You have organised the best birthday parties ever, but how do you throw a virtual party for children? With Singapore in circuit breaker and social gathering are still limited, we understand children cooped up at home with no social interaction can be a terrible thing. I wouldn’t want to passively watch cartoons on TV or youtube.
It is still possible to still host celebrations like birthdays, baby shower, family days, etc. Let us show you how to throw a fabulous virtual party during social distancing and lock down in your cities.
In fact, I think in this time of isolation, it’s even more important than ever that we celebrate together. But how do we do it? We do it virtually!
Hosting a virtual party is a lot easier to do than you think and the best thing is that you don’t need to leave your house to do this.
6 Steps for How to Throw a Virtual Party for children
STEP 1: Send Online Party Invitations
Let your guests know about your party! Start by sending online invitations. Here are our favorite online invitations sites:
canva.com– They have so many templates and ready images to work with. The site is super easy to use. Even for someone who knows photoshop, I use it because it is just so fast and easy. You don’t need to download any app to use it.
Gift-It-Forward – When you send out your free e-invitations through Gift-It-Forward, you also automatically set up a gift fund, where you can pool funds towards a dream gift for your child AND a meaningful cause. Friends and family can contribute towards a gift for you and your chosen charity, even from afar! E-vites, dream gifts, AND the gift of compassion?
SmileBox – Here’s another free online invitation site. There are some cute ones here too.
Next, you need a virtual platform to host your party on.
STEP 2: Host your Virtual Party on a Web conferencing Platform
We recommend that whatever platform you choose, you test it beforehand and make sure to give your guests detailed instructions on how to join. Assume some guests might need extra assistance, so ask them to join 10-15min before the party to run through these with your guests.
Zoom – FREE for 40min
– $14.99/month if you want longer time.
Zoom is probably Singaporeans’ favorite party platform! Singapore students use zoom in their home based learning so naturally, children here are familiar with it.
With Zoom, it is easy to talk with multiple people at once. And Zoom can add custom backdrops to hide messy rooms (for gen 8 computers or smartphone and tablet cameras). Zoom is just so popular here because of its ease of use and flexibility.
You can download free themed Zoom virtual birthday backgrounds to get into the mood from www.freepik.com
Hack: After hosting your first meeting of 3 people or more, zoom will give you your next meeting unlimited for free.
However, that being said, there are still issues of zoom like:
- Security – apparently, its ease of use is also the problem of people easily infiltrating your parties.
- Buggy – Older tablets and laptops tend to have issues joining. Larger parties of 30 or more also tend to have errors like not able to join, no video, no audio, etc.
Of course, there are many other possible platforms to use:
- Google Hangout / Meet – Similar to Zoom
- Microsoft Teams – Similar to Zoom
- Houseparty – Great for sharing games.
- FaceTime – Yes, it is possible for many people BUT everyone needs an apple device.
- Whatsapp – You can group video chat; similar to FaceTime.
- Facebook Messenger – You can group video chat but once you have more than 6 people, only the dominant speaker will show.
STEP 3: Be Systematic and Prepared by using our Virtual Party Planning Tips
Online parties are easy to set up, but to guarantee their success, you probably need more than just pulling everyone together like a typical party.
Kids cannot physically run around like in a real party. They can only stare at the screen. Therefore, you need to keep everyone engaged. Here are our most important virtual party planning tips.
1.) Set a virtual party agenda
We recommend you set an agenda for your virtual party and let everyone know what to expect. You can have some backup activities just in case things finish faster than you thought or if children cannot bear to leave each other.
2.) Set a start time and end time—typically an hour
I have seen parents planning back to back online activities like tuition. Sometimes, siblings have to share devices.
A schedule gets everyone on the same page and will keep your guests from dropping out. We recommend setting it for an hour. If your virtual party overruns, and everyone is enjoying it, then continue with more. But of course, it is also important to leave on a high!
3.) Decorate your room
If you are not using a virtual backdrop, you can consider getting balloons and our DIY decor packages to spice up the party. Have fun hanging the banner and bunting. Put together your own customised party hats. The great thing is this preparation process can be a great family bonding activity.
We offer printable like hats, popcorn boxes, banners etc as downloads. Our banner is just $15 for a customised design!
Our free printables like e-invite are available in the respective themed party packages like superhero theme party and dinosaur themed party.
4.) Choose a theme for your party
Themes are just fun! It give you a direction on how to plan your activities and decor.
You can ask your online guests to dress in costume or create something related to the theme (a song, a dance, etc.). You can even give out prizes for the best dressed, best riddles, etc.).
5.) Set some ground rules and brief the parents on the technicalities of the virtual party.
If everyone is talking at the same time, it is just going to turn into a shouting match. Cheeky kids may start sharing screen or music, spoiling the experience for everyone. There are some basic online ethics which kids may not know about. You should brief children as well as parents before you start.
If you book our virtual parties, we will send you a PDF document to share with your guests so they know how best to experience the virtual party.
STEP 4: Choose Some Virtual Party Activities
We recommend you set up some fun party online activities for your remote party guests. Kids have a lot to talk about when they meet in person, but when it comes to online situation, conversation may not be as forthcoming because this is a different media.
There is why you need activities to pull them together.
Virtual Party Games
- Pictionary – share whiteboard on your zoom and let your guests guess what you are drawing. If there are older kids who will listen to you, you can try to let them take turns to do the drawing. (Control is the key. If you lose control of the kids who refuse to relinquish the whiteboard to another player, everyone will lose interest.)
- Detective Online Game – For children 8 years old and above, kids solve a crime using clues.
- Online Jeopardy – play the original game remotely with all your friends
- Virtual Tours – There are many venues and museums offering virtual tours now. Bring them to their favourite theme parks, or another country. Make it game by doing a quiz after.
Virtual Magic Workshop, Science Workshop, fossil digging and Crafting
Do something meaningful and learn a new skill. Order each of the following from our online store, which we will send to you and your guests before your virtual party:
- Science Kits – Our science kit are available for self-experiment or book our virtual science package in which you get the Virtual science show as well as Prof Messy guiding the children on the workshops.
- Online Magic Workshop – Mr Bottle has taught magic at the Istana and to magicians around the world. This is your chance to learn personally from him.
- Fossil Digging Kits – You buy our kits and run this by yourself. Our virtual dinosaur party not only includes excavating of dinosaur bones, they will get to interact with our dinosaur collectors and see their amazing collections.
If you want to do this by yourself, send each of your guest a cupcake for them to decor. After that, they can sing the birthday song and eat it altogether!
Virtual Shows
These are just great ways to keep your children occupied for 30-60min with laughter
Virtual Magic Show – Mr Bottle has an interactive magic show which you can enjoy at home. This is different from watching YouTube since they get to participate in the show.
Virtual Science Show – Children can learn amazing things about science which is different from the usual home based learning. Break the monotony of HBL with this science show. Make children fall in love with learning.
Virtual Clown Show – Let our clown, Bruno entertain the kids via zoom using funny acts.
Virtual Caricature – Our artist will draw the children’s portraits while the party is going on. Once the show is over, our artist will show them the funny drawing which will be emailed to you as souvenir.
STEP 5: Prepare cake and food.
End the party on a high by cutting the cake. Coordinate with the performer when is his last act so there is a smooth transition from the show to the cake. Remember to prepare the candle and the lighter. (By the way, there is a 1-2 second lag via zoom so it is rather impossible for everyone to sing in-sync.)
Prepare some of your child’s favourite food with your family and enjoy the bonding time together.
Share with us your virtual parties went and we would love to feature any ideas you may want to share.