A new baby is a great reason to celebrate with friends and family—whether that little one is about to be born or already here. These tips for virtual baby bashes, whether they’re showers or sip and sees, are great to keep in mind when you’re not celebrating in person or any time grandma or grandpa, or any friends and family, are far away. All you need is an ipad, smart phone, or computer and a bundle of joy, and you’re ready to get everyone together virtually to share the love.
For Baby Showers
Even if you can’t be there in person, you can shower the mom-to-be with love virtually. This event is about the parent(s) sitting back and being celebrated, which means it’s her friends’ and family’s time to get creative with a personalized celebration. You can create your own on Zoom, FaceTime, or Skype gathering or find a site that does it for you such as use a hosting site like webbabyshower.com. Either way, a party in cyberspace can still have all kinds of baby-centric fun, from decor to toasts! Here’s how:
SET THE TONE
Music, decor, invitations—it all adds up to a fun, festive party in cyberspace.
—Make Decor Easy as ABC: Download, print, and cut out our letter block templates and you can:
Use them as straw toppers—have everyone print out a letter and turn it into a straw topper for a milk and cookies snack during the party, whether the hosts send each guest cookies in a care package ahead of time, or everyone comes prepared with their own milk and cookies. The hostesses can even send e-gift cards ahead (Visa has virtual ones you can design with a photo of your choice) so guests can treat themselves to something sweet.
-Turn them into cake or cupcake toppers like in the photo above (for more info, click here)
-Make a phrase (each person can print a letter, use it to top a cupcake, and hold them up one at a time to spell WELCOME BABY or the baby’s name)
-String together a garland (all letters are available so that you can write out any phrase)
—Create a Background: A custom Zoom backdrop adds an element of fun. You can use our block letter template above, which is easy to download and fit into a Zoom backdrop (for how-to instructions, click here). Or use a picture of the parents-to-be as babies, a simple pink or blue screen, or any downloadable image from a farm to a fairy tale castle or a landscape that lets you set the scene somewhere—Paris is always a good idea for any bébé. Whatever you pick, email the link to all guests so that everyone has the same backdrop.
Pick a Theme. Not only will this help with invitations and decorating, it can set a fun tone for guest involvement, too. If the theme is Peter Rabbit, everyone can drink carrot juice and wear a bunny hat (find a template to make one here). If the party has an ABC or children’s book theme, everyone can share the name of their favorite children’s book, or show the cover. (If you order a copy sent to the mama’s house as a gift, this can be a preview.)
-Do Something! Build the party around an activity that you can all do “together” virtually. That could be a calligraphy, embroidery, cooking, or yoga. Send everyone kits ahead, hire an expert to lead a virtual class, or if one of you has a particular skill, they can teach the others—from quilting to painting to origami. You could make nursery decor for the baby together, whether you’re coloring onesies with fabric markers or needle felting mini stuffed animals or squares to be sewn together for a baby blanket, depending on how crafty your crew is. Or, call it a spa day and send ahead other face masks each guest can do during the party or to relax later on. You can also make it a tea party and send ahead personalized tea bags. For more things to do or send ahead, see ideas below.
- Embroidery Kit, 2. Virtual Calligraphy Class and Set, 3. Flower Delivery, 4. Personalized Tea Bags, 5. Cannoli Kit, 6. Cookie Tin, 7. Color Me Cookie Tin, 8. Face Mask Set
Watch a Movie! Make it a Netflix party and watch a baby-themed movie together. It could be:
- —Baby Boom
- —What to Expect When You’re Expecting
- —Nine Months
- —Three Men and a Baby
- —Boss Baby
- —Baby Mama
- —Mr. Mom
- —Raising Arizona
- —Father of the Bride II
—Start Their Library: Everyone can email the host their favorite book from when they were a child, and they can order them all from Amazon or a local bookstore to be delivered to the parents and jump start the baby’s library. During the zoom, each guest can explain why they love their pick, and any other advice about children’s books they remember about reading bedtime stories from being a kid or a mom, such as taking turns reading lines as the child learns to read.
