In the time when quarantine involves the whole world, it is quite hard to keep the usual pace of life. We have to pull ourselves together and bring as much color into our lives as possible. Nobody ever knew that the time of such a regime could ever come.
Anyway, it is for our safety, and we should remember that life goes on. Especially when we are talking about pregnant women. We should make them feel happy and needed all the time.
When parents can already know the gender of their child, why not organize a virtual baby shower. There are so many cool baby shower ideas that parents-to-be will be excited about. This is a special ritual that will unite you, and the social distance will not be an obstacle.
Where to start?
Virtual baby showers differ from the usual ones. It is more complicated to plan it and then to perform it.However, it is still real and can go off with a bang.
If you do not know where to start, we created a great plan to help you out. In fact, it is quite easy thanks to modern technology.
1. First of all, you have to decide on a date. It is better to choose the weekend and make sure that your guests have a day off or do not have other parties (e.g., their own birthday or anniversary). In a couple of days or weeks, call Mom and double-check the date again.
Pregnant women are often changeable and can forget to tell you the new convenient date for them. Also, send a reminder to guests in a couple of days before the party.
When the date is approved, you can make a list of guests. You are a close person to parents-to-be. So, you, probably, know who is going to be invited to the virtual baby shower.
Make a list by yourself first and then check it with the future parents. When the list is approved and final, make sure that you have guests’ email addresses as you will send them virtual invitations.
2. Second of all, if you have a million ideas on how to organize the baby shower party, you should set a budget. Think carefully about what you really need and already have, and what you should buy additionally. Since it is going to be a virtual one, then you need to set a budget for decorations, materials for activities, and gifts.
3. Send invitations. Make sure that you indicated there the correct date and the platform for the video connection. If you have some specific remarks (e.g., the color of decoration or clothing), do not forget to include them in the invitation as well.
After the invitations are sent, you should call each guest to make sure that they received it. It is one more chance to establish communication with your friends and relatives as you are going to have a small talk.
4. Think about baby shower themes, activities, and games. Remember that your task is to get everyone involved and to make it bright, interesting, and vivid.
5. Make a list of baby shower party favors. When you are done with planning games and activities for the party, determine what favors the winners will get.
Check our Awesome Baby Shower Activities and learn what kind of activities to choose, that is focused around the mother and the baby to be born.
You should think about it in advance as it can take a while to order and receive them. Besides, it is a great way to thank everybody for their presence and participation. These little presents will make everyone feel happy.
Here we got a list of some cute favors which you should get for your party: a cup with funny coffee sayings; fridge magnets with your mutual photos; your nice mutual photos printed on wooden memory coasters; wine glasses with a small bottle of wine; a piece of soap which smells like a flower; a nice big shopper. You should prepare a present for everyone. That is why you can choose who receives what.
How to connect?
A video connection is one of the most important things that you should take care of. If the connection is poor, the virtual baby shower can fail. So, you have to choose the most convenient application of the video connection for everyone.
It can be Google Hangouts, Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, or some other ways. There are a lot of good online platforms to choose from. Just think about the platform which most of your friends usually use.
When you are done with choosing the application, you should check its ability to be used for organizing online parties. Make sure that this platform will connect all of you. If someone is not that tech-savvy, help them to understand how it works.
So, once everyone can see all guests on their screen, be sure that it is already a successful beginning of the party.
Check our Hosting A Sip And See A Baby Shower After Baby Is Born. Read on to decide if Sip and See is the right thing for you!
How to choose the theme of the baby shower, and how to decorate the room?
This stage of planning the baby shower is also very important. Themes differ if it is a girl baby shower or boy baby shower.
If it is a girl, you can choose the theme of castles, princesses, queens, and kings. Everything should be in light pink colors. If it is a boy, you’d better organize a party of cars.
In fact, the best idea is to make the baby shower party on the theme of fairy-tale or cartoon heroes.
You know, brainstorming is a great way to get a lot of random ideas. You should write them down. Later on, check them again, and you will decide on the topic.
You can also check this list of your ideas with parents-to-be. Probably, they have their own preferences and will simply tell you the theme. So, you will not have to rack your brains over it.
You should also decorate the whole room to make it atmospheric or at least one corner, which will be visible on the camera. The background should be decorated with balloons and some baby’s photos. Place a table with the candy bar near it as well.
A great idea will be if you ask everyone to wear clothing of the same style or color (for example, blue shirts if it is a boy, or pink T-shirts if it is a girl).
In fact, you can skip the decoration of the whole room, but then there will be no atmosphere at the party. So, you can decorate only that part which is in front of the camera. You can send a decoration box for the guests and ask them just to decorate their corners.
It will bring a celebratory mood. You can put different stuff in there: balloons, stripes, cards for games you are going to play, pink or blue napkins, etc.
Did you also know that some platforms (e.g., Zoom) already have a cute virtual background, particularly for the virtual baby shower? It is very convenient and looks pretty cool. You can choose the one that you like the most and send the link for that background to your guests as well.
What to play?
Here you need to be creative. It is better if you think about games that do not require additional printed materials. It is OK if participators need a pencil or a pen.
If some cards are still needed, you can send them together with the invitation cards. Another way out is to play a game where you can use some online resources.
Also, we got a few ideas of interesting games to add to your scenario of the baby shower party. Before it starts, make sure that everything is prepared for the games beforehand.
- Mom or Dad? Ask your guests to write MOM and Dad on two separate sheets of paper. Think about some interesting questions (e.g., Who will change more diapers? Who will wake up during the night more?). Read the question you made up and ask your guests to raise the MOM or DAD card as the answer. Then collect the results and discuss them. This game is really funny.
