Pandemic Birthday Party Ideas for Kids

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We all know how important birthday parties can be for little (and big!) kids. Whether you normally do a small get together with a few friends or giant blowouts with the whole class, everyone will have to rethink how to do birthday parties for the foreseeable future.

We came up with the following ideas by polling friends and our readers. Even if you want to keep things super simple you can still make it a special day for your wee one (or for your wife…who is turning 40 this year…hint hint to my husband.)

Parades

This one will obviously involve a little bit of planning and coordination. You will need to reach out to family and friends and ask them to decorate their cars, and then organize in a procession at a specified time. We’ve seen a few of these go by in our neighbourhood and they look SO FUN!

Special Deliveries

Arrange a delivery (or pick-up) of a tasty cake or cupcakes, or maybe takeout from their favourite restaurant. Veronique Chiasson, owner of Emerging Minds in Ottawa, found an edible cookie dough cake for her 12 year-old which was a huge hit!

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Social distance visits

Physical distancing doesn’t mean you can’t invite friends over to hang out on the driveway for a while. Or grandparents, who can sing Happy Birthday and drop off presents!

Video compilations from friends

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Ask your child’s friends to send in short video clips of them saying Happy Birthday (or ask them to get creative depending on what your child loves - one of my daughter’s friends ADORES animals, so every video sent in featured the family pet!) You can throw these into a compilation or just show each clip separately if you don’t have the time.

Decorations

Cover the driveway in a giant chalk masterpiece, place balloons and signs all over the house, or decorate their bedroom door. Let the whole neighbourhood know it’s your child’s birthday!

Zoom birthday parties

Virtual parties are all the rage now. You don’t have to make it super long - just invite their friends on for the singing of Happy Birthday and blowing out the candles, and then let them chat for a while!

Performers

Many businesses are still offering princess or clown services (at a distance of course!) OR, ask a talented family member to dress up and come for a visit. They could do a unicorn or T-Rex, princess, or any other character your child loves.

Favourite meals all day

Cake for breakfast, hot dogs for lunch and pizza for dinner? Whatever they love, let them choose (there may not be a lot of vegetables in there, but you never know…some kids can surprise us!)

First Responder Visits

Depending on where you live in Canada, a visit from a fire truck may be an option (my brother was able to request this for my nephew in Calgary) However, I reached out to Ottawa Fire Services and they responded to say while they’d LOVE to offer this service, there are challenges and concerns as firefighters will not be able to practice social distancing in the truck for a non-emergency response.

But there’s good news! They will be offering some school aged education programs virtually – stay tuned to @ottFirePrevent for more details.

Plan the “After” Party

Make sure your child knows that you can still do a party with friends at some point down the road. Of course we can’t make a date right now, but they may have fun dreaming up the things they’d like to do. Or perhaps your pandemic birthday party was so epic they won’t need anything else ;)

Celebrating Mother's Day During a Pandemic

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Mother’s Day this year may look a little different for many people. The ability to browse for the perfect gift at your favourite local shop or go out for brunch at your favourite breakfast spot may not be possible, but the good news is, there are still many ways we can celebrate Mother’s Day during a pandemic, including a good old fashioned homemade craft, made with love!

Breakfast in Bed

What is your mom’s ideal breakfast? It could be as simple as a coffee or tea with toast or as elaborate as a soufflé with maple bacon. Why not add a homemade piece of art or a little note expressing your appreciation for everything mom does?

If you usually go out for a Mother’s Day brunch, see if that restaurant is offering home delivery for Mother’s Day this year. Many are!

Whatever you decide to do, make sure kids can help and make sure to have fun! It’s the thought (and mom not having to do any work) that counts!  

PowerPoint of Favourite People or Places

If mom is an avid traveller, why not put together a slide show of her favourite places travelled and set it to music? You can even add some of the places she is looking forward to visiting in the future.

