Celebrating 10: A Virtual Party Success!
As you may remember, turning 10 is a big deal; it’s the first double digit birthday and 10 year old’s want a big deal made of their birthday (as kids of all ages do!). This Saturday my eldest turns 10, which means that my husband and I have been parents for a full decade! This deserves celebrating!
Unfortunately, we’re in quarantine and will remain in quarantine for a while longer, which increases the need to celebrate moments of happiness! So being true to my need to celebrate and honor important moments, I promised my little-big girl that we would have a party for her. This party could not be like our traditional parties that include many friends and family members eating and playing together, but it would include friends, fun and memories would be made! Party with ME! was on it!
I hosted a virtual party for her last night, and I’m happy to report that it was a success. I had a hunch that it was a fun party when the 11 girls kept smiling, stayed on the video chat long after the activities were completed and I got texts from other parents telling me of their daughter’s smiles following the party. But the reason I know I gave my daughter a 10th Birthday party she’ll remember as a great party, and not just a great virtual party, she told my husband all the details of the party as he was tucking her in. This included the fun of having her Toronto and Boston friends, something that could only happen in a virtual party. In my husband’s words, ‘her bucket was filled’.
Isn’t that what we all strive for, to let our children know that they have people in the world that love them and want to celebrate them? I’m happy (and maybe relieved) that Party with ME! was able to help my daughter feel celebrated by her friends!
So how did we create this magical environment?
Same way I do it for in-person parties, I chose a few interactive activities that bring the kids joy, only this time I had to portion each of the items into goodie bags for each guest. We delivered the goodie-bags to each friend in person, a few day in advance of the party so that it would have time to be quarantined before the party. We could have mailed them but this gave Maya an extra opportunity to see her friends, from a distance, which was in itself was a double gift: a gift of something to do and a gift of social interaction. (The two Toronto friends had their kits mailed to them.)
Each goodie bag included the supplies needed for the party:
A blank BINGO card
2 sugar cookies
chocolate frosting
a plastic knife to spread the frosting
sprinkles and candies, for the cookies
glass beads
silver charm
elastic string with a starter bead lead
Zoom log-in information to make it simple to join the party
I walked the kids through the activities, Cookie Decorating, ‘How well do you know Maya’ Trivia , DIY BINGO Card Making and BINGO Playing, and Glass Bead Bracelet Making. The time spent together also included a group singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ and an opportunity for each guest to wish Maya an individualized birthday wish. It was really interactive, and I’m confident in saying that Party with ME! Brought the FUN!
