Despite the country unlocking, so we can now move around in our neighbourhoods, I think we can ALL agree that 2020 has not been great for socialising.

As a nation, we know we are doing the correct thing by staying apart from our loved ones, keeping them safe. However, with each day that passes, it becomes increasingly difficult to be apart.

The most difficult people for me to be away from is my family. Last week, I was on video call to my 5 year old cousin who I hadn’t seen since February. An uneasy feeling swept over me as I told him that I was not able to properly celebrate his 6th birthday with him this year. I felt a part of my heart ache, as I watched his face drop. It was AWFUL.

Even though he had understood the concept of social distancing, it still sucked that I couldn’t give him a hug on his birthday or even be in the same room as him. As a family, we knew we had to do something creative from a far to celebrate.

5 lockdown birthday ideas

Here’s what we did to make the day feel super special for my cousin, even though he was trapped indoors:

My cousin loves to read, so the family came together to send a special message through a photo montage.

We held up blank pieces of paper and then wrote a story on these pages - he loved it!

I created a video with birthday messages from family members across the world. Cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents - Everyone was involved!

We compiled all the videos sent from family members into one big video using inshot app/splice app and sent it on whatsapp to his parents. He watched the video on his parent’s mobile.

As he was stuck indoors all day, I wanted to play a game with him.

I delivered his presents to his parents’ house and asked them to hide the gifts around the house.

I then created 6 videos as it was his 6th birthday. Each video included a clue as to where his next gift could be found.

This game kept him entertained for over an hour and he loved the Peppa Pig wrapping paper!

I wore full PPE and stood outside his window in the pouring heavy monsoon rain to wish him a happy birthday. It was so fun to see his epic reaction to the scavenger hunt!

Even though we couldn’t hug, it was the best feeling to see each other through the window.

The whole family went live on google meet to sing Happy Birthday and watch him blow out his birthday candles.

When I asked him what he wished for - he said for corona virus to be gone in 1 minute. So adorable!