If your mom lives in a different city, you could ask other family members to get involved and help put together a PowerPoint presentation of everyone holding up signs individually with their favourite memories, messages or jokes.

Take an online class together 

There are so many online classes available right now – from art classes to yoga or cooking classes, why not book an online class for you and your mom to take together! There is something for all age groups, and for moms with young children as well as moms with adult children - a great way to get grandma involved too!

Watch a movie online together

If you have Netflix of another streaming service, book a day and time, grab a bowl of popcorn and watch an old favourite or a new movie together! If mom or grandmother is in another city and they have Netflix, you could do the same activity together - virtually!

Host a Virtual Happy Hour

A virtual happy hour is perfect for adult children looking to celebrate their mom, but don’t live at home. Whether it’s wine or tea time, book a time where you can have a drink and chat together with mom or grandmother and any other siblings. You could even play a game virtually, such as Battle Ship or cards, or make it fun by choosing a theme, such as Wild West, fancy hats, or the 1980s.

Book a Virtual Wine Tasting

If mom or grandma is a wine lover, send her and yourself some new wines and, if you’re an adult, schedule a time to have a virtual wine tasting together. Wine Country Ontario has a great list of wines you can order online.

How do you plan on celebrating Mother’s Day during the pandemic?

Pandemic Silver Linings

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Everyone is experiencing this pandemic in different ways. There are those of us who have lost our jobs or lost significant income, those of us who are trying to work “full-time” while parenting and homeschooling, and those of us who are experiencing other hardships.

Recently I’ve taken time to observe the ways in which my children are handling this crisis. I’ve seen an increased neediness (wanting to sleep with me again at night, needing more hugs, and being clingy) as well as some emotional outbursts. Maybe you relate?

Since the dust has settled and we have come to the realization that this will be a longer-term situation, I’ve noticed other changes in my kids that I find fascinating.

They take Naps

To understand what a big deal this is, you must know that my kids have always fought naps. From the time they were babes in arms they have pushed back against sleep like it was the worst possible thing to do. So imagine my shock to see my nap-phobic kids heading off to bed in the afternoon when they feel tired.

They have found coping skills

At times when emotions are high, my kids are falling back on positive coping skills to deal with their fear, anger and stress. A common sight these days is one of my kids in the bath, quietly playing with toys or reading a book. They’ll soak in there for a while taking much needed alone time (truth be told - so do I!!)

They want jobs to do

In our “regular life” my kids don’t have a lot of time for chores, except on weekends when we get them to clean their rooms or help outside (gardening in the summer and shoveling in the winter). Now that they’re following a much quieter schedule there has been time for daily chores. My daughter is the “tea maker” in the morning, and brings us tea in bed. My youngest has enjoyed learning how to vacuum and do a full load of laundry. They both LOVE helping in the kitchen, even if it’s hard for my control-freak self to allow flour all over the floor.

We have time

Our family has a lot of time right now. This has come at a financial cost, as as my husband and I are both unemployed. But the “silver lining” is an unlimited amount of time to live life in a way I’d never imagined possible.

My kids creep into our room in the morning and open the blinds for me (who needs alarm clocks when you don’t have a job?) We then spend up to an hour in bed watching what we call “The Wildlife Show” out our bedroom window. This show stars three bunnies who war over the food dropped from the bird feeder, an injured squirrel who is surviving despite all the odds, the many different species of birds that land in our ancient crab apple tree, and the neighbourhood evil villain - a white cat that tries to hunt all these creatures.

This is just one example of an activity that we couldn’t have found time for in our past life. Other activities include reading aloud, nature walks in our ravine, lots of biking and scootering and ample time to grow the best vegetable garden we’ll probably ever have!

Recently we watched the documentary “All the Time in the World” (a must-see if you are Canadian and a lover of the outdoors.) It’s about a Yukon family of five who make the decision to head out into the bush and live in a small cabin for nine months - no electricity, no running water, no watches and certainly no phones.

