OK look. Having your birthday and not being able to do anything sucks, but being forced to stay at home for your birthday? That’s just not fair at all! What are the ways for adults to celebrate a birthday in quarantine anyway? Whether there’s a stay at home order in your area or you’re doing your part to flatten the curve, these party ideas will help make your at-home birthday feel a little more festive.
Ways for adults to celebrate a birthday in quarantine
For some adults, birthdays aren’t a big deal anymore. Those people are probably perfectly happy to celebrate their birthday at home - at least they won’t have to be bothered by coworkers trying to bring them a cake. For the rest of us, and especially those of us celebrating milestone birthdays this spring and summer, COVID-19 means a change in birthday plans.
If you need something to look forward to or want to lift your spirits on your birthday, though, these at-home adult birthday party ideas are a decent substitute for not going out.
Get drunk with your friends… Online
Look, a lot of adult birthday parties are just an excuse to go out and have some fun with friends. That’s why a lot of grown-up parties are hosted at bars or clubs. If that’s how you’d normally celebrate, then why not do it from quarantine? It’s easy; just get all your friends together on a call with something like Zoom or Skype (webcams make it even more fun) and chat over a few drinks.
Everyone stays safe, and you can still socialize and have fun. The best part? It’s a lot cheaper than going out!
We are an online traditional board games company, specialising in chess and backgammon. We have tried to keep in touch with our customers during the pandemic and found a number of individuals to purchase our range of chess and backgammon boards to host online sessions with fellow friends to play chess and backgammon.
Rizwan Girach
Owner
Chessgammon
Play an online game
Yeah, the theme of quarantine adult birthday parties is kind of ‘use the internet.’ If you like playing board games or video games, get your pals together for a night of fun. There’s a lot of popular board games that you can play online for free, including Cards Against Humanity. Or play a video game match of something free to play like Fortnite.
If you're celebrating anything while social distancing you have to first change your expectations. Let yourself be upset about cancelled plans, or things not being how you imagined. Then you'll be in a better headspace to make the best of things. When it comes time to celebrate a birthday or something similar, connect with friends and family on video chat rather than the phone (it's nice to see faces!) and try and maintain birthday traditions. Even if it's just a cake and some balloons!
Don't forget: being safe and healthy is something worth celebrating too.
Erika
Event Planner
Munch and Brunch
Order an amazing birthday feast
Wishing you could go out to dinner? Order take out from your favorite place instead and have it delivered! If you normally do this when it’s not your birthday, then make sure to add it some special goodies. Don’t forget dessert or have a cake delivered from somewhere too.
I’ve celebrated several social distancing birthdays. For my husband, I planned a surprise Zoom birthday party for close family and friends. I invited 25+ family and friends to join Zoom at a certain time, and then I told my husband to look on my computer. He loved it! A friend celebrated her 80th birthday, and I had planned to throw her a party. Instead I created a 10-minute tribute video containing photos, messages, and videos from her friends and family all the world over, including her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in India. My friend is still thanking me every time I speak to her. It made her birthday!
Marie Gettel-Gilmartin
Fertile Ground Communications
Spend time with your partner or roommates
If you’re not stuck in quarantine alone, then you can still have a fun at-home birthday party with the people you live with. Do something you’d normally do together on your birthday like have a meal together or play board games. For something different, you could also have fun being kids. Wear party hats, play party games, and buy noisemakers.
Zoom parties are huge right now. Everyone is doing one thing at the same time! Note that you need to have a theme, so people will actually do something together. If not, you’ll just 2-3 people randomly talking while others just listen.
That’s why you should bring your creative mojo into action. The simplest way to achieve unity is to host a board game night. You could play Pictionary, Mafia, or any other group game. However, don’t be afraid to experiment a little! You could also throw a dance competition or reenact Eurovision song contest. Try to really act out the contest, make costumes, scoreboards etc. You’ll have so much fun singing karaoke and giving points to the ‘state representatives’. Don’t forget about decorations though. You need to get into that party spirit, so decorate your space and ask your guests to do the same. Simply change the background to something silly or you can up your game and print out some pictures to decorate your living room for real.
Danijela Mazic
What to Get My
Watch a movie with friends
You don’t need to go to the theatre or have people over to host a movie night. Use Netflix’s ‘party’ feature or a streaming service from your computer to watch something with anyone anywhere. Don’t forget the snacks! Or you can find a fun drinking game to go along with whatever you’re watching.
Pick a movie you haven’t seen, find a classic, or binge-watch Tiger King. It’s your birthday, you decide.
