How to Organize a Themed Kiddie Birthday Party at Home During the Quarantine (and even beyond)
We celebrated the birthdays of our two little boys at home because of the pandemic. We would have wanted a grander party for our younger baby though because it was his first birthday. But, again, group celebrations are not yet allowed as dictated by current COVID-19 health protocols.
Rafa's dinosaur-themed first birthday party
How to Organize a Themed Kiddie Birthday Party at Home During the Quarantine (and even beyond)
Opting for a birthday party at home
So, what did we do? We organized two themed birthday parties at home. It has its advantages and disadvantages, of course.
Balloons that we inflated manually
The biggest advantage would be the cost. If you want to keep costs down, you can just opt to celebrate at home because you would not be paying for the venue. Moreover, you can just limit your guests (or not invite guests at all), which is recommended these days for safety reasons.
The obvious disadvantage of do-it-yourself (DIY) parties is that it’s physically tiring because you would have to do everything yourself, from cleaning the house, preparing food or placing orders, decorating, and cleaning up after the party.
We particularly experienced having numb hands when we had to inflate close to 100 balloons during our younger boy’s birthday.
In the end though, despite being tired, we completely enjoyed organizing the birthday parties of our two sons at home.
5 easy steps in organizing a themed birthday party at home
While organizing a home birthday party may sound simple for some people, others can get overwhelmed with all the preparations that they have to think about.
Don’t worry though, because you can simplify things. In fact, you can just break down the process of organizing into 5 easy steps.
1. Set a budget
The most important thing to remember when organizing a birthday party at home is to set the budget. You can start by listing the things that you want in your birthday parties such as a theme, the decor, the food that you want to serve, and the number of people that you want to invite.
Miguel's construction-themed third birthday party
You can come up with an estimate on each of these areas, then total it for your working budget. From there, you can subtract the items that you feel unnecessary to keep the cost down. Alternatively, you can also add more items if you feel that your budget can still accommodate additional expenses.
If your goal is to keep costs at the minimum, you can already set a budget in the beginning and then work from there.
2. Make a guest list
After setting the budget, you can already make a guest list. Since we are currently in a pandemic, I suggest limiting the guests to the people who are with you at home. For our case, we just invited our son’s small cousin to his birthday.
For some families, I've heard about holding virtual parties at home using either Zoom or MS Teams.
3. Think of a theme
Home birthday celebrations need not be boring. You can make it lively and colorful by coming up with a theme. For our eldest son, we have a construction themed party and for our youngest, it was a dinosaur themed party.
Not sure where to begin? You can use a themed cake, themed balloons, themed giveaways (optional, especially if you do not have guests), and a tarpaulin (only for our youngest son).
Speaking of giveaways, we had loot bags but we planned on just sending these over to our sons’ cousins.
4. Order decors in advance
If you do decide to decorate your home for your party, you would most probably be just ordering online. Save yourself the hassle and the headache of late order arrivals by purchasing the items that you need in advance.
5. Choose between cooking your own food or having it delivered
You can choose between cooking your own food and having it delivered. The advantage of cooking your own food is that you have full control over the flavor and the quantity, not to mention that it’s really economical. However, it can be tiring because, most of the time, you would have to prepare food the night before.
If you want to save yourself the hassle, you can just order food. You can opt to order food from your trusted restaurant or choose local food suppliers within your area.
Food delivery is a more expensive option because you are paying for the manpower, use of fuel, and delivery cost. What’s good about it is that you would have less to think about, except ensuring that your food gets delivered on time.
Discovering local food businesses and theme cake suppliers in Quezon City
What we also love about the experience of organizing kiddie birthday parties at home is that we were able to discover local food businesses and theme cake suppliers near our home or at least within Quezon City.
Dinosaur themed cake from Cakes, Cookies, & Co.
For Rafa’s first birthday last November 2020, we ordered our dinosaur-themed cake from Cakes, Cookies, & Co. (Facebook and Instagram) and the food from 8 Spoons Party Trays.
Cakes, Cookies, & Co. is a purely online cake shop. They take orders via their Facebook and Instagram pages. You may inquire also through their telephone number 0917 550 9387. Khris and I highly recommend their designs because they really look impressive and expensive, even if it’s reasonably-priced.
Food from 8 Spoons Party Trays (clockwise: Peruvian Chicken, Creamy Baked Penne, Baked Fish with Parmesan Cheese, Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy, and Crab Sotanghon)
As for the food, 8 Spoons Party Trays is also a good option because their food is delicious and the price is just right. We ordered Peruvian Chicken (comes with chipotle, chimichurri, and salsa sauces), Salisbury steak, crab sotanghon, baked fish with parmesan cheese, and creamy baked penne. Everything was worth trying.
Meanwhile, for Miguel’s 3rd birthday last January 5, 2021, we ordered a construction-themed cake from Drizzles Bakeshop and Café and the food from Hotdish.
Construction-themed cake from Drizzles Bakeshop and Cafe
Drizzles Bakeshop and Café is located at 1-A Congressional Ave., Project 8, Brgy. Bahay Toro, Quezon City, 1106 Metro Manila. You may order from them through their Facebook and Instagram pages. Miguel’s cake turned out beautifully and it came with free cupcakes.
We also received free cupcakes from Drizzles Bakeshop and Cafe (toppers not included, ordered these online)
As for the food, I’ve long heard about Hotdish and their famous pancit sisig, which we ordered. We also ordered meatballs, fish fillet tempura, and empanada. We opted to cook fried chicken and lumpiang shanghai as additional food.
Food from Hotdish (clockwise: Pancit Sisig, Meatballs, Fish Fillet Tempura, and Empanada)
The pancit sisig, which I was so excited to try, was delicious but too much of it was too rich for my palate so I had it with rice. The meatballs were also big but my most favorite item was the empanada.
What I like about Hotdish is the big servings size of the food. The food trays are perfect for family celebrations. Hotdish is located at 63 Commonwealth Avenue, East Fairview, cor Marlboro St, Quezon City. You may order food through their telephone number (02) 8936 7053.
Epilogue
If you think about it, organizing a themed kiddie birthday party at home is fairly easy and quite exciting. Putting together these two birthday parties was a bonding opportunity for our family. It was a lot of fun, despite being physically tired from all the things that we had to do.
What we also loved about the experience was that we were able to discover several local small businesses that offered quality products at affordable prices.
All in all, we were just thankful to God for continuing to provide us throughout the pandemic. We have food on the table, our loved ones are safe and healthy, and we are happy.
I hope you are happy, too, and thankful for the blessings that you continue to receive, big or small.
If you have additional tips, please share them in the comments section below so that I can include them here.
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