Be Hosts with the Most. Each close friend of the honoree can play a part; one can send the evites, another can be the “MC” and run the order of events, a third can plan virtual games. Decide what kind of virtual celebration you want it to be; if it’s a chance for all your friends, relatives, and in-laws to celebrate the happy news, the more the merrier! But if you really want to be able to talk, keep the shower fairly small to one friend or family group—college friends can host one shower, relatives another for example. And since space, budget or travel can limit the number of people who can come to an in-person gathering, a virtual alternative is a nice way to share the joy and opens up the “party” to more people; Grandma might host a zoom for her friends to meet the new grandbaby.
Send Decor! Download, print, and cut out these cute clouds, smiling suns, and charming caterpillars, and send them to the guest of honor, along with a cake or some stackable sweets like donuts or muffins, so she can personalize her party. (For templates, click here.) You can ask friends and relatives to email you pictures of the parents-to-be from babyhood to almost-parenthood, print them out and turn them into black-and-white photo garlands and even party hats to send so you can send along a Party in A Box. Or, send guests a link to the templates and they can make their own custom party hats featuring baby pics of the parents or themselves to wear during the zoom. (Click here for the how to and templates.)
Have the Party Delivered! Send the parents-to-be—and any grandparents, family, or close friends who might be celebrating with them—a sweet delivery; look up local bakeries and place an order to be dropped off as a surprise. You can also have something savory sent from a nearby restaurant, champagne from a liquor store, smoothies from a juice bar—the possibilities are endless! Plus it’s always nice to support local businesses.
—Play Some Tunes. If you’re just a handful of people on the zoom, and will be unmuted the whole time—or if you plan to be crafting and there will be silent “work” time—the hostess might put together a playlist of songs featuring the word “Baby” like:
- Baby Love by the Supremes
- Be My Baby by the Ronnettes
- Don’t Worry Baby by the Beach Boys
- Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice
- Baby I Love You by the Ramones
- Baby I Need Your Lovin’ by Johnny Rivers
- Baby I Love You by Jennifer Lopez
- Or, if you’re having a girl, consider songs like Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” and Beyoncé’s “Who Runs the World.” For a Boy, mix in Estelle’s “American Boy” and Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back In Town.”
—Spread the News: If the parents already know the gender and want to share it in a “gender reveal,” they can change screen background to pink or blue for the announcement. Another option: slice into a cake with pink or blue icing. Or, put together a color-coded flowering tree centerpiece; use our cherry blossom instructions, white paper napkins, and blue or pink paint or food coloring.
Time Travel: Assign every guest a different age—three months, six months, a year—and have them write a letter to the parents or the baby to be opened as the child grows.
Share the Love: At such a special moment in the parents-to-be lives, it’s natural that they might want to spread some joy to others. In order to do that, guests might consider making donations to the Good+ Foundation which works to end family poverty, Buy2Baby which provides essentials like diapers to babies in need, or Operation Showers of Appreciation, which hosts baby showers for military families. Or, during the party, everyone could write letters to pediatric cancer patients to be mailed through organizations like the Scarlett Fund or I See Me’s Letters of Love program.
HAVE FUN (AND GAMES!)
-Give Advice. Ask each guest to take turns giving a little something from the heart: wise counsel! You can even write the tips out as a sweet souvenir for the parents. One of the hosts can email a link to this onesie template for each of the attendees to print and fill out. Everyone can take turns reading theirs, and the finished versions can be sent to the mom post-party to decorate the baby’s nursery. You can also print out a few to stick on the wall behind you during the call! Or, each guest can print out the blank template and decorate a onesie to hang in the baby’s room.
-Press Record! Don’t forget to hit zoom’s record option for the event so that the parents and baby can listen to it in the future; you can edit it to just the advice-giving section, or any other special moment, later. Think of it as your video guest book!
-Stand and Deliver Before you take a screenshot to commemorate the event, have the mom-to-be stand up so the baby bump makes it into the photo!
-Write a Round-Robin Letter. Assign a scribe to write down what everyone says as each guest speaks a sentence of a letter out loud (or start a Google doc and everyone can write their own sentence). The letter can welcome the baby to the world or offer advice, encouragement, and congratulations to the parents.
—Guess Who’s Who: Think of it as the ultimate TBT! Ask every guest to send the host their baby picture. He or she can make a slideshow to show as a screenshare or and everyone can try to figure out who is who. The person with the most correct matches wins. Or, show pictures of the parents-to-be as babies and guests can guess who is who.