My kids were totally fascinated by the things the family accomplished in the bush, and we talked about how different their situation was from what we’re experiencing - yes, we are isolated, but still very much connected to the outside world through TV and internet.

There are marked similarities, though. The kids in the documentary are naturally creative and very resilient, and tended to learn and develop through play. I have seen this first-hand as my 10 and 7 year-old have spent hours in make believe games (many involving babies it seems).

This is not to say that we are in living in a fantasy land of familial harmony. The kids still fight, we each take turns having meltdowns, and like the family in “All the Time in the World” we get cabin fever when the weather is rotten. However, when I force myself to take time to observe, I can see the incredible silver linings this pandemic is having for our family. And that makes my heart happy.

French Online Educational and Leisure Activities for Kids

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Many of us have kids in French Immersion or French boards, so wanted to put together a list of educational activities, games and other resources for kids - both for homeschooling purposes and for fun! Have any to add? Let us know in the comments!

Online Educational and Leisure Resources and Activities for Kids

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Looking for online educational resources and fun activities for your kids that are also interesting? We’ve compiled a list and separated it by area of interest or subject. Let us know if you have any to add!

Animals and Nature

The San Diego Zoo has a website just for kids with amazing videos, activities, and games:  https://kids.sandiegozoo.org/

Tour Yellowstone National Park: https://www.nps.gov/…/lea…/photosmultimedia/virtualtours.htm

This Canadian site FarmFood 360 offers 11 Virtual Tours of farms from minks, pigs, and cows, to apples and eggs: https://www.farmfood360.ca/

Play games and learn all about animals: https://switchzoo.com/

National Geographic, geography and animals: https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/

Animal Cams list: https://www.adventure-journal.com/2020/03/if-youre-stuck-inside-might-as-well-enjoy-this-list-of-animal-cams/

Space 

Explore the surface of Mars on the Curiosity Rover: https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/

Television Characters

Play with favourite TV show characters and learn too: https://pbskids.org/

Around the world

This Virtual Tour of the Great Wall of China is beautiful and makes history come to life: https://www.thechinaguide.com/destinati…/great-wall-of-china

35,000 pages of online content on the cultures and countries of the world: https://www.countryreports.org/

Live WebCams, Virtual Tours, and Virtual Field Trips: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1NGi3CzD0gY7Dq83dtX_Oa4LDVdU0qkew251N6LQk-Fw/htmlview?usp=sharing&fbclid=IwAR3clQcJcC-Mwyc8uylWUnuarob_OJFJN22KXqDYEhAwHNeZJqXBmv7MZaY&sle=true

Math and Science

Math and Reading games: https://www.funbrain.com/

Math practice from counting to algebra and geometry: http://www.mathscore.com/

High school chemistry topics: https://www.acs.org/…/hi…/chemmatters/articles-by-topic.html

Math and reading games: https://www.abcya.com/

Math and language games: https://www.arcademics.com/

Elem science videos: https://www.backpacksciences.com/science-simplified

Elem Math through 6th grade: https://boddlelearning.com/

Math as a fun part of your daily family routine: http://bedtimemath.org/

Biology: https://www.biologysimulations.com/

Geometry: https://www.canfigureit.com/

Science, Math, Social Studies: https://www.ck12.org/student/

Chemistry: https://www.playmadagames.com/

Kindergarten to Grade 5 Science lessons: https://mysteryscience.com/

A wide range of math content from middle school through AP Calculus: https://deltamath.com/overview 

Kindergarten to Grade 8 online math program: https://www.dreambox.com/at-home

Interactive video earth science-based curriculum supplement: https://www.everyday-earth.com/

80+ do at-home science activities: https://elementalscience.com/…/n…/80-free-science-activities

Science and math labs and simulations: https://phet.colorado.edu/

Learn all about earthquakes: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/kids/

Learn all about the periodic table: https://www.chemicool.com/

Space science: https://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub/index.html

