Making Kids’ Birthdays Extra Special During Lockdown. It’s a Piece of Cake!

In many ways we were spared the party planning (and expense!) of a big class party, but still wanted to make it super fun and memorable. Ever since Sho Madjozi introduced John Cena into our lives, our boys have been obsessed with wrestling – they eat, breathe and sleep it. My feelings about wrestling aside, I’ll admit that it has been a healthy outlet of energy for them and, you guessed it, Judah knew without a doubt what kind of birthday he wanted – WWE! Non-essential shops are closed so no presents or décor could be bought, but the husband and I stretched our creativity muscles to rustle together a WWE-themed celebration for the birthday boy. All it took was some out-of-the-ring thinking and a Google search for ‘easy wrestling party’ to get inspired.

I made a delicious, box mix yet slightly wonky ‘Kid Chaos’ wrestling ring cake with red icing, red liquorice, paper straws and a paper cut-out of Kid Chaos – the hero of Netflix’s latest wrestling-themed family movie release – The Main Event.

If your child is as eager about wrestling as Judah, here are some resources to get you ready to rumble with a wrestling-themed lockdown birthday: wrestling ring cake inspiration, WWE-themed colouring and activity sheets and a video of John Cena singing happy birthday.

• Plan a treasure hunt. Hide small gifts around the house and watch the excitement.
• Set up a sundae decorating station: Complete with nuts, sprinkles, chocolate sauce and serve ice cream for breakfast (c’mon, it’s just once a year!).
• Let them wear their pyjamas all day. I’m sure you remember how fun it was for us as kids.
• Create ‘love vouchers’. These can be redeemed either during or after lockdown – for activities like a family walk, an hour of screen time, baking with mom, a bike ride with dad, a favourite meal or a visit to their favourite restaurant after lockdown.
• Ask your child’s classmates to WhatsApp through some birthday messages. Stitch them together for one beautiful video of wishes.
• Recreate a special dinner experience from your child’s favourite restaurant or play them the Spur birthday song! Better yet, learn the song and perform it live.

If you’re looking for the easiest party cake recipes, different themes and inspiration, catch a few simple recipe hacks here. A quick search on Pinterest will give you free printables of every party theme imaginable!

Let’s tag back into the wrestling theme. We decorated the lounge with some well-used red bunting, and customised it with printed out birthday memes and pictures of Judah’s favourite superstars, to transform our house into a party venue. It was such a treat to spend the whole day together as a family and to not have to rush through celebrations before school. 

The big day started with a socially distanced ‘Happy Birthday’ sung by all our neighbours in the complex (with piano accompaniment from our musical friend next door), followed by hours of mock trampoline wrestling, no school whatsoever, virtual video chats with school friends and family, and a few repurposed gifts dug out from the bottom of my present drawer. This birthday was nothing fancy, but it was a smackdown.

It turns out that it doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg to celebrate your child well, and that the clichéd saying that L-O-V-E is spelt T-I-M-E is true.

 

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