Disclosure: This is a collaborative post
The stress that coronavirus is bringing into everybody’s lives cannot be underestimated in how it is impacting our very youngest children. Perhaps your child has missed a couple of birthdays since the initial lockdown, and while they were pretty young, they are now at the age where it’s all sinking in that they have not been able to celebrate with their friends. But now restrictions are starting to be lifted, but it’s a good idea to recognise the best ways to do a COVID safe birthday party. Here are few things to consider.
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Limiting the Numbers
Naturally, the numbers are limited at the moment. Up until the 18th of July, if you plan on holding an indoor party, the number of children permitted depends on the venue’s size and ventilation. If you plan on holding a party outdoors, you can only have 30 people. This doesn’t include children under the age of 11. So if you are trying to keep it small, you can make it a special event for everyone.
At the very least, if you are holding a party with a limited number of people, you can put a bit more effort into the invitations and party materials. You can think about making high-quality invitations, and there are plenty of A5 invitation printing services, as well as smaller invitations to think about. But if you have a smaller party, it’s going to be a more intimate and fun experience.
Booking an Outdoor Party
This is the best way around the issues. From the 19th of July, government social restrictions are set to be removed, so you can host a kid’s party indoors or outdoors up to the maximum number. And there are no restrictions on adults attending. But it’s important to remember that every parent is going to have their own concerns with regards to safety.
Of course, if every parent has been double jabbed by that point, you may want to go ahead, but it’s still important to be sensitive to people’s needs, especially as double jabbing doesn’t mean you are invincible. Holding an outdoor party is the best port of call because of the ventilation, but you are going to run the risk of poor weather. You can pray to the weather gods of course, but you may want to hire a gazebo or a marquee.
What If Things Change?
This is something that everybody is concerned about. You can continue with your party to comply with changes in restrictions, but if there are any unforeseen restrictions like lockdowns being delayed, you are fully entitled to have a refund from the providers, or you can choose to postpone the party for up to one year based on the venue’s discretion. If you are in the process of thinking about a birthday party, it is best to err on the side of caution.
If there is a perfect storm of bad weather, COVID rules changing, and any additional restrictions, sometimes it’s best to keep the party small. You could have a small gathering. Of course, your children may not like the idea of this. It’s always possible to have virtual parties, but if you do this, you’ve got to make it more interesting and have a theme. It has got to the point where everybody is completely fed up with living virtually, and in which case, you may try to keep everything simple by having a picnic.
Keeping Hygienic
Naturally, everybody is concerned about the hygiene aspects of the party. When there are children with sticky fingers everywhere, it is not easy to keep wiping things down. Of course, having an abundance of alcohol hand gel can make sure that everybody keeps sanitised, but it has got to the point where many parents and not particularly fussed on keeping themselves hygienic anymore and are not keeping their distance.
It is so important to make sure that everybody keeps a 2-metre distance, but also ensure that there are provisions around to keep yourself protected. This is especially true when it comes to the food. One of the things you can do to make things easier and less likely to spread any contaminations is to have individual party bags, which will make everything easier. The importance of keeping hygienic is is obviously a priority, but when we are talking about parties in a small venue, we’ve got to do what we can to clean up and recognise that other parents may not follow the rules as we do.
It’s a very fine line to tread because everyone needs to do their bit, but at the same time, we want to give our children the best party. But if you are hell-bent on giving your children the best birthday party possible, make sure you stay within the rules, but also recognise that in a year’s time, life is very likely going to be normal again, can you hold off one more party?
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