Celebrating your child’s birthday during stay at home orders or having a birthday during social distancing can be a big disappointment for children of all ages. Here are some ways to celebrate the little ones in your life when they hit milestones. In our current world of “social distancing” and isolation you can still celebrate birthdays in big ways and even get your family and friends involved. Decorate Your Front Yard Have big Happy Birthday cutout signs in the yard. Decorations All Over the House Make huge poster board signs, banners, streamers, balloons, whatever you have on hand that’s festive. Leave everything up for a couple of days to keep the party going. Video compilation Ask friends and family to send video wishes to the birthday kiddo. If you are tech savvy, you can compile them into a fun “movie” or just play them individually for the recipient while you’re celebrating. Seeing and hearing their loved ones well wishes may just make their day. Go Camping Pitch a tent in the living room or in the back yard. If you’re indoors light a few candles and tell stories with flashlights while eating microwaved s’more’s. If the weather is nice and you are outside, build a fire and roast marshmallows. Reminisce about favorite birthday memories. Chalk the Driveway This is super easy for neighborhood friends. Have people write birthday wishes and messages all over your driveway and sidewalk with sidewalk chalk. We did this to our neighbor and other people walking by during the day added messages. Even strangers participated. Video compilation Ask friends and family to send video wishes to the birthday kiddo. If you are tech savvy you can compile them into a fun “movie” or just play them individually for the recipient while you’re celebrating. Seeing and hearing their loved ones well wishes may just make their day. Host a Fancy Dinner at Home Send invitations to everyone in your family, inviting them to get really dressed up. Set the table with candles, play music, use proper manners and cloth napkins. Even if you are eating pizza it’ll feel fancy and special. Have family and friends mail cards and/or gifts ahead of time Collect everything and present them to the birthday child at some point during their festivities all at once (like they’d receive at a party) or spread them out throughout the day. You could also make a game of it and hide cards and gifts around the house for a Scavenger Hunt. Host a Video Game Party Older kids are having fantastic Birthday parties online via their video games. Games like Minecraft and Fortnite are hot spots for social interaction and friend and party features are perfect for celebration with those they surely miss most. Change your routine Make the birthday a little different by just changing a few things up. Breakfast in bed is always a treat, then how about a picnic lunch in the living room? Dinner could be outside in a tent or around a campfire The slightest difference will seem special and help make this challenging time more memorable, in a good way. Netflix Party Did you know you can host a Netflix Party with your friends? Download the app. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chatting making binge watching so much more social. Pop some popcorn and host a Netflix movie night. It’s time to get creative and know that your kids will remember the fun, no matter what you end up doing.