We’re sharing ideas for how to throw an online birthday party for adults at home in a creative way, that can also be easy!

If there’s anything we’ve learned with the pandemic is that technology brings us all closer together. If for any reason, you are thinking of throwing an online party, be it because you are not comfortable around people yet, you live far away from your family or friends, or even because you are isolating, we have rounded up our best Zoom party ideas so it doesn’t have to be a challenge for you.

Plus, we believe it’s even more important than ever to celebrate life’s special occasions. We all need to come together, laugh, and have some much-needed fun, even if it’s a virtual party.

 

You’ll be surprised at how many online birthday celebration ideas we’ve found so you can still spend time with friends and family while staying within the safety of your homes.

Here are some ideas to consider:

Pick an Online Party Platform

We recommend Zoom as an easy virtual party platform that people can use. But in this blog post on throwing a virtual party, we have other hosting options for you to consider.

 

Pick an Online Birthday Party Idea for Your Adult Guests

Once you’ve got your theme, you can start thinking about your virtual activities or party games your adult guests will enjoy.

1: Costume Party

Select a theme for your party and request everyone to choose a costume accordingly.

The theme for the costume party could be that of your favorite book or TV series, superheroes, historical figures, or even decades.

You can also just let people get creative, like a big Halloween party, and let your guests dress in whatever costume they want. (Who says your Halloween birthday party has to be on Halloween :))

2: Cocktail Party

Just because you aren’t at a bar doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate your birthday with drinks.

Look up cocktails recipes and share them with your friends so that they can arrange to get the ingredients before the party. Then your guests can even mix the cocktails as part of the party activity online together.

You can further set the stage for your cocktail party by playing good music and creating mood lighting.

3: Birthday Brunch

For those who have always preferred intimate brunches over clubbing, hosting a virtual birthday brunch is ideal.

Share your favorite breakfast recipes. Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and some pancakes or your favorite brunchy foods and Zoom with all your invitees.

You can either get the same beverages and food items delivered to your friends’ homes from a local restaurant or ask them to prepare the food