Wondering if you should throw a virtual birthday party for your kid this year? Sure, a virtual party is a great idea this year, but are you wondering how you are going to throw a virtual birthday party your kid will love? Don’t miss these great tips on how to throw a virtual party!
I’ve got you covered, because I’m in your shoes! I needed to throw a virtual birthday party for my kid this year and I’m going to share just what I did to pull this off! Hang with me and I promise to show you how to throw a virtual birthday party your kid will love, for a major bargain!
But before I do that I highly suggest you snag my Speed Party Planning Checklist. This checklist will show you how to quickly and easily plan your child’s birthday party and I know you’ll love it!
The best part, it’s Free! So snag it now!
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
Want to remember this post? Pin this post, How to Throw A Virtual Birthday Party Your Kid Will Love, to your favorite Pinterest board right now!
Quarantined For Your Birthday?
We got the call exactly 1 week before my son’s 9th birthday that his whole class was being quarantined due to exposure to Covid from someone in his school. Sadly, I already had his in-person party planned.
It was going to a Popcorn and Movie Night. We even rented a big screen movie from our local library (free of course) to watch a movie on in our backyard. The games were all made and the ice cream cookie cake was waiting for us in the freezer.
Invitations Were Already Sent
Oh, and I failed to mention that all the invitations had been sent out. I even had a full list of RSVP’s from friends who were planning to come.
All of that changed in a few minutes when I was informed my son and his whole class were being quarantined for a week. A full week. Just enough time to ruin his party plans. My son was devastated, despite being warned that due to the pandemic his birthday may not go as planned.
No Back Up Plan
Back up plan? Nope, I didn’t have one, but I should’ve. I knew this was going to happen. What was I supposed to do? I had 3 choices, I could cancel the party, postpone the party, or come up with a new idea altogether.
What 9 year old wants their party canceled? Of course, he didn’t want to pick that option and for sure he didn’t want to postpone (he was already dreaming about presents he was going to get).
Oh, and did I mention that he just started attending a new school? He was so excited to not only meet new friends, but to have them over to our house. Being in a new school is hard enough, so his party was the prefect way to break the ice.
Virtual Party Bandwagon
I thought about it for a while and decided to move in a completely different direction. I know virtual birthday parties are the new rage right now, but I wasn’t excited to jump on the bandwagon. Our kids spend so much time online right now that I didn’t want to add one more thing to the growing list of tasks they do in front of a screen.
How To Make It Fun
A virtual party? How in the world do you make that fun?
I wasn’t sure, but I got to work coming up with some really fun ideas! I only had a few days to put it all together, but I asked my loyal Frugal Fun Mom community and was given all sorts of ideas on how to make a virtual birthday party fun! The more I thought about them, the more excited I got about the idea of throwing a frugal virtual birthday party!
Frugal Is Important
Because I know you care about saving money as much as I do, I know what you are thinking. A virtual party sounds fun, but Katrina, we must make it frugal too! You got it! Of course, this frugal virtual birthday party will be a bargain!
In fact, the more I worked on the idea, I discovered that it’s a very frugal way to host a birthday party! You don’t have to serve food or a fancy cake, there is very little need for decorations either, and you don’t even need to clean your house! Sounds great huh?
How to Throw a Frugal Virtual Birthday Party
Let’s get to it! Let me stop jabbering and tell you just how you go about throwing a frugal virtual birthday party your kid will love!
Step 1: Decide On A Theme
Deciding on a theme for your virtual birthday party is the first step. Just ask your kid what theme they would like, or think about the things your child loves best.
Personally, I like to keep the birthday parties I plan for my kids very generic. Meaning, if your child loves Paw Patrol, you might have a puppy party. Or if they love the Denver Broncos, you might have a football party.
My son loves sports, and most of the boys we invited to his party were either on his soccer team or were boys he played football with at school. Having a Virtual Sports Birthday Party was a great way to incorporate what he loves and keep it very simple.
In fact, if your child loves sports too, make sure to check out my Virtual Sports Birthday Party Pack now! It has everything you need to pull off a Virtual Sports Birthday Party already done for you! You just push print!
Virtual Sports Birthday Party
If your kid loves sports, then my Virtual Sports Birthday Party Pack is just the answer you have been looking for! Everything you need to pull off an awesome virtual party with a sports theme is included.
5 games, decorations, a complete Host Guide with step-by-step photo instructions on how to prepare and host the party and so much more! Check it out now!
Step 2: Plan Games
Pinterest is a your best friend when it comes to planning games for the party. Especially if you want to make games very specific to your theme. It’s always a good idea to check out what other people are doing!
