My oldest child celebrated her first birthday when the world was quarantined back in 2020. This prompted me to start to brainstorm ideas on how to celebrate kids birthdays without a traditional big party, and I thought I would share them with you too. It’s come in handy again and again as some years we’ve chosen to skip the party and do fun family days instead.
Here are a multitude of ways to make a child’s birthday a super special day – without a big party
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Here are 12 awesome, birthday at home ideas for kids!
1. Lots and lots of decorations.
Pick a theme if that’s up your alley and decorate their room, or the whole house if you want to.
We decided to do a ‘twinkle twinkle little star, one year old is what you are’ space theme for Stella. I absolutely love balloons (as does she), so I set up a giant balloon arch backdrop for her big day. The set came with star and moon decorations and a sweet on theme banner.
We are also re-using some decorations from past birthdays and I used her letter blocks to write out “Happy Birthday Stella”. You can totally get creative with things you already have! Think lettered fridge magnets, craft supplies you can use to make a banner or sign, etc.
2. Get family and friends to send video or photo messages!
You can collage them together for an amazing surprise for your child. If they are stuck and need ideas you can ask them to make signs, sing songs, create awesome chalk designs outdoors… There are endless amazing options! Ask them to get creative with it.
3. Get dressed up!
There’s no reason you can’t still put on a party dress and feel fabulous, now is there? Get all dolled up and have an epic dance party! As an added bonus – you’ll look great for idea #7…
4. Decorate your stroller/wagon/bicycle and go for a birthday stroll.
Get outside and tour the neighborhood in style. You are sure to get some distanced birthday wishes from your neighborhood besties!
5. Eat cake!
I’m a firm believer that birthdays call for cake. Or pie. Or donuts. Some kind of scrumptious sweet treat!
You could make an activity out of it and bake and decorate cupcakes together. We will be doing a cake smash for Stella’s first birthday, but you could totally have an epic cake smash with an older kiddo too!
6. Have family and friends parade by in their cars
Have you seen these parades yet? So fun and sweet, it’s sure to make your little feel super special.
7. Do a home photo shoot with the family
These memories will stick around! Some day this will be a story for both you and your children to tell. Having photos to look back on will be totally worth it.
8. Host a virtual party
Let your friends and family tune in to sing Happy Birthday. There are a multitude of platforms you can use. Some examples include zoom, Facebook or Google hangouts.
You can even create a guest list, send themed invitations and play virtual games – a total virtual birthday bash!
9. Do birthday crafts
Make a birthday hat for the birthday boy/girl that they can wear all day long. Check out this post over at Sunny Day Family for a how-to guide.
10. Cook their favourite meal
Who doesn’t want to eat their favourite breakfast/lunch/dinner on their birthday?
11. Create a scavenger hunt
This is a little advanced for my one year old, but my sister always creates fun scavenger hunts for my nieces and they LOVE IT! Head on over to Play. Party. Plan for a free, printable birthday hunt.
12. Start a family birthday tradition
Maybe its extravagant waffles or brunch. Maybe its dessert before dinner. Come up with something special and out of the ordinary to surprise and treat the birthday boy/girl!
And a bonus activity:
Do you have an older child?
Have the birthday boy/girl pick a song and challenge friends and family to a TikTok dance off!! Be prepared for lots and lots of laughs.
There you have it. 12 ways to celebrate your child’s birthday without a party.
Happy birthday celebration planning!
Xo,
Kinzy
You might also like:
First Birthday Party Theme Ideas
Teddy Bear Picnic Birthday Party
Cat Themed Birthday Party
These are such great ideas for an at home birthday party, especially eating cake!
We just celebrated our 5 year old’s birthday.
We had games, a pinata, rainbow pasta … just like it was a real party.
She loved her rainbow unicorn cake.
These ideas are so fun! It’s amazing how much you can do to celebrate a birthday at home when you put your mind to it! I love the birthday parades that lots of parents are doing for their kids!
Such fun ideas! We certainly got to be more Creative these days. Thanks for your wonderful ideas!
These are all excellent ideas on how to celebrate a birthday at home. I recently had a birthday and can attest to the birthday parade being an amazing way to celebrate. Even better I had no idea they were going to do it.
Ah that’s so fun! Glad you had a special birthday!
These are great ideas for individuals of any age celebrating a birthday at this time! I have cooked each of my children’s favorite meal on their birthdays for years now. I found it particularly funny one year when my then teenage son asked for an entire seafood feast for his birthday, which was followed by my then 4 year old asking for KD and hot dogs for her birthday!
These are wonderful! We celebrated one of my childrens birthday earlier in the month and have another coming at the end of May. Who knows if we’ll be out and about, if we are home we’ll still have a great day!
Love all these ideas. These are so great. We definitely still want to make the birthday person feel special.
So many good ideas in here on how to throw a birthday party while having to be at home. My daughter turned 2 and we weren’t able to have a party for her.
Such great ideas! I wish I had seen these a month ago! My son’s birthday was on the 3rd and mine was the 6th!