Celebrating birthdays are a wonderful way to show our children how special they are to us as they mark another year of life, but sometimes big celebrations aren’t always possible. If you’re looking for ways to make your celebrations special without leaving the house, we’ve compiled some fun and creative birthday party ideas at home.

Birthday Party Ideas at Home

Birthday Car Parade
Nothing is more exciting than a parade in your honor! Ask friends and family to decorate their cars and assemble in a local parking lot 5 minutes before the planned parade time. Just before the parade is to start, surprise your child by seating them with a good view of the road to enjoy their friends and family as they honk, sing and wave in honor of their birthday! For even more fun, make a party hat and “Honk, it’s my birthday” sign for your child to hold so neighbors and other passing cars can join in the parade.

Birthday Take Out
Celebrating at home doesn’t mean giving up your favorite foods! Ordering take out from your child’s favorite restaurant makes birthday dinner easy and delicious. To make the experience fun, print out menus from their favorite restaurants and decorate the table in full party decor when serving.

Decorate the House While They Sleep
Using their favorite theme, pictures of their friends & family, and/or giant birthday greetings decorate the house so your child wakes up to an instant birthday celebration before they even take off their PJs!

DIY Virtual Birthday Party
Using Zoom or another live meeting app, create your own online live birthday party with your child’s friends. Plan a meeting where party guests can virtually gather, sing happy birthday, and participate in games like charades or bingo. Send email or text invitations with all the party details including the meeting link and code.

Alternatively, create an open meeting for an hour or so when friends and family can drop in, offer a birthday greeting, sing happy birthday and chat with your child to celebrate their special day.

Gift Cards or Online Shopping Experience
Make gift-giving part of the party experience! Instead of buying surprise gifts in advance, wrap a variety of gift cards from your child’s favorite stores or make “birthday money coupons” and let them shop for their gifts as part of their party.

Recorded Birthday Messages
Ask friends and family to record a short video message for your child and send it to him or her throughout the day of their birthday. After their birthday has passed, compile all of the recorded greetings into one video and save them as a memento.

At Home Dance Party
Darken the room, set up the party lights, and pull out the karaoke machine to sing and dance the night away! Make a playlist in advance with your child’s favorite songs to keep the party going. Don’t forget to dress for the occasion!

Sidewalk Chalk Birthday Messages
Invite friends and family members to create colorful and creative birthday messages on their sidewalk (or yours) and send your child a picture of their creation. Depending on your child’s age, post the greetings on social media and extend the celebration to include even more friends.

Holiday Themed Party
Does your child love Christmas or Halloween, but their birthday is in July? Make it fun and decorate with what you have. Pull out their favorite holiday decorations and make themed foods (Christmas cookies or eyeball snacks) and celebrate anytime of the year!

Theatre Experience at Home
Indoors or out, transform your home or patio into a full theatre experience! Inside, prep your theatre with popcorn and your child’s favorite candy, then darken the room, choose a fun movie, and turn up the TV to enjoy!

Outside, hang a white cloth or bedsheet, set up comfortable camp chairs or blankets and borrow a projector to display the movie. Bonus: Set up and decorate a pop up tent and hang outdoor or Christmas lights to turn it into a magical twinkling outdoor movie experience.

Make a Big Ask – Celebrity Message
Plan ahead and contact their favorite YouTube or TV celebrity through social media inviting them to send your child a short video birthday message!

Have a Favorites Party
Give them a day of favorites! Plan ahead or be spontaneous and allow them as many favorites they can fit into a day. Favorite foods, favorite games or activities, favorite clothes (even if they don’t match) and have fun!

Celebrating You Video
Create a video with pictures from all of their birthdays starting with their first and include as many pictures as possible from each birthday year. Remembering special moments from past birthdays can make this year’s even more memorable!

Backyard Camping Party
Camping in the backyard is always fun and can make a birthday special too. Decorate with colorful twinkle lights and fill the tent with super fluffy blankets, birthday posters, and a picnic basket of their favorite snacks and drinks. Project a movie onto the tent wall and make it a camping adventure to remember!