Another gift idea in such a period is a subscription for a certain period to online courses or for physical exercises that can be done at home.
Marius Migles
CHASSE SAUVAGE Photography
Decorate your house
Just because you’re not having a party, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t decorate! Even if you live alone. Make your whole house festive by blowing up balloons, hanging streamers, and putting up happy birthday banners. Wear a party hat all day - even if the only people who see you are your neighbors when you take the garbage out. It might not be the birthday you want, but at least it won’t feel like just another day.
I recently had a birthday both for my son on the 18th and me on the 19th.
I had 2 surprise zoom birthday calls which was so great. One in the morning to kick it off and a HH of sorts in the evening. We drove around town and went to all the monuments. I had this idea of taking a photo at each of the monuments but was surprisingly crowded with people walking and running and I didn’t feel safe to get down. At night, I watched a movie in the backyard. We invested in a projector and a screen since we think we might be stuck indoors for a while and this will come in handy over summer.
We also wanted to host a mini front lawn HH with a few friends but we dropped the idea. We did a drop by for my son’s birthday the previous evening and 3 families showed up at the same time and social distancing with kids was really tough. I did go to meet a friend recently to wish her for her birthday and she had a few friends standing at a safe distance and having a drink together. Car drive by wishing is great too!
Deeplaxmi Adke
Founder
Her Handshake
Treat yourself
Have you been dying to learn the violin? Want to visit Paris when all this is over and need to brush up on your French? Big screen TV not big enough? You’re stuck at home, and you need things to do. Your birthday is a great excuse to justify one of those purchases you’ve been wanting to get but can’t pull the trigger on.
Bonus points if it’s actually something that makes your life better and can keep you busy while stuck at home.
Girish Dutt Shukla
Digital Marketer, Author
GirishDuttShukla.com
Take the day off
Yeah, most people are talking about all the things they’re doing with their ‘free time’ during quarantine, but that’s not the reality for most people. If you’re still working from home, then use a vacation day on your birthday and take the day off. Even if you’re not working, set aside your birthday as a break from chores or learning the violin or whatever you’re filling your days with. Lay on the couch, eat junk food, binge-watch, etc.
The other thing you can do is some (likely much needed) self-care at home. Take a bath, soak your feet, or find another way to pamper yourself.
Have a family camp-out party.
Since you can't invite other people to your own home, you could just celebrate your birthday with your family. Set-up tents and barbecues in your backyard or you could also construct a program that everyone would love. Provide prizes for the games to make it more exciting and fun. Then you can have a campfire and stargazing activity at night.
Norhanie Pangulima
Content Ambassador
Hernorm
Get outside
Yes, you need to stay 6 feet away from people. But you’re still allowed to go outside in most places. If you have a yard, spend some time outdoors just enjoying the fresh air. Especially if you’ve been cooped up in the house a lot. Doing yard work or planting some flowers is a great mood booster.
If possible, try and take a walk in a park or around your neighborhood. Wearing a party hat is optional but recommended.
One of my friends birthdays was last week and we were supposed to all go away for the weekend as it was a 30th.
Instead, we all chipped in for a big present for our friend instead. We filmed a video called "to pass the parcel" where we would receive a parcel in one video from the right side and then throw it to the left side. All 7 of us done the video and then I drove to my friend's and left the parcel by his front door.
It was a Netflix subscription card. He has lost his job due to the crisis, and we all watched his choice of film simultaneously for a group watch party.
Andrew Roderick
A birthday idea a friend and I came up with was to have a cooking show video call. We would all pretend to be famous chefs from around the world, and attempt to make something in real time alongside the other 'chefs'.
Some meals were a disaster, which was so hilarious. It was really fun, and meant that we all got to have fun while things cooked, and make something really unique together. I would highly recommend it, or if you want something less crazy, you could all bake cupcakes together and enjoy them.
Michael Lowe
Tips for adults to celebrate a birthday in quarantine
- If you can’t go out, have some birthday treats delivered
- Make sure you have a cake and candles!
- Decorations make it feel more like a birthday.
- If you’re doing an online party, send out invitations.
- Try and connect with friends or family with technology.
If you’re still really bummed out about not being able to celebrate your birthday properly, you can always make plans for later. If it’s a milestone birthday, consider moving the ‘big’ party until next year, so you don’t miss out on the fun. In the meantime, these ways for adults to celebrate a birthday in quarantine will lift your spirits until we’re allowed to see our friends again.