5 Great COVID Friendly Christmas Celebration Ideas
Have you ever tried to throw a Christmas celebration during a pandemic?
Guess what?
Neither have I !!
Be it concerns about social distancing, concerns about travel restrictions, concerns about finances, or even concerns about your own emotional overwhelm, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to be struggling a little to find ways to make the best of your new normal.
So what should you do?
While some folks have found a little bit of success with social distancing during the holidays by reshaping their Thanksgiving celebrations, Halloween activities, etc., the Christmas holiday season can be a slippery slope with it’s special holiday foods, gift giving traditions, social gatherings, and shopping sprees of Christmases past.
But what if you shift your approach?
What if you hold on to those traditions that you can easily hold onto in light of the current health, political, and racial climate, while creating brand new traditions, memories, and smiles that can be easily incorporated into today’s environment?
Have no fear.
This post will give you some great tips for creating safe and affordable new celebrations that will surely go down in the books as some of the best ever.
Digital Holiday Cooking Party – Choose one (or more) holiday recipes to share. This should be a dish that you want to serve for the holidays. Send the recipe(s) to relatives and friends who agree to participate. You’ll need to organize a timeline for folks to R.S.V.P., shop for the ingredients, and meet on Zoom. How fun will it be to all be cooking a dish at the same time as one another, while chatting about fun times, and preparing recipes that you’ll all be eating on Christmas day in your own individual homes? You could even pre-order dessert from GINA’S Cuisine Cupcakes.
Christmas Movie Watch Party – Everyone can still watch your same favorite holiday movie, or even discover a new movie tradition and watch it with one another. By using a watch party app, everyone can stream the same Christmas movies and shows on either Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ or HBO. Using a watch party app allows you to all start the same movie at the same time, chat it up during the film, and even take coordinated breaks to fill up on more snacks or run to the restroom.
Zoom Happy Hour and Gift Wrapping Party – Okay. It’s time to grab your favorite cocktail, your best wrapping paper, some pretty ribbons, unwrapped gifts, and don’t forget the tape and scissors. Send everyone a Zoom link for a date that works for all interested parties, meet up digitally, and have a blast. If you want to be really in sync, send out a couple of mixed drink recipes via email that folks might enjoy so you can all sip on the same adult beverages while getting your wrapping on.
Holiday Drive-by and Gift Swap – Are any of those gifts that you just wrapped at the Zoom Happy Hour and Gift Wrapping Party for friends or family who live in town? How about planning a day when you do a drive by to deliver them to their houses? Folks who want to participate can sign up for availability so that no one does a drive by when the receiver is at someone else’s house.This gift swap idea not only guarantees that gifts arrive in time, since you won’t have to depend on the USPS, it also makes for a lot of merriment and time to connect in person for a change – 6 feet apart of course!
Special Dish Delivery – Another fun food related idea, in addition to the Digital Holiday Cooking Party, that can bring folks together is doing a Special Dish Delivery. This involves choosing a dish that you can share with others, but instead of everyone cooking the dish at the same time, you can have it delivered to their home. For example, choose an item from Gina’s Cuisine Cupcakes, have it delivered in time for Christmas day, and request that everyone text pictures of the yumminess on the dining table, as well as pictures of themselves enjoying their special baked treats. This is an especially great idea for out of town family and friends’ who are restricted from travelling during this time. Even though you won’t all be together, you’ll still have the special connection of sharing in at least one dish that you all have in common.
Remember, just because times are different, it doesn’t mean that all is lost.
Be gentle on yourself and keep in mind that whatever makes this holiday season different can also be the same thing that makes this new holiday season more special than any ever before.
Happy Holidays!
