Making the most of your lockdown birthday

(Image courtesy of Unsplash)

27th January 2021

By Amelia Fewings

If you too are a January baby or born before March, you may have, like me, thought that the pandemic would have finished by the time you got to celebrate your birthday. But with lockdown 3.0, this just isn’t the case. So, here are my top tips to make your birthday special, whether you are at home with your family, or in your student accommodation.

Zoom:

I know we are all sick of talking online and using Zoom and Teams, but it is the closest we get to seeing some of our friends and family that we can’t see in real life. Having a birthday on Zoom is also great because you can see people who you may not have been able to see on your birthday even without a pandemic. Why not bring all your friends from home who are at different universities together to celebrate? Or get family in different countries to join in your special day?

Obviously, there is the classic Zoom quiz, each person could bring a round of questions to the quiz, or why not make the quiz about yourself? It is your birthday after all! There are also some great games you can play online such as Jack box games, Cards Against Humanity or online Pictionary games like Scribl’. Or why not try and turn it into a drinking game, Psych works great for this! There are even some murder mystery games to play online; each member of your Zoom can be emailed a script and what to dress as beforehand and it’s really as simple as that!

Decorations:

Celebrating with just your household doesn’t mean you can’t go all out with the decorations! Get those balloons, banners party, hats and confetti. Another fun twist on the decorations, is if you’re feeling a bit bored or just procrastinating from work, you could get crafting as a house and make some homemade decorations. If you’re missing clubs or bar crawls and want to recreate it, you can turn each room of your house into a different themed space, maybe with different cocktails, or drinking games in each. In one night, you can go from under the sea, to the circus, to Vensday, something you couldn’t do if you weren’t celebrating in your own home! Why not plan your perfect Instagram picture in front of them? Anything to make you feel good on your special day.

Food:

For me, food is the most important part of my birthday, whether that be in lockdown or not. Your favourite restaurant might not be open, but you can recreate the dishes from home or see if they do delivery. Starting off the day with a special breakfast could help you begin the day with excitement rather than contemplating on what couldn’t happen. Whether this be pancakes, a full English or a bottomless brunch at 9am, as long as you love it, and it makes you feel special then why not? There are so many options for food for the rest of the day. Many restaurants and cafés are delivering hampers to create an afternoon tea from home, some including the china teapots and cake stands. Another opportunity which you could only do celebrating from your own home is ordering each course of your dinner from a different restaurant, in your birthday lockdown there are no limits on booking tables! To spice things up, you could even turn it into a ‘Come Dine with Me’ style competition, and have each of your household make a different course! If you are looking to make your own restaurant-style food at home, check out our ‘Fakeaway series’, which can provide you with some inspiration! The final part of your birthday has to involve a cake. There are some great cakes to be found in the supermarket, like the classic Colin the Caterpillar. Or you can have a bake off with your housemates - who can create the perfect showstopper? It might involve too much cake for one household, but personally that seems like a pretty good problem to have!

How ever you decide to spend your birthday, whether you are lucky enough to be with your friends or family in real life or online, make the most of the opportunities you do have. Even if you are disappointed with cancelled plans, another year of you should be celebrated and cherished and hopefully you will get to make up for your lost plans next year.