. There are also Peanuts theme invitations and greeting cards. Nothing ties together all of your great party ideas like a good party theme and this is one of the more popular party themes because the Peanuts comic characters span several different generations.

Charlie Brown and Gang Birthday Invitation
by peanuts

There are also Charlie Brown and Gang Birthday Invitations to add to your Peanuts party theme idea and many other great party supplies for just about any party theme you choose. No matter how you slice it (the birthday cake) whether you are a fan of the 2015 motion picture, the Peanuts television shows, or like me, a fan of the old Peanuts comic strips, choosing to go with this theme is like choosing an American classic.

Peanuts
by GK Designs

With Charlie Brown and his Gang as part of your party theme, you will find a wide range of customizable merchandise that lets you re-live a lot of your favorite Peanuts character's most iconic moments. So, invite Lucy and her 5 cent psychiatry booth, Linus and his security blanket, the always dirty Pig Pen, Sally, in search of her sweet baboo, Charlie Brown and Snoopy to be a part of your Peanuts the comic strip party theme.

Bubble Gum Comic Strips

If you enjoy, or, if you are a collector of bubble gum comics you will enjoy visiting my Bubble Gum Comics board on Pinterest. When I was a kid the comic strip from Bazooka Joe bubble gum used to keep me following the Bazooka Joe adventures. I was rather surprised to learn that this childhood treat from my past is still available even though when last I heard the colorful comics that used to be wrapped around each piece of Bazooka gum since about 1953 was supposed to go through some kind of change. Following up on that news I found out that Bazooka had indeed overhauled its logo and packaging.

Gone is the Red, White, and Blue color scheme, and the brand's geometric design, replaced with the saturated hues of fuchsia and yellow. Bubble gum sales have gone way down since the days when Bazooka gum was a stable of almost any trip I made to the OK Grocery store near where I grew up. Bazooka gum has been around for a couple of years after WWII, (1947) I became aware of Bazooka gum back in the late 50s, early 60s and I actually used to collect the Bazooka Joe comic that used to come with the gum.

I also did some checking to see if Bazooka comic strips were worth anything today, I did see where selling in lots some 230 vintage bubble gum comic strips sold for $41.00. The single bubble gum comic from 1955, did sell for $5.00 so as to the question: are Bazooka Bubble Gum comic strip still worth anything my answer would have to be yes. Not worth a whole lot of money but yes! Still worth something today. Double Bubble was my other childhood favorite bubble gum when I was a kid. I don't know what the price of single piece of bubble gum (Bazooka or Double Bubble) would cost today but when I was a kid, a penny was all that was needed to buy my favorite bubble gum. The Double Bubble Gum company was started by Frank Fleer, back in 1906 he attempted to create a chewing gum he called Dibber Blubber but his mixture for the gum was too sticky and broke apart easily resulting in commercial failure for Frank Fleer's Dibber Blubber gum venture. It wouldn't be until an accountant named Diemer, who worked for Fleer, and who enjoyed experimentations in his spare time. Mr. Diemer's experimental tinkering would eventually allow him to stumble upon a truly unique gum recipe that was less sticky, and much easier to chew. Thus, the recipe for Double Bubble gum was born. The reason most bubble gum, no matter who the manufacture is pink is due mostly to the fact that the factory only had pink food coloring available. With a recipe that looked good the company wrapped about one-hundred-pices of the gum, set the price at one-cent each, and use local markets to offer their new bubble gum. When all of the samples sold out the first day the stage was set for their new product launch. Following the marking success of that first day the company packed their new bubble gum recipe as Double Bubble Gum and went on the pass more than one-point-five million is sales the first year. The Fleer colorful Funnies comic strip was featured with each piece of the original Double Bubble Gum. Dubs and Bubs did not come along until the 1930s and would later be replaced by the iconic Pud and his pals comic strip, in 1950. During World War II Double Bubble Gum was distributed to the troops fighting in that global conflict but by 1942 all bubble gum manufacturing in the United States was halted due to a shortage in sugar and latex. Production of Double Bubble Gum was restarted in 1951 and currently Double Bubble is distributed to sixty countries around the world. Double Bubble comics were a part of my bubble gum comic strip collection too. When I was a kid my mom was more into keeping things clean than collecting. So, unfortunately for me many of my collectible wrappers and comic strips were mistaken as junk and put out with the trash, the ones I was unable to rescue that is. The good news is that bubble gum comics and bubble gum wrappers are still collectible. Over 550,000 Comic Books for Sale

Can Shelter in place and Kid's Party Mix?

