A Guide to Locked-down Party Planning 

Any big sisters or brothers here would know about the mixed-up bundle of sticky hands, gimmes and trouble that we call a younger sibling. I happen to have two such specimens in my family, a five year-old one and a ten year-old. And I, unfortunately, have been made their big sister, a package which includes the titles of Birthday-Party Planner, Room Cleaner and Pacifier. 

If there's one thing no kid will ever miss, it's their birthday. And now, in the much-hated lockdown, how do you come up with a party plan that will leave your sibling satisfied? Let the expert walk you through it...

The first thing you need is a theme:

Maybe a favorite movie (I used Frozen once), or a favorite book (Like Diary of a Wimpy Kid), or a favorite band - anything the child likes. You can make an invitation card pertaining to your theme. It would be a good idea to add a cute four-line poem. Use your imagination. Here's one my mom created for my sister Myra.

Let the games begin:

For a Zoom party, your range of game options becomes kind of limited. Another thing is that a younger kid's attention span is really short (I know this from experience). You DON'T want to find yourself in awkward situations where you're trying to sound fun and interesting, but the all the kids in the Zoom meeting are just staring blankly at their cameras. So, keep it short and sweet. Start with an ice-breaker activity. It could be something simple, where everyone introduces themselves one by one and comes up with a quirky birthday wish. For younger kids (3-6 yrs), try to make games that are more focussed on physical activity than brainwork. For example, Freeze Dance. For older kids (7+ yrs), its vice versa. So, something like a quiz would be good. A very useful piece of advice is to make presentations for your games with lots of pictures and very few words to attract the attention of your audience. Another handy tip is to take classic games, like Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, and reinvent them such that they fit into your theme. Be creative when adapting these games to a virtual platform. Over here, I'll give you some really good virtual party game ideas. 

1. Pin the Tail On The Donkey:

Share a picture of a tail-less donkey on your screen. Let everyone look at it for a fixed amount of time, say, ten seconds. Then show change the image to a grey rectangle of the same proportions as the donkey picture. Using annotation, people can draw a tail where they think the donkey's tail is, one by one. Then switch the picture back to the donkey and see how accurate they are. This game is easily adapted to different themes. It could be Pin the Nose on Olaf (Frozen), Pin the Tail on the Unicorn, or Pin the Fin on the Mermaid. Be innovative.

     2.   Quiz:

  This one is timeless. You can use it anytime, anywhere.

     3.   And the rest is up to your imagination...

 Make Your Own Wand, Which Greek God Are You, Build Your Own Avenger Story - the list goes on and on. Make sure you have as much fun organizing party games as the people playing them.

And now for the showstopper, the cake:

No party is complete without it. However, aim for good taste rather than too much razzle-dazzle. Go for a simple cake, but get creative with the decoration. It is important to make it look great, because in most cases, the party-goers won't be able to taste it. So try chocolate, vanilla, oreo, or mocha. If you want to add frosting, a classic, delicately piped colored whipped cream should do the trick. In my case, my mom's the queen of the kitchen, so she deals with the birthday cakes. Her best one so far was a piñata cake. It's much easier than it sounds, tastes like heaven, and is sure to wow the kids. If you want to make it, all you need is a semi-spherical silicon mold, or a large, semi-flexible plastic bowl, an ordinary cake, and some junky candies. Coat the insides with a thick layer of melted chocolate, and refrigerate until solid. Then take the chocolate carefully out of the mold so as not to break it. Place your goodies on top of the cake, cover them with the plastic shell. You can decorate the outside of the cake with frosting, or multicolored chocolates. And voilà - you're all set!

Let's put your plan into action:

If you're compering the birthday party, speak loudly and clearly and keep a big smile on your face. Offer prizes for the winners of each game. For younger kids, show a picture of the prize and say it belongs to them. Don't make it too realistic and stress on the fact that it's a virtual prize (so they don't badger you to give them the real thing). For the older kids, use Amazon gift vouchers as prizes. You can improvise and make last-minute twists so that your program fits the needs of the kids at the party.

And now all that remains...

...is to enjoy yourself! Make jokes and keep the mood light. Make sure you and everyone else at the party has lots of fun. 

Happy party-planning!