Online Virtual Parties

Everything is happening live these days and birthday parties are no exception. Here are just a few services offering online birthday experiences. Be sure to visit their websites for details and to plan in advance.

Spectular Party Entertainment
Book a Virtual Birthday Party call with one or more of your favorite princesses, superheroes or other characters.
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Sky Zone Virtual Birthday Parties
Sky Zone invites you to “Party On! (From Your Living Room!)” with their FREE virtual parties. Set up using a Zoom video link, your child can invite up to 10 friends to participate in 15-20 minutes of party fun with activities like Simon Says, Head Shoulders Knees and SkySocks, Trivia and more.
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Netflix Party
With Netflix Party, your child can watch their favorite movies and chat with their friends for a long-distance slumber party. You’ll need to download the app, choose a movie and send out the party link to start the party. Emojis welcome!
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Snapology Party
Invite up to 20 of your child’s friends to gather virtually and enjoy engaging activities with Lego building blocks led by a Snapology instructor.
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Birthday Cakes Delivered to Your Door!

You’ve picked the perfect way to make your child’s birthday at home special, but what about the perfect birthday cake? If making your own cake isn’t in the plan, we’ve found a few cake shops that promise to bake up a cake sure to please and deliver it straight to your door before the big day.

Milk Bar Store
Have a classic confetti, chocolate, or gluten free confetti cake delivered directly to your home from the Milk Bar Store. If your birthday boy or girl prefers a nontraditional birthday dessert, they also offer cookies, pies and cake truffles with flat rate shipping across the country. Order online for shipping Monday-Saturday.
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Bake Me a Wish
With a variety of flavors from Boston Cream to Vesuvius, you’re sure to find something special. All of their cakes and cupcakes are shipped overnight, but be sure to plan at least a few days ahead to choose your delivery date. Each specialty cake comes with a gift box, matching gift card, and an on time delivery guarantee.
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Caroline’s Cakes
Southern hospitality in a nut-free bakery, Caroline’s offers a variety of cakes, cake bites and a variety of southern treats, including gluten-free cake options. Cake flavors include southern chocolate, caramel and more. Each cake is carefully wrapped and delivered frozen in their signature red tins. Plan your delivery early and keep frozen until ready to serve.
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1-800-Bakery.com
With a huge variety of birthday treats, you find unique birthday desserts including Ice Cream Cone Cake Pops, Super Giant Confetti Fortune Cookies, and cookie bouquets as well as traditional cakes. Shipped with proven shipping methods (see a video online) to ensure safe, on time delivery.
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Carlos Bakery
Get your birthday cake from Team Buddy! Birthday cakes are available in Rainbow, Red Velvet, Confetti and more. Schedule your delivery with up to 90 days advance online ordering and be sure to pick up a Carlos Bakery t-shirt for your child while you’re there. Cakes are made fresh when ordered and many include free shipping.
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Northeast Ohio Cake Shops with Delivery

Prefer to support local cake shops? With a little more advance planning, you can have a freshly baked cake made right here in Northeast Ohio.
With a variety of special occasion cakes, you can choose traditional cake flavors like chocolate and vanilla as well as specialty flavors including Cassata and Raspberry Truffle. See all of their flavors at their website, but call early to order and arrange delivery.
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White Flower Cake Shop
With two locations, 6+ cake flavors and 12 filling choices, these beautiful floral inspired Northeast Ohio cakes, cupcakes, and other sweet treats can be delivered straight to your door. Get details on their website. Gluten Conscious options also available with a minimum 1 week advance order.
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Cookies By Design
Does your birthday boy or girl prefer cookies over cake? Cookies by Design offers beautiful and fun cookie bouquets, truffles and brownies sure to make them smile. Gluten free and same day options available, made by local stores where available. 
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Looking for more help planning your child's birthday? Use the Northeast Ohio Family Fun Birthday Party Guide for stress-free, birthday fun.