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24 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • April 2020 "Will I be able to have my birthday party?" My daughter's 12th birthday is in April and she has been planning her birthday party for the past month. With recent lockdowns and social distancing recommenda ons related to the Coronavirus, she will have to come up with an alterna ve plan for her party. Before the Coronavirus wreaked havoc on children's party plans, there were also kids who cannot socialize at par es due to comprised immune systems. Here are some sugges ons for ways to celebrate without spreading germs. Create a Virtual Party One way to interact with friends from a distance is to have a virtual hangout us- ing apps like Google Hangout, Zoom or Skype. My daughter has been using Google Hangout to prac ce her musical theater play with the kids in her class. This technol- ogy allows people to see and speak to everyone, so it's the next best thing to being in a room together. If someone isn't able to connect due to a lack of technology access, go old school and put them on your speaker phone so they can hear and par cipate in the conversa ons. Virtual Party Theme Ideas You are probably wondering how to simulate a kid's birthday party when they can't physically interact? It's important to remember that the main goal of a party is for your child to have fun with their friends. This is s ll possible but may require some out-of-the box thinking. One way to do this is to have a theme that all the party goers will be excited about. Most games like Pin the Tail on the Donkey are not an op on, but there are several ideas for themes that will include everyone and create a fes ve mood. How Megan Walsh, Fredericksburg Parent & Family's Media and Advertising Director Celebrated Her Daughter's Birthday During COVID-19 On March 18, 2012, my amazing second daughter was born. Our middle child, she's sandwiched between two sisters, so we try to be aware of fairness in our house- hold. Then COVID-19 caught up with all of us. While my girl deserved a celebration of her 8th birth- day, there was no dinner out at her favorite Mexican restaurant and no fun sombrero to wear. There was no pinata or fried ice cream, or Shirley Temple with extra cherries. Instead, two neighbors put gifts inside of our back gate, a few arrived in the mail, and the gift I bought to surprise her was delayed by Amazon (what?!). I filled the gap with a $20 bill placed into a blank piece of stationary until her actual gift arrived. We blew up balloons, strung crepe paper and wrote birthday messages all over the sidewalk in chalk. We baked our own cake and squeezed out every drop of oil we had left into the mixture. We sang silly birthday songs and made her favorite dinner (Brenner) pancakes and eggs. We had sugared cereal for breakfast instead of our usual "something healthy." This simple house party made my daughter feel loved. She received text messages from friends' mom's phones, phone calls from family and plenty of Facebook messages. Did I mention that my husband was also here teleworking? This meant she got Dad at 5 pm rather than 7 pm. It was such a slow-paced, old fashioned birthday, but I always feel that simple is best—a simple but epic 8th birthday dur- ing COVID-19. MOVIE THEATER PARTY If the kid is a movie lover, you could create a movie themed party. On the invite, ask the partygoers to dress up in their favorite movie character outfi t or t-shirt. You could create a movie trivia game or a "would you rather game" using movie-themed ques ons. A er playing the games, the group can then watch a movie selected ahead of me. Before the party, you will need to fi gure which movies everyone owns or can stream together. LEGO THEMED PARTY For the Lego lovers, you could create a Lego-themed party. Everyone would have to arrive with a bucket of Legos. You could play games like who could build the tallest tower in fi ve minutes, and then their parents would measure each one to determine the winner. Some other sugges ons are that everyone makes what- ever they want, and then the parents determine who has the most crea ve structure. Or everyone makes an animal, and you must guess what type of animal the Legos are supposed to be. A er you're done building, go on virtual Legoland rides by searching the ride on YouTube. Before the party create a list of rides you want to visit to keep things moving along during the party. WRITTEN BY CHERYL MAGUIRE Celebrating Your KID'S BIRTHDAY PARTY KID'S BIRTHDAY PARTY at Home During the Coronavirus WRITTEN BY CHERYL MAGUIRE Celebrating Your