Math Games, Logic Puzzles and Brain Builders: https://www.mathplayground.com/

Smithsonian Learning Lab: https://www.si.edu/kids

Science Mom fun science videos:  www.youtube.com/sciencemom 

Skype a Scientist - https://www.facebook.com/annfro/posts/10157039487963873

Languages, Literature and Spelling

Phonics skills: https://www.starfall.com/h/ 

Resources for Spanish practice: https://www.difusion.com/campus/

Chinese learning activities: https://chalkacademy.com/

Grammar practice for middle grades: https://www.classroomcereal.com/

Reading passages for grades 3-12: https://www.commonlit.org/

Vocabulary, grammar, listening activities and games in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Korean, and Latin: https://conjuguemos.com/

Multiple Foreign languages: https://www.duolingo.com/

Magic Spell is a carefully crafted spelling adventure: https://brainbox.games/

Spelling grades 1 to 4: https://www.spellingtraining.com/

Free stories online ages 3-12: https://www.freechildrenstories.com/

Read, play games, and hang out with Dr. Seuss: https://www.seussville.com/

Fave kids books read by famous people: https://www.storylineonline.net/

Free printables library with activities for children 0-6: https://www.littlesparkcompany.com/printables-library

Interactive games based on the book series: https://www.magictreehouse.com/

General education

Curio.ca is the educational platform of CBC/Radio-Canada, and gives students, from primary through to post-secondary levels, streaming access to educational content from CBC and Radio-Canada. This includes thousands of programs and resources, from television and radio, documentaries, to news reports, archival material, and more: https://curio.ca/en/

Educational games Kindergarten to 12: https://www.breakoutedu.com/funathome

Scholastic multi-interest projects: https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html?

Three Free Weeks of Maker Stations to keep your children creating at home! Each challenge includes simple instructions using materials around the house, QR code video resources, and a student recording sheet. bit.ly/freemakerstations

Online homeschool platform & curriculum for Pre-K to 12th grade. All main subjects are covered, plus extra-curriculum courses. http://discoveryk12.com/dk12/

Farmer's almanac for kids... Date, weather, moon phase:  https://www.almanac.com/kids

PreK-12 digital media service with more than 30,000 learning materials: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/ 

Music

Music is for everyone: https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments

Poetry and music: https://www.thewell.world/mindful-mu…/mindful-poetry-moments

Learn guitar or ukulele: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9cvVvlvr-qBssphm1EdYGQ

Learn piano: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpzgTNTgQsR9YYsyOm3k3KQ

QuaverMusic is offering free access to general music activities: https://www.quavermusic.com/info/at-home-resources/

Museums

Ottawa Museum Tours: https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/tour-ottawa-museums-from-the-comfort-of-your-living-room-1.4853809?fbclid=IwAR3-ca0Kdq0P7gUba6PfhB6qG40tEdmI-TNA02BKRcXpm-rSFNILQJcARg8

The Louvre: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne

British Museum; discover the ancient Rosetta Stone and Egyptian mummies:. https://britishmuseum.withgoogle.com/

Arts, Crafts and Games!

This comprehensive guide from Common Sense Media will help you find the best teacher-approved apps, games, and websites to support your kid - broken down by grade! https://www.commonsensemedia.org/guide/essential-school-tools

Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems: https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/

Crafts, activities, mazes, dot to dot, etc.: https://www.allkidsnetwork.com/

Fun games, recipes, crafts, activities: https://www.highlightskids.com/

Printable board games, activities and more: https://dogonalogbooks.com/printables/

Online photograph jigsaw puzzles You can set the pieces from 6-1000+: https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/

Physical activity

Free at-home kids yoga lesson plans: https://littletwistersyoga.com/online-store/

Kid-friendly workouts: https://app.sworkit.com/collections/kids-workouts

Cosmic Kids Yoga: https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

Cooking with Kids

Illustrated recipes designed to help kids age 2-12 cook with their grown-ups: https://www.nomsterchef.com/nomster-recipe-library