Lockdown Birthday Ideas
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Decorations
You might not need the usual party bags, but you can still go to town on the decorations to make the day special. Our lockdown decorating essentials would be:
Balloons obviously are an essential. Streamers are great for throwing around tables, light fittings and pictures and coloured paper streamers make great backdrops or curtains for doorways. A fun decorating kit is an easy way to have bright and coordinated decorations that you can reuse again.
Food
Breakfast
Throw the rule book out of the window here, why not have cake for breakfast for once and start the day in a fun way. You could also make a breakfast platter on a large tray filled with croissants, pancakes, danishes, fruit, little pots of cereal whatever you fancy.
Freak shakes
Have a go at making your own Freak Shakes, the bigger and crazier the better.
Party tea
Why not have an indoor picnic with all your favourite treats, spread out a blanket and tuck in.
Or you could try making your own posh afternoon tea, with dainty little sandwiches, yummy cakes and fresh scones. For a twist for younger ones, how about a teapot of hot chocolate instead of tea.
Or you could go all out an a full on retro tea party with all the old favourites - mini sausages, cheese and pineapple, jelly and ice-cream.
Games / Activities
There is so much you can do at home to make the entire day a celebration. The trick is not to be too ambitious and to remember that all your games need to be suitable for just one or two people depending on how many are in your household.
Hourly Presents
To make the day last longer, you could keep back a few smaller presents to open every hour throughout the day.
Zoom Party Games
If you have other family that can connect online, there are plenty of party games you can play together over Zoom.
Treasure Hunts
A favourite activity for any occasion in our house is a treasure hunt. There are plenty of ideas for these online, you can do one where each clue leads to the next until you reach the end prize. Or you can give the players a list of simple items to find (indoors or outside if you have a garden and the weather is fine). Or my basic fall-back version when I haven’t had time to plan is to simply hide a number of tokens around the room to find, you can use anything for this - beads, buttons, coins, small sweets etc.
Hunt the Thimble
Another similar game we used to play as children is hunt the thimble, where you take turns to hide a small object or thimble and see who can be the first to find it.
Escape Rooms
If you’re feeling more ambitious and want a game that will take a little longer to complete, you could try making an escape room challenge. You could do this in just one room or throughout your home and set up a series of clues and challenges that have to be completed to solve the puzzle. These are fun if you create a themed back story like Egyptians or Sherlock Holmes style.
Kitchen Disco
A fun way to burn off excess energy and have some fun, who can come up with the craziest moves. Or turn it into a game of musical statues too.
Make a Family Time Capsule
If you want a more sedate activity, why not make a time capsule that you can hide away to rediscover in the future. This is certainly an interesting moment in out timeline so think of things that your family can add to remind you of these times.
Minute to Win it Games
There are lots of fun games online that are quick and easy to set up with minimal equipment. One of our favourites is the cookie race where you place a biscuit on your forehead and see who can move it to their mouth the quickest without using their hands.
Lego Challenges
Most of us have a stash of lego around, and there are plenty of ideas for fun challenges you can do with it. For example who can build a tower bigger than themselves or can you spell your name out of blocks.
Simon Says
An old classic that will have everyone in stitches. Throw out a list of commands but make sure you only do the ones that “Simon Says” or you’re out.
Don't forget The Party Pirate is still open for all your Party needs. You can order online for delivery or click & collect.