When we got the initial news that school would be closed until May, I knew I would have to find ways to be creative in making my daughter’s 4th birthday special.  All she had asked for was an alone day with me.  I had hired a babysitter for my little one that day and planned to take her out for a special meal and some shopping.  Like many things in our lives these days, we had to pivot.

birthday girl eating cake

I know many of you may have a little one celebrating a birthday during the Covid-19 pandemic, so I thought I would share some ideas of how to make the day special.

1.  Camp out on the floor

We pulled out an old play tent and my two older girls had a camp out on the floor of their room.  Since then, she has been sleeping in here most nights 

birthday girl sleeps in tent Natick MA

2. Surprise decorations

After she fell asleep, I put up streamers and balloons by her door.  My 7 year old also decorated a chair for her in our dining room.

Sisters jump on bed with Balloons Natick MA

2.  Breakfast in bed

I let her watch a show on the tablet, while we made her chocolate pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.  You will soon see that a lot of our day was based around special food 

big sister makes breakfast for little sisters birthday Natick MA

3.  A special activity

My husband took a quick break from work to set up the bounce house in the yard.  I ordered a helium tank a head of time so we could still be sure to do our yearly photos with the number of balloons for her age. Some other ideas that I had or were sent to me (but we didn’t end up doing): egg hunt, scavenger hunt, and make a pinata

birthday girls jumps in bounce house Natick MA

Yearly birthday portraits

4.  Cake!

I ordered a special cake from @frostedbyEileen (https://www.instagram.com/frosted_by_eileen/) , a local baker who makes specialty cakes.  Since I didn’t know if she would still be making cakes, I also bought the ingredients to make an ice cream cake and ended up making it.  It seemed like a two cake kind of birthday!

unicorn birthday cake by frosted by Eileen Natick MA

ice cream cake and birthday portraits natick MA

5.  Make a favorite dinner

We made home made pizza and lemonade for dinner (bought premade dough from the store to make it easier).

sisters making birthday dinner Natick MA

6.  Facetime and visits from afar

We had many friends and family FaceTime.  A few friends even drove by the house to sing her Happy Birthday!

4th birthday portraits natick MA

The day didn’t go as I had imaged, but in the end we had much more time as a whole family on her birthday.  All things considered, she had a great day!