Turning Seven: Improvising a Birthday Party

Like many other children, Miss T will not be having a traditional birthday party this year. At least, not the kind with kids running amok, fun and games, and a rousing rendition of happy birthday sung around a candle-lit cake.

Miss T’s parents feel she and her friends are too young to do well with a Zoom party, and drive-by parties may cause her to miss her friends all the more, as they glimpse each other through car windows.

So, instead, we’re doing a family Zoom party with just grandma, grandpa, and Uncle Cal. As she does each year, Miss T will decorate birthday cupcakes. Her parents will drop some by in advance, so we can sing happy birthday and eat cake together, virtually.

Make a Party Pack for the Birthday Guests

Every party needs at least one fun activity, so I’ve put together a party pack with everything that’s required. Each guest and the birthday girl will be making a simple toy I’m calling, pom pom cannons.

I found the idea on the Curious Jane website, where they are called confetti launchers. There is even a page of tips for holding a Zoom birthday party on the site. Curious Jane promotes activities built around science, engineering, and design, and Miss T has attended a few of their summer camps.

I like the pom pom cannon idea because it’s quick and easy to execute and it’s an activity we can all do together, even from separate locations.

Contents for the Party Pack

The original confetti launchers are made with a paper cup base. I didn’t have any paper cups, so I substituted toilet paper rolls, and they worked quite well. I’m always saving cardboard rolls, looking for ways I can use them for craft projects with the grandkids.

Another idea to celebrate a birthday is to make LEGO-shaped gummy candy together.

Materials Needed for Pom Pom Cannons

• Toilet paper roll for each participant
• Acrylic paints
• Paint brush
• Balloon for each participant
• Colored marking pens, stickers, stick-on jewels and googly eyes, and other decorations
• Pom poms, Styrofoam packing peanuts, confetti, or any small, light items that can be launched from the cannon

What to Do

Paint the toilet paper rolls with acrylic paints. You want to do this in advance, so there’s no waiting for the rolls to dry at party time. Pack the painted toilet paper rolls, balloons, and pens in your party pack bag. (I used a small shopping bag and decorated it with contrasting card stock.)

Use a small sandwich bag to package the stickers and other small decorations to keep them contained. Pack the pompoms or whatever will serve as “ammunition” in a second sandwich bag. Put the two plastic bags into the party pack bag. Your kit is ready for pickup by the family in advance of the party.

Be sure you have a set of all the components for the remote guests, too, so everyone can make a pom pom cannon together.

How to Assemble

At party time, when you are ready to begin the project, have parents distribute a toilet paper roll to each participant. Prepare a finished pom pom cannon ahead of time and demonstrate how it works so the kids understand what they are making.

Now have each participant decorate their toilet paper roll with marking pens, stickers and any other decorative items from the party pack. Be sure to keep one end of the toilet paper roll, up to a fourth of the way, free, because you will be covering it with the balloon.

Next, have the child’s parent snip the top of each balloon, cutting across, about 1/4-inch from the tip.

Have the child stretch the balloon over the undecorated end of the toilet paper roll; knot the neck of the balloon for the child.

Distribute the pompoms so children can play with their pom pom cannon.

How to Launch the Pom Poms

Load the pom pom into the toilet paper roll. Pull back on the neck of the balloon to stretch it back tightly, then let it go to send the pom pom flying out of the tube.

Notes

• I used 9-inch latex balloons, the unblown length was just under 4 1/2 inches.
• You can buy a bag of pom poms, but they’re very easy to make using a dinner fork and some scrap yarn.
• Here are ways to make confetti. However, if you choose to load your cannon with confetti, be prepared for the mess.

Will your child or grandchild be missing a traditional birthday party this year? What alternative ways do you plan to celebrate?

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