Last year, Asha’s 7th birthday celebration planning was in full swing when the pandemic hit. Things shut down quite literally just a day or two before her party. I still remember thinking that may be we could push the celebration to the next weekend or a couple of weekends. Little did I know.
A year later I was glad that things had improved at least a little to make up for some lost time. For her 8th birthday we were able to have a super small party involving two of her friends, masks, and mostly outdoor play. It was basically a glorified playdate, but boy, did it feel like the best party ever given what we all have been through in this past year.
Since there were just three of them, the usual party games didn’t quite make sense. So, I came up with two options that added to the festivity without feeling like we were missing friends. Since many of you might be doing something similar for your kids soon, I thought I’d share them here in case you were looking for ideas.
The Dress-up Game
I filled a big old basket with lots of clothes from my and Dev’s closet. Things like shirts, skirts, belts, scarves, ties, blouses, socks, and accessories like hats and sunglasses. Next, when it was time to play, I asked Asha to pick her favorite dance song and turned it on. Basically, the length of the song was how much time they had to dress themselves in as many things from the basket as possible. The one with the most number of things on, wins! It was way too cute and fun!
The Memory Game
For the memory game, I filled a cake stand with whatever small and interesting objects I could find around the house. The girls had 1-minute to look at the tray and another 5-minutes to try and write down all the things they remembered. The quirkier the objects, the more fun this game becomes.
Both of these games worked out so well for the small party, and while we played them inside, they could easily be adapted for the outdoors.
In addition to the games, we had a Unicorn Piñata filled with her favorite candies – which took forever to break until I intervened and loosed things up as parents must in these situations. They sang happy birthday over homemade confetti cupcakes which Asha and I had baked and decorated the night before. There were plenty of crafts which makes perfect sense given Asha’s obsession with that subject. For favors we packed a big hunks of homemade rice krispies and potted purple Easter Bonnet Roses.
Happy Birthday to all those celebrating in the coming months. Hope you have a fun and safe celebration.
Featured Image Credit: Unsplash
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