Host a Virtual Baby Shower for Long Distance Friends and Family
Posted on March 15 2020
Here we are stuck in the middle of the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic and social gatherings are getting canceled left and right. These are tough and uncertain times and it’s not ideal to be expecting a baby right now. Friends and family still want to celebrate this little one but we need to keep each other safe as well. Here are some tips for throwing an amazing Virtual Baby Shower to keep friends and family connected.
Tips for Throwing The Best Virtual Baby Shower
1. Mail an Invitation + an ABC Book Page
Having a virtual party doesn’t mean everything has to be virtual! Mail an invitation and include a coloring page from our illustrated Baby’s First ABC Book for each guest to color and sign. Then they can mail the page back so that you can put all the pages together into a personalized book for baby (serves as a great “guest” book and such a sweet, personalized keepsake!).
Decide if you want guests to all color “together” during the Virtual Baby Shower or if you’d rather they color and mail the pages back to you before the Shower. It can be a good, casual ice breaker to have everyone color at the same time. Include instructions with your invitation (and decide if you would like to ask them to color with colored pencils or markers for consistency) along with a self-addressed, stamped envelope for them to mail the finished page back. Visit our ABC Book Template Blog Post for more information about putting your ABC Book together!
2. Send a Care Package
Make it easy on the Mom-to-Be by putting together a complete care package to prep for the baby shower. Include things like simple decorations, balloons, party favors, paper plates, napkins, plastic ware, presents from other family members that will be “Virtual”…this all depends on how and where each side of the party will be.
Consider food—whether mailing some items or having someone else bring food and cake. (Or just skip to the cake and make it a Virtual Dessert Baby Shower!) When you can’t be there in person, another great touch is to send flowers ahead of time. It can brighten the day for the mom-to-be and adds to the festive feel for the party.
3. Decide on your Electronics
Decide how you will communicate during the virtual shower. Use a laptop, tablet, or even connect to the TV using an HDMI cable (make sure you have a little “tech” support if needed). Luckily, these days there’s LOTS of video chats happening so most guests will have some experience connecting to a meeting. Here are some video chat apps that work well:
- Zoom Meeting (Make sure someone has a subscription so you can connect for longer than 40 minutes. One person can create the meeting and email the link to connect before party time.)
- Google Meet (Not everyone needs a Google account to connect to a Google meeting so this is a great option. You’ll also email a link to the meeting.)
- Facebook Messenger (Keep in mind, all guests need to have a Facebook account. If they do, this is an easy way for guests to connect online without needing a link.)
- Skype (You don’t need to download the app anymore so this is also a great way to connect people simply.)
A few days before the shower, do a quick test-run to make sure everything is set up correctly and ready to go! If you have any guests that are concerned about connecting, you might also offer to do a quick test run with them a day or two before (especially if it involves a grandma-to-be!)
4. Present Opening
Depending on your virtual shower, ideally some presents can be mailed ahead of time directly to the Mom-to-Be so that she can open the presents during the shower. If some guests have their presents with them still, they can also take turns opening presents in front of the camera…it’s still fun for everyone to see the present and share in the excitement!
5. Nursery Show and Tell
Mom-to-be might be happy to show off the new nursery during the video call! Make sure there’s enough light in the room so it’s not too dim and remind her to walk slowly and give time for everyone to focus on the details.
6. Activities
- ABC Book Keepsake: Not only a good busy activity for guests during a video call, it makes a great keepsake for years to come and doubles as a guest book!
- Guess the Due Date and Stats: Take a poll before the Baby Shower asking guests to guess the due date, birth weight, and height of the baby. Put together a calendar to display and share the “results” during the shower.
- Guess Who: Ask guests to email one of their baby or childhood photos to you before the shower. Put together a quick grid or slideshow with the photos numbered. Share your screen and allow guests to guess who’s who. (This works best when a majority of the guests are familiar with each other.)
- Slideshow: Put together a slideshow of the parents-to-be and/or pregnancy photos leading up to the baby shower. This can be a great way for family and friends to get to know the family even more as well as share some of the pregnancy stages that might have been missed during stay home orders.
- Advice: Ask guests to give advice for a new Mom during the video call. Consider recording your screen so that the parents-to-be can re-watch.
If you’d like to have small prizes for guests, e-gift cards are an easy way to go!
7. Have fun!
Have a good time, make the most of technical difficulties and do your best to make the Mom-to-be feel special! This is a tough time in history for everyone and bringing a little one into the world during all of this comes with many challenges.
A virtual baby shower may take a lot of work and time to pull together but not only can it brighten the day for mom-to-be, it can connect family and friends and offer a moment of hope in a world that’s turned upside down.
More about Baby’s First ABC Books from Samantha B Design
If you need more than 26 pages for your guests, there are several other Baby's First Books available in our shop.
Also, I can’t resist making Baby’s First ABC Book personalized (even if you don’t know baby’s name yet!) Personalized pages are great for baby, siblings, family members and even the family pet and create such a sweet keepsake for years to come. Check it out in the shop or visit our Etsy shop here.
Baby’s First Books are available in printable PDF files or printed and mailed along with an album.
3 comments
Hi Grandma Nonna! Congrats!! I’d say the more people you have attend virtually, the harder it would be to have conversations over the video so I think around 10-15 is ideal, up to 20 or so. It might be the case where you have one for family and another for friends or co-workers, etc. The ABC Book has 26 pages (plus front and back cover) but it’s great for kids and adults to color so you might be sending more than one page to a family to color. If you find you need more pages, there are a ton of options in my shop (check out my Etsy shop for all the options: samanthabdesign.etsy.com. Feel free to contact me with further questions. Thanks!
I’m interested in hosting a virtual baby shower for my daughter and like very much your ideas!
What is the ideal number of guests for this?
Hello, I’m the grandma to be (Nonna is how I’d like to be called)! I live in Los Angeles and my daughter Stephanie, ( mother to be), lives in New York and is due in March 2021. I’m interested in your virtual baby shower to plan and surprise her with family and friends. I would l appreciate your guidance! Thank you.