We are all seriously affected by the covid pandemic and many social events have been cancelled in a bid to stop the spread of the virus, which includes weddings, funerals and baby showers. If you are a new parent and would like to celebrate the home arrival of mother and baby, why not arrange a virtual baby shower?
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VoIP Solutions
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solutions allow for audio and video to be sent and received via the Internet and the most popular application is Zoom, which can be downloaded free from their website. There are many powerful features which includes file sharing and a whiteboard and planning your baby shower is easy if you follow our instructions.
Download & Share the Application
First you, the host, must download and install the VoIP software, familiarising yourself with the program, then when you create your guest list, you need to send an instructional email to each, with step-by-step instructions on downloading and using the program. Include a link to Zoom’s website in order for the guests to download the program, making sure to leave enough time for people to set up their digital device for the online party. Make sure that each guest has a microphone and webcam and that they are configured ready for the event.
Things to Do
- Party Games – In order to provide much-needed entertainment, you should create some games. No party is complete without a few games and even with a virtual baby shower, you can arrange a few fun games that everyone can play. One such game is ‘name that baby’, which is very apt for a baby shower; ask each guest to send you a photo of them when they were a baby and you create a slideshow using these photos, asking the guests to guess whose photo is being shown, letting the photo owner know to remain silent when their image is shown. Another version of this game is ‘famous people’, whereby you find images of celebrities as babies, which is easy with Google Image searches, then when you show a photo, the guests all have to guess who it is. ‘Guess the location’ is yet another great online game; find images of well-known places, asking the guests if they can guess the location. You should inform your guests to prepare a notepad and a felt-tip marker which is for holding up their answers and you are the one to keep score and can even have a special prize for the winner.
- Gifts – Send all the guests a link to the CMC Gold website, which is a leading Australian supplier of quality gifts for both baby and mother. The guests can order gifts from the website and have them sent to your home address; keep all the gifts wrapped and you can open them all during the baby shower, which is a fun activity in itself. The guests will really enjoy watching you open the gifts and when that’s done, the party can begin.
- Singing – You could arrange for guests to join you in singing a few songs and if everyone feels active, why not include some dancing? You could pre-source the lyrics and send guests a link to how to sing different genres.
It is a good idea to have a dry run a few days before the event, which will help guests to familiarise themselves with how the program works. As the host, you are hosting the video meeting and you need to invite each guest to join the conference by clicking on a provided link. You could call each guest an hour before the event, to remind them that the time is approaching and they can boot up their laptop and run Zoom and await the invitation to join the group call. While a virtual get-together is not the same as being in the same room, you can generate a party atmosphere and while we are still in the grip of the pandemic, it is safest to keep baby at home and away from people.
Additional Information
You can inform your guests to prepare any drinks and food that they might like to consume during the virtual party, plus you might like to have them dress up in a particular theme, which always add to the fun. Of course, your guests will not be able to hold the baby, at least not while the pandemic is present and prior to accepting any visitors, please check the Australian government website showing the latest Covid-19 status in all areas of the country.