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
If you don’t want to spend hours finding games, snag my Instant Party Toolkit. It’s filled with a bunch of ready-made games.
Some of the games that you can make that are super simple and fit any theme are BINGO, Pictionary, and Charades.
Step 3: Make Virtual Party Bags
Next step is to make Virtual Party Bags for your guests. Think of these as the essential game pieces needed to participate in the party. Make a bag with all the things your guests need to do the games, as well as a thank you gift, and even consider including a cupcake so they can enjoy cake with the birthday child.
Have your guests pick up the bags the day before your party so they are all ready to go when it’s party time!
You can also suggest your guests drop off a gift when they pick up their party bag so that the birthday boy can open gifts during the virtual party!
For my son’s Virtual Sports Birthday Party, we set up two laundry baskets on our front porch. One was for the party bags, and one was a gift drop off bin. It worked out great.
Guests dropped by to pick up a party bag the day before the party and then they also left a gift for my son. We saved his gifts for the day of the party and he opened them on the Zoom call! It worked out so well and he loved it!
Step 4: Make a Virtual Birthday Party Background
In order to make your Virtual Birthday Party festive, make a very simple party background decoration that all the party goers will see via Zoom. The best part, this is really the only decoration you will need to pull off your party! Plus, it’s very frugal.
All you need is a solid color plastic tablecloth, a homemade birthday banner, and some balloons. Cost less than $4 and is such a fun way to decorate the space for your child to celebrate!
I’ll bet you’d love to see just how to make a Virtual Background? Of course you would, you can see it now over on Pinterest page of the exact background I made for my son’s party, plus step by step how to make one yourself.
Step 5: Host The Party On Zoom
Using Zoom or any other virtual platform, host the party. I’d suggest that you, as mom, host your party in one room on a different computer than the one the birthday child will use for the party.
Set up the birthday child in a different room with a different computer (so you don’t hear any echo in the background). That way, your child can participate right along with his friends while you are hosting the party for them.
Get Your Family Involved
We did this for my son’s party and it worked out really well. In fact, my husband, daughter, and I hosted the party from upstairs in my bedroom. While my son, the birthday boy, was in in our kitchen at the table.
We placed all the gifts on the table with him and set up a simple virtual birthday party background as decoration on the wall behind him. It made his space very festive and fun for everyone on the Zoom call to see.
Don’t Forget To Eat Cake Too!
Play all your games, open gifts, and then eat cake! We included pandemic friendly cake in our Virtual Party Bags. Guess what they were? You guessed it, pre-packaged Rice Krispies Treats!
These were a great idea because they are just soft enough that you could stick a birthday candle in them! We also included a candle and a plate in our Virtual Party Bags so each guest could blow out their candle during the call with the birthday boy (and yes, we made sure to tell our guests to get help from their parent’s for this part).
I know I just threw a lot of information at you, and I also know that if you read this whole post, most likely, you are loving this idea of a Virtual Sports Birthday Party. Which also means you might be wishing you could just replicate this Virtual Sports Birthday Party instead of having to plan another theme.
Well, you can! My Virtual Sports Birthday Party Pack is available in my Shop right now, and I know you will love it! Everything you need is included and the best part, I’ve included a very detailed Host Guide with 15 pages of photo explanations of how to make each step of the party. Nothing has been left out! Which, will make your party planning a snap!
There you have it! 5 easy steps to throw a virtual birthday party your kid will love! Have you ever hosted a virtual party? What theme did you choose and what games did you play? Did your child like the party? Comment below and tell me all about it!
WISH PLANNING A PARTY WAS A PIECE OF CAKE?
Virtual Sports Birthday Party Pack
If read this entire post and are ready to plan a virtual birthday party for your child, then check out my Virtual Sports Birthday Party Pack from my shop right now! If your child loves sports, and has an upcoming birthday, then I promise you, this is the answer to your birthday party woes!
My Virtual Sports Birthday Party Pack includes detailed instructions on how to make invitations, thank you cards, party bags, games, decorations, picking a theme, setting up Zoom, PLUS – it includes all the printables you need to make this happen – all you have to do is push print! The best part – all of this is on a super tight budget!
Did I mention how cute all the printables are?!
It basically includes everything you need to throw a frugal virtual birthday party your kid will love! Ready to go for it?
Want to remember this post? Pin this post, How to Throw A Virtual Birthday Party Your Kid Will Love, to your favorite Pinterest board right now!
Just because it’s online and not in-person, doesn’t mean it can’t be fun. I’ve had a blast doing virtual magic shows for parties. Thanks for these tips, I will be sure to send them to clients. Great ideas!