Lockdown birthday ideas for teenagers

There are a lot of people asking us for lockdown birthday ideas for teenagers at the moment and we’re not surprised. We all want to make those teen birthdays so special at the best of times. And right now, in the middle of lockdown, it’s a challenge to do anything amazing.

But with a bit of planning, it’s certainly possible to make the birthday boy or girl feel thoroughly spoiled on the big day. We’ve put together some suggestions that (together with the promise of a HUGE party once life is back to normal!) will make sure that their birthday is one to remember.

All the treats

Teens never seem to grow out of a love of sweet treats (who does?!), so plenty of goodies will make their birthday shine.

We love the large Faves Box from Carway’s Candy. It contains a whopping 1kg of their most popular sweets, which certainly isn’t something you’d have every day!

A fabulous birthday cake can be hard to get hold of right now. So we think these brilliant Cake Pots from Cracking Cakes are genius! Each cupcake sized cake comes in its own little plastic tub, which is fully recyclable and has a tamper-evident lid. There’s a choice of tasty flavours and fillings and they can be decorated to suit any occasion. Delivered to your door by first class post, the Cake Pots seal freshness in, so are perfect to order ahead. They’re also brilliant for doorstep deliveries to friends and families to help them join in the celebrations!

You can never have too many decorations…

Another thing teens never get too old for are balloons. And nothing says ‘birthday’ like coming downstairs to a room full of balloons and decorations. Girls love them as they’re fantastic for those all-important birthday selfies. Boys might roll their eyes, but they’ll kick, bounce and throw them around happily for days after the big event. It might be annoying to blow up a whole load but it makes a great display without spending a fortune.

And the more birthday banners, metallic tinsel door curtains, fairy lights and anything else that looks festive, the better!

If you want to go one better, why not get a custom wooden wall sign with a special birthday message? We love the ones from Rowan & Fox. Perfect as a lasting reminder of their special day, too.

Happy Birthday from all of us

So the house looks great, you’ve got a sugar rush ready – how else can you add a bit of lockdown magic? What’s worked really well for our teens and their friends is getting in touch with as many of their mates as possible (in strict secrecy of course) and asking them to video a birthday message. Edit them together and it makes for a very special moment on the day. A best mate or boyfriend/girlfriend can come in very handy here!

Here’s just a tiny clip of the video that Anna’s daughter Izzy opened on her birthday recently, which made us all cry.

Another top tip from our friends at Nutmeg Studio is to organise everyone who’s local to “heart attack” your front door with hearts or notes with birthday messages on them. A really lovely surprise and a way for everyone to get involved.

Plan, plan, plan

It’s important that the day feels as jam-packed with activities as possible.

Arrange Zoom calls/quizzes/themed activities with as many groups as you can. Keep them short and sweet and very well-organised. Everyone making the same mocktail for a toast, or singing happy birthday while candles are being blown out works well. A multiple-choice quiz put together by or about the birthday girl or boy (favourite colour, dream holiday destination, spirit animal – you know the kind of thing) is very entertaining too.

Buy a new game to play – an escape room at home or a fun card game. Rent the newest and hottest movie that’s out there.

Plan the menu in advance and cook their dream breakfast and perfect lunch. Order a takeaway from their favourite restaurant for the evening if you can.

Dress up and take some fab family photos – for once, they’re not going anywhere so you have all the time in the world to record the occasion!

We can’t believe that we’re still talking about this, when nearly a year ago Jack wrote about Celebrating my 17th birthday in lockdown. But at least we’ve been able to pull together some tried and tested lockdown birthday ideas for teenagers and we really hope they help you create a very special day.

Louise & Anna x