6 Social Distancing Birthday Party Ideas for Teens

When we first started social distancing, figuring out birthday party ideas for teens that would soon be celebrating was likely the last thing on your to-do list. Social distancing during a global pandemic is not something any of us planned for on our list of possible things that we may have to deal with someday. Each of us was caught off guard when schools began closing down and businesses started to allow employees to work from home. In a few short days the world was turned on its head and went even more digital than we ever thought possible. As a result, the last few months have been challenging.

Teens and young adults the world over, in particular, have had to face big changes as well. High school students have missed out on proms, formal dances, and graduation and awards ceremonies. Families are scrambling to figure out how to help kids celebrate birthday parties. If you’re struggling for some creative ideas to help celebrate your child and still promote social distancing, these birthday party ideas for teens will help.

Neighborhood Birthday Parade

If you have family and friends who live nearby, consider organizing a parade. Name the day and time and ask ‘guests’ to make signs with streamers and balloons and drive through your neighborhood and past your house where the birthday boy or girl can see.  If friends and family live far away, consider asking your neighbors to participate in a parade. Many neighborhoods make use of Facebook groups or the NextDoor app. It’s easy to post there and ask your neighbors to drive through honking horns at your house or do something to help make your child’s day a little bit more special. A fun way to commemorate a birthday is with a yard sign, so be sure to put one out on your lawn or front door and decorate your mailbox with balloons.

Invite a Food Truck to the Neighborhood

Food trucks have gained significant popularity over the last few years. Many make regular visits to neighborhoods. If this is the case for you, consider reaching out to one and ask them to come to your neighborhood. You may even be able to meet the truck and set up a small table with balloons and cake to share with neighbors.

Another option is to reach out to your local ice cream truck companies and suggest they come through the neighborhood on your child’s birthday. You can ask if they’ll let you put a sign on the truck in honor of the birthday child. Have neighbors take pictures of themselves with their ice cream, set up a birthday hashtag, and ask neighbors to post to social media using that hashtag. This will surely make your child smile!

Host a Netflix Movie Night

Recently Netflix debuted the Netflix Party extension for Chrome which allows friends to all watch a Netflix movie together. The extension is synchronized so if one person presses pause, it will pause for everyone. There’s also a chat room where guests can discuss the movie and spend time together while practicing social distancing. It’s a great birthday party idea for teens who often use a similar feature on other apps that use up a significant amount of data on a parent’s cell phone plan.

Social Distancing Teen Birthday Greeting Video

If you’ve got some time, consider sending a quick email to your friends and family and invite them to record a birthday greeting for your child. If you’re tech-savvy this will be easy, just have everyone send the video to you so you can edit. Editing can be done on YouTube, Animoto, or with Windows Movie Maker or iMovie.

However, if you’re hoping to put together a social distancing birthday video your teen will love but haven’t the slightest clue how to proceed, there are programs that can help. Sites like Vidday allow users to create an event page and invite friends and family to upload videos. Creating a compilation video is simply a matter of dragging and dropping the clips in and publishing the birthday greeting video.

Host a Tik-Tok Dance Party Challenge

Tik-Tok is where you want to go for fun dance challenges; the teens know this and they’re all killing it online with this app. In the days leading up to your teen’s birthday, have friends and family learn a dance from Tik-Tok. You can create a birthday specific hashtag to include and have everyone upload their videos. They can use the hashtag, tag the birthday boy or girl and your teen’s social distancing birthday party will live in perpetuity on this popular app. It could even go viral, which we all know, for most teens, would be the ultimate win.

Social Distancing Online for Teens Birthday

Many businesses have realized that even though we’re practicing social distancing, parents still need birthday party ideas. Skyzone, the indoor trampoline park, offers virtual birthday parties on their website. The 20-minute online events are led by a Skyzone employee and provide games, dance parties, and trivia.  The Houseparty app is another fun social distancing virtual birthday party idea for tweens and teens. Kids can chat and play games together directly within the app.

Social distancing remains key in combating and slowing the spread of COVID-19. Because of this, parents have had to cancel birthday parties and put off milestones. Thinking outside the box and finding alternative ways to celebrate your child’s special day is one way to help maintain a small sense of normalcy in an otherwise uncertain and unusual time in history. If you’ve had to postpone or make social distancing adjustments to your teen’s birthday party, how did you do it? Post your social distancing teen birthday party ideas in the comments and help other parents navigate these uncharted waters during this difficult time. Despite feelings and emotions that come with the uncertainty of this global pandemic, rest assured that your children, as they grow older will come to appreciate how you worked hard to make their 2020 birthday celebration as special as possible.