How to plan the perfect online Zoom Birthday party:

Planning a Zoom Birthday party? Making your child’s Birthday special during lockdown is still possible! If you have the budget there are lots of options for hiring an entertainer. If you want to have a go at doing it yourself, we have put together this article to share some of our tips and tricks which we find useful whilst running our Children’s Frozen and Descendants Zoom parties online. 

1) Have a paid account 

If you can use a paid account on Zoom, you will get many extra features such as chat, breakout rooms, spotlighting and having the option of going over free 40 mins without kicking everyone out. https://zoom.us/pricing

2) Be in control of the tech

Whether you have a paid account or not, you need to be in control of how it works. Make sure you have some practise meetings with friends or family to test out options. Muting all is a must whilst you’re explaining games etc. Spotlighting can also be really useful for some games and if you want to break off into smaller groups to prepare stuff and all return together afterward, breakout rooms are fab too.

3) Give people something to do

People like to know what is going on and feel more comfortable joining your party if you have told them what to expect and what is expected of them. For example, you could ask everyone to come in fancy dress, wear a wig, prepare a song, draw a picture to share. This keeps the party interactive, which is especially important for younger children who can get distracted very easily.  

4) Sort out the audio settings

If you are using music, be sure to fix the audio settings so you don’t sound like you’re playing your speaker under water. There is a great video here which will help with your audio settings in relation to playing music.

 

5) Make sure you and all your guests are connected to power

Quite obvious, but don’t forget to plug in!! Zoom uses huge amounts of battery and will run most devices out of juice if you’re on there for too long. 

6) Embrace the time lag

There will be a time lag, so don’t plan anything which requires people being in time, for example the Birthday song. You can still sing it, of course, but just make sure everyone knows what to expect. I usually ask people to just sing their hearts out and don’t worry what it sounds like, it’s actually quite funny!!!

7) Plan a beginning, middle and end!

As with all parties, plan plan plan!! Make sure you introduce people to the concept and talk through any tech issues at the beginning. Have games and activities planned for the middle (and always have twice as much as you need, because there’s nothing worse than running out of ideas before time!!!) Most importantly don’t forget to plan something for the ending. This way people don’t just trickle out of the party awkwardly towards the end without really knowing what’s going on.

 

All of these pointers are just to help you run the tech of a Zoom party, but remember the elements of usual party planning that need to be considered. See our blog on planning a kids party here for more ideas on themes, music, games etc. 

 

Pop Star Performers are currently running Descendants themed Birthday parties for older children which include singing, dancing, acting and games and we are also doing meet and greets with Elsa for the little ones. Please get in contact if you would like us to run your party for you 🙂 

 

Thanks for listening,