- Guess the Baby Tune. You can search for some baby songs on the Internet and make the competition of who guesses the name of the song first.
- How well do you know mom? You should prepare a virtual card with questions about mom. For example, when does she have her birthday? What is her favorite food during pregnancy? At the baby shower party, demonstrate this card on the screen and have fun all together.
What to do with gifts?
Baby shower gifts are the most pleasant and intriguing part of the baby shower party. As a rule, presents are for the future baby. You should tell guests the gender of the baby.
Then they are sure that they choose the right gift according to whether it is a boy or a girl. Of course, there are some always necessary presents like diapers, swaddling clothes, hygiene products for newborns, or any other useful items for the future baby.
Here we gathered some baby shower gifts, which will be appropriate both for boys and girls.
- Warm hoodies. Such presents will be useful, especially if cold seasons are coming. They look cute and fashionable.
- Toys for bathing. Children grow up very quickly, but this gift will come in handy for children of different ages.
- A memory book. It is an unusual gift. There are places for photos and for comments. Parents will take pictures of their cute little ones and can write down some funny stories. They can present this memory book to their child when they turn 18. Their son or daughter will definitely be touched by such a great memory of their childhood.
- Child Carrier Backpack. That is the best present for parents who cannot imagine their lives without active rest somewhere in the forest or mountains. It is very convenient. Even after the child is born, their way of life won’t have any restrictions because parents can take their baby with them in the child carrier backpack.
- Soft blanket for the baby. It is a great present that mom will use all the time, no matter what season it is outside. Knowing the gender of the baby, choose the appropriate printing.
Frankly speaking, you can even talk to parents about what presents they would like to receive as they may already have some things (like the child carrier backpack). Or you can tell guests what they should not consider as a present for future-to-be parents. Besides, communicate with everyone about baby shower gifts in order to avoid duplicated gifts.
Check our How to Find a Perfect Baby Shower Gift. Discover the perfect baby shower gift, and some things you might want to consider!
Some other entertainments
One more thing you can include in planning your virtual baby shower party is a guestbook. It is one more chance to show your creativity. The most convenient way is to create a nice google form with questions that guests should answer.
You will share the link with every person and get the results of your inquiry. The biggest advantage of google forms is that you get the results gathered in one document.
However, if you want to add more colors and make the virtual guestbook brighter and cuter, it is better to create a PowerPoint presentation. You can decorate each slide with pictures or photos.
Write some questions on each slide. For example, what is your advice for mom? What do you wish for parents-to-be?
Surely, the presentation will take more time to create it, but it looks much more interactive than the google form.
Now, let us discuss some common mistakes that people make while planning the virtual baby shower.
Mistake #1 – not using modern technologies.
Nowadays, we can do a lot of things using modern technologies. It is very easy and quick. You can find a good website, where there are a lot of already created options:
- baby shower invitations (you can also keep track of the invitation you sent);
- virtual games;
- virtual quizzes;
- private video and photo album that you can download after the baby shower; and many other interesting things for entertainment.
Organize a video call. Zoom Conferences are very popular today and seem a good way to have a long virtual meeting. The option of Facebook Call is also not bad. Both of them are on your phone or laptop. So, they are really convenient.
Mistake #2 – Add more reality to the virtual baby shower
Your task is to make this party interesting and get everyone involved in it. You have to give everyone the feeling as if the baby shower is not virtual, but you are in one room having fun all together.
Before the baby shower, you can send real cute invitations. It will definitely make everyone smile. After the baby shower, you can send thank you cards to everyone who participated.
At the beginning of the baby shower, when the virtual connection is set, you can start with small talks and continue with a couple of real games. There are a lot of games with cards.
So, when you send invitations, you can also send some additional cards for the game you are going to play at the party. Just search on the Internet for some free printable baby shower games, and you will find a lot of interesting ideas.
Presents! Baby shower gifts are the best part. Of course, you can send them to parents-to-be before the virtual baby shower.
However, it would be more interesting if all guests describe their gifts and congratulate parents-to-be on the camera. You can keep the intrigue and ask everyone to send baby shower presents after the party.
Check our How to Assemble an Adorable Gift Basket for Your Next Baby Shower. Read on to know the things to consider in assembling your gift basket!
Mistake #3 – You do not care much about baby shower decoration
Your virtual baby shower must be atmospheric and aesthetic. To achieve it, you should look for baby shower decoration ideas. Make sure that your decoration of the room attracts and gives the feeling as if everyone is present at the baby shower physically, not virtually.
There are lots of ideas on Instagram or Pinterest for girl and boy baby shower decorations. Think about the color of the background on your video; add balloons and stripes of pleasant colors. Mostly the gender of the future child is hidden in the color of the cake.
So, organize a special corner with baby shower centerpieces. There are so many baby shower cakes. A diaper cake is probably the most popular.
So, place it in the middle. And put the baby shower party favors around the cake.
Since it is a virtual baby shower party, you do not need to prepare a separate table for champagne and fruits. You can put everything on one table. `just ask to fill glasses and say a toast.
Mistake #4 – You do not make list for the virtual baby shower
Make a couple of lists for each stage of your baby shower party. You should have a list of guests, baby shower favors, things to buy or make for activities.
Many of us neglect this type of management. However, if you have those lists, you are sure that nothing is left behind. You will not be stressed during preparation and will have fun at the virtual baby shower together with everyone.
Check our How to Throw a Great Baby Shower? In this guide, you will learn the best things you can do for an effective and successful Baby Shower!
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