—Share a Signature Drink: It can be a smoothie, a healthy juice, a mocktail or cocktail. One guest can guide the crew in blending smoothies or mixing their own Babytinis or Momosas, made virgin with seltzer or boozy with prosecco so there’s something for everyone. Muddling Memories can lead the group in mixing drinks together (they send a kit ahead of time with all the ingredients). Or, you can send a signature drink. If you’ve got enough time before the event, and it’s a small enough group, mail everyone a package—you could even color-code them; a mini bottle of rosé or split of La Marca prosecco, which has a blue label. Then everyone can take turns toasting the baby.
—Tell the Future. Start a Google Doc and have everyone fill in their predictions on the date and time the baby will be born, and/or their guesses as to the height/weight and sex of the baby, plus first and middle name. Then when the baby’s born you can see who was right!
—Play a Game. A whole round of activities will get confusing quickly on a screen, so if you’re planning on games, pick one that will work well remotely, like Baby Bingo (you can find free, downloadable cards online), or The Price is Right, in which the “host” can collect images of baby items from car seats to onesies, and show them on the screen; guests can estimate the cost of each item and whoever gets closest to the actual total wins. Other fun options are baby-themed charades (where you act out the title of a movie or I’m a Little Teapot), 20 Questions (“Are you used for changing diapers?” Would I find you in the nursery?”), or Name That Tune (play a few bars of songs from kids’ movies or tv shows, have every guest write down the title, and read aloud the answers at the end to see who recognized the most).
-Make History. Ask every guest to bring an item to put into a time capsule for the baby to open on their 18th birthday. It can be themed around “The Year You Were Born”—think local newspapers, pictures taken this year, a printout of the lyrics to the song everyone is singing or a thumb drive with a video of advice for the future.
For a Virtual Sip & See
This is an event built around a special guest star—the baby! And as The Lion King has taught us all, holding up a newborn in front of an adoring audience brings tears of joy to everyone’s eye. While many of the ideas in the Baby Shower section above work for a Sip and See as well, this party is basically a big chance to say, “Welcome to the world, it’s nice to meet you!” Here are some ways to introduce your newest love to your longtime loved ones, even if they can’t meet in person.
Make an Announcement. The proud parents, grandparents or siblings can download our Newsborn “newspaper” announcement, fill it in, and send to guests along with the evite. Or, send it after the party (either scan and email or pop in the mail) after the virtual gathering as a souvenir.
– Play the Name Game. The parents can share the story behind the baby’s name, birth, or any other important information.
-Make a Wish. Guests can print out our alphabet blocks, and write their names and well-wishes on the back, so that they can be strung into a sweet garland for the baby’s nursery after the party. The host can assign each person a letter in advance, so that the finished garland spells out “Welcome, Baby!” (or any personalized message) or shows the letters of the alphabet.
-Sip Something. These instructions are right in the name of the party—you’re supposed to see the baby and Sip something fun! Pick a drink that’s a play on the newborn’s name (a Baby Mary, Jim & Tonic, Kimlet or Isabellini) or has some other significance (a Manhattan for a baby born in NYC, a French 75 if the parents babymooned in Paris). Send everyone the recipe ahead of time and make sure you’re all set to toast.
-Tell Baby A Story. Ask each guest to send their most beloved children’s book to the host; Each person can take turns sharing why it’s their favorite. If they have the book at home (or can find the first page online) they can read the first line of their pick to create a new, special story just for this baby, made out of everyone’s favorites.
-Read Baby a Book. Have everyone take a video of themselves reading a bedtime story and collect them in a folder. Then share the folder to the parents to play for the baby later on. (Use a file transfer service to email bigger files)
-Share Some Advice. Have every guest come prepared with advice from a book they love or person they admire (that could be The Little Prince or Ruth Bader Ginsburg) to read out loud. Record the call so that the baby can watch these words of wisdom again and again—and it will be a video guest book of the party.
-Follow Up. After the call, the parents can send everyone their very first message from the baby—a photo scan of the baby’s sweet little hand saying “Hi, nice to meet you,” or foot with a note explaining that the little one is eager to follow in the footsteps of his or her parents’ favorite people.
