As far as years go, 2020 has been an interesting one. Thanks to the worldwide pandemic that's been changing life as we know it, we've had to adapt the way we live — and the way we celebrate holidays and birthdays — to fit social distancing guidelines to keep ourselves and each other safe and healthy. That means that this year, so many celebrity moms have had to get creative when it comes to celebrating their kid's birthdays, and through sharing it all with us, we've gotten some serious inspiration on how to celebrate our own kids' birthdays during this time.
Believe it or not, a number of celebrities have been celebrating their children during quarantine, and we're getting so many good ideas from the parties they've thrown. From sweet homemade cakes, to backyard camping, to gifts that are especially useful during this time when we're all spending more time than usual at home, stars like Audrey Roloff and Tori Spelling are serving up all the best tips — and they don't even know it!
Read on for so many great ideas for kids' birthday parties during quarantine. Hopefully, we'll be able to get back to throwing parties like it's 2019, but for now, there are still ways to have fun, even if it requires a little extra creativity.
Give a Fun Gift to Use at Home
To celebrate his daughter, Zhuri, turning another year older in October, LeBron James gifted her with a seriously impressive, very modern playhouse in the backyard. During a time when we're all spending more time at home than ever, the perfect birthday gift is usually one that makes it even more special to stay home and enjoy, like this.
Cake Smashes Are Always Good
In October, Shay Mitchell's daughter, Atlas Noa, celebrated her first birthday, and that meant taking part in a tradition that a lot of babies enjoy: the classic cake smash. No matter what's going on, nothing is stopping our kids from ripping into a cake face first, and it usually makes for some seriously adorable photos like these — professional or not.
Never Too Many Balloons
Reese Witherspoon shared this photo of her youngest son, Tennessee, as he celebrated turning 8 in September — and the older he gets, the more he looks just like his mama. There's never been such a thing as too many balloons when it comes to kids and birthdays, so why not deck the house out with tons of them to make the day feel extra special?
Go Glamping in the Backyard
Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr.'s kids birthdays are so close — Charlotte's is on September 19, with Rocky's on September 20. This time, like a lot of parents, they said no to party guests, but instead, they threw a big glamping shindig at home, and it looks like everyone had so much fun.
Include Plenty of Fun Crafts
When Audrey Roloff celebrated daughter Ember's third birthday in September, there were plenty of backyard crafts for her floral-themed party with family — including bouquets made with flowers from her grandma's garden kept in ice cream cones. (Too cute!) Making crafts like that with the fam is an easy way to celebrate and keep things feeling special.
All About the Decor
Remember how we said there's no such thing as too many balloons? Let's take that a step further. It's easy to get tutorials online and all the supplies needed to create balloon arches — and even huge displays like the number 3 here — to create at home that make all the special birthday vibes happen like Audrey Roloff did for Ember.
And they make pretty sweet photo backdrops, too.
Get Creative With Backdrops
Even if the party is being held at home — and the only guests are the family members who happen to live there — that doesn't mean we have to slack on creating a gorgeous table to display snacks and gifts on! How pretty is this party that Lacey Chabert threw for her daughter, Julia, who turned 4 in September?
Make Their Favorite Breakfast
When Jessie James Decker's son, Eric, turned 5, she wrote, "He was so excited and giggly and requested daddy make pancakes and bacon while I snuggled him on the couch and told him all about the day he was born and how much we love him." Sometimes, it's the simplest things that make the kids happiest, and in this case, it was easy as making him pancakes and bacon.
Get Crazy With the Theme
As parents, sometimes we really want a cohesive theme for our kids' parties — especially for the photos! — but sometimes, what will make our kids happiest in a time where things are so uncertain is having full control and choosing whatever they want. In Jessica Hall's case, that meant her son picking two themes (Hot Wheels and superheroes), and she let him have both.
Bake a Cake
Hilaria Baldwin's daughter, Carmen, turned 7 in August, and that meant celebrating with a homemade Harry Potter-themed cake. It was adorable and obviously made with a whole lot of love. If it's not practical to get out and get a super professional cake right now, kids will love a homemade cake just as much — if not more — this year.
Let the Kiddos Pick the Activity
As former Bachelor star Jade Roper wrote when her daughter, Emerson, celebrated her birthday in August, she wanted to celebrate by watching cartoons in bed — so that's what they did. This year is the perfect opportunity to give kids free reign of choosing what activities they want to do on their birthday at home … even if it's things we'd normally say no to.
Take Plenty of Family Photos
Okay, so 2020 might be a weird one … and for some of us, a year we'd rather forget. But there are still moments with our kids that will always be memorable and important — including their birthdays — and those are the moments we should still be making sure we're capturing, just like Bachelor couple Arie and Lauren Luyendyk did when their daughter, Alessi, turned 1 this year.
Shout It From the Rooftops
And by "rooftops," we mean the lawn.
Here's an adorable example of making kids feel special even if their birthday party can't be exactly what they dreamed — like Morgan Beck and Bode Miller did for their son, Easton, when he turned 2, decorating the front lawn makes a huge impact — and creates some adorable pics.
Rent an Inflatable
To celebrate her son Finn turning 8, Tori Spelling rented this inflatable waterslide, effectively turning her yard in to a waterpark. It's definitely getting cold in some places for a water slide, but for those of us who live in warm enough climates, it's not a bad idea to rent a slide — or a bounce house — to make the day even more special.
Play a Fun Game
For Alyson Hannigan's daughter Keeva's birthday, she threw her a party that involved her own version of Survivor. (That must have been so much fun!) Putting together an elaborate game — like this one that involves the whole family and the birthday kid's favorite game show — would be so much fun, and is sure to create some really special memories.
Get Dressed Up
Halloween isn't the only time costumes are acceptable! This works especially well for kids who love dressing up, obviously, but we could all take a page out of Cristiano Ronaldo's book. He and his fam all wore costumes in honor of kids Eva and Matteo's birthdays over the summer, and they all looked great.
Soak Up Each Moment
Since this year is a little different than other years, it also presents the opportunity to really take in our kids' birthdays, the way Ali Fedotowsky said she did when her son, Riley, turned 2.
"This was by far a much smaller production than we normally do for birthdays but truly it couldn’t have been more perfect. Instead of worrying if guests were comfortable, fed, and having a good time, I was able to solely soak up and focus on my sweet little boy!" she wrote.