All over the United States, and I'm sure in other nations too, kids are continuing to grow, develop and look forward to their birthday celebration. The problem has become how to maintain this form of normalcy when covid must be considered? So I started thinking about how to make a shelter-in-place birthday party still take place and do it safely? 

How do you successfully remove the social aspect from the idea of a birthday party when the very word "party" screams social contact? Due to the seriousness of covid, many usual social gathering places for kids, like daycare and schools, are either restricted access or changed from the classroom to online learning, with kid's parents, lucky enough to have a job, being asked to work at home. 

Normally party planning concerns are limited to choosing a nice location, if not at home, putting together a guest list, and planning some social activities to keep everyone smiling while your little superhero or princess enjoys their special day. For me, covid has changed all of that. With all the uncertainty in most family's economic situation, in a lot of cases mixed with the stress of many family members confined in close quarters, it could be awful tricky to pull off a birthday party under the current covid living conditions at home or a separate location.

The good news is that under the CDC guidelines, a party/celebration can still be enjoyed if you follow the CDC guidelines. So if at home or a separate location for a party is no problem start by reducing your party group to as few people as possible, something that might be impossible in my family given all of the multi-age range family members. The CDC does say that provided the weather is on your side, planning your party for the outdoors offers a much lower risk of spreading coronavirus or even the common cold, especially when wearing a mask is insisted upon.

If the weather is not on your side, and you end up partying inside, make sure there is a window open, have your guest wear a mask, and make it easy for them to wash their hands frequently. Encourage some social distancing six-feet apart would be great, yoga pads or spaces marked on the floor or kid's chairs set apart from each other will work for kids. Keep in mind that under covid circumstances it would be okay to suggest your guest bring their own food and drink and whether they provide their own snacks, or even if you do, make plans to keep all common surfaces clean even with the party in progress.

If you can buy everyone a laptop computer you can do a Zoom party---just kidding! Zoom would be an excellent way to social-distance-gather but only if it's practical for you, and with Zoom, masks would be optional. The idea is to keep your little superhero's special-day special and in spite of these depressing covid times, a day to remember so that their future self will look back and say I survived the covid times with memories of a really great birthday party.

There's one more way you can add to your child's special day, there is nothing a little superhero love more than hearing from their favorite superhero on their special day so don't be afraid to contact the Avengers or maybe someone with your child's favorite superhero or princess costume. Have them give your child a video call for a little superhero to superhero bonding. Covid may get in the way of a birthday celebration, but thanks to the CDC and with a little careful planning on your part the virus doesn't get to stop the birthday celebration.

Keep in mind also that my party suggestions are usually based on a healthy person and a healthy situation. If your little superhero suffers from any underlying health problems or doctor's limitations covid concerns could, and actually should indeed win when it comes to your party planning. A medical degree is not part of my writer's kit so whatever your party celebrating plan, do it safely.

Kid's Dinosaur Birthday Party Theme

 

My kids grew up attracted to a purple dinosaur that had its own PBS television show. So dinosaurs were a big part of my household's early birthday party planning. Thank goodness we didn't have to contend with a pandemic, like today. Still with many children unable to attend school, and missing their classroom friends with precautions like smaller party groups and masks as part of the wardrobe this one family and social activity, the birthday party, can still be celebrated. 

Anyway! From Barnie the dinosaur the trend continues today with the current day dinosaurs made popular in the movie Jurassic Park. Even though in my opinion dinosaurs have grown a lot scarier Kids still love dinosaurs, a fact that I believe can be scientifically proven, especially if you include my children when they were younger.

I'm sure children at the age where their imagination has not yet been clouded with the fact that dinosaurs no longer exist still find the thought of dinosaurs as interesting as any of the other creatures we currently share the planet with. 

So when it comes to planning a dinosaur-themed birthday party there are plenty of party favors, supplies, and decorations that will lend themselves to your child's dinosaur-themed birthday celebration. It doesn't seem to matter whether the dinosaur available to you are the scary Jurassic Park type, or the cute Barnie type dinosaurs kids still seem to enjoy the excitement of a dinosaur-themed birthday party.

If a dinosaur-themed party is in your future the following are some good resources for dinosaur-related decorations and ideas. I think one of the nice things about a dinosaur themed birthday party is that there are so many fun dinosaur-related activities, decorations, and activities that can add to the excitement dinosaurs generate in kids. Like uncovering dinosaur bones or dinosaur eggs. There are also Kids excavation kits all designed to keep little hands and imaginations busy while helping your child celebrate their very important day.

Jurassic Cards 
by GK Designs

On my Giftkone Children's Party Ideas page you will find a lot of creative inspiration to put together your child's dinosaur themed party. How about a dinosaur birthday cake? There are dinosaur invitations and greeting cards that can also help set the party theme mood, and many of the dinosaur greeting card choices even some that you can decorate yourself. Customize your child's extra special day with an extra special personalized birthday greeting.

Use these ideas and suggestions for a little creative inspiration for your child’s dinosaur-themed birthday party with ideas for everything you'll need, from DIY projects to decorations you can have delivered to your doorstep.  

 

 

Your Party Invitation

In most cases, the invitation to your party is the first glimpse into your celebration for your guests.  For this reason, your invitations should match the occasion in both style and theme.  Your invitation is meant to invite and inform your guests about your event by giving them a small glimpse into what is to come, at your party.

  

You will want to send out your invitations at least four weeks before a smaller party, and exactly eight weeks prior to a larger celebration event like a wedding.  You will also want to make sure that your party or event is not held over a holiday weekend where many of your friends and family may already have other plans, or who may not want to deal with holiday travel.

  

The wording that you put on your invitation should be done in a very standard way.  What I mean by this is your invitation should include the following:

* All phrasing should always be in the third person style

* Punctuation is never used at the ends of lines on an invitation, only on names and addresses which require them

* Try not to use any abbreviations on your invitations.  Spell out names, addresses, etc… fully.  The one exception to this is the use of Mr. And Mrs.  Both of these abbreviations are appropriate for an invitation.

  

* Days, dates, and times should all be spelled out completely.

  

* If you have a husband and wife who you will be inviting who happen to both be doctors, you can simply address your invitation to “The Doctors “Last Name” and it will be correct

* It is always socially unacceptable to write “no children” or refer to gifts, or even no gifts, on any invitations.

  

Each invitation should have the following information contained on it:

* The name of the host or hosts

* The purpose of the event

* The name of the guest of honor

* The day, date and time of the event

* The location of the event

* The address of the event with the street address only, never the zip code as this is considered tacky

When you feel your invitation is completed, then it is time to get a friend to read over what you have written for you, and let you know if you have any mistakes in your text.  This is very important because the last thing you want to do is send out all of your invitations with the wrong date or time on them.  It is so much easier to catch and fix mistakes before the invitations are ever sent out.

When it comes to your budget you might be surprised to learn that these days invitations can be printed at a very reasonable cost online.  In addition, if you have a good graphics program and a printer, you can do them yourself.  For a small event, it is perfectly acceptable to purchase a package of the hand-written invitations from your local store and simply write in the information on them.  

If you will be having a very informal party, you can have some fun and informal invitations.  If you are planning a much more formal party or event such as a wedding, then you are best to stick to professionally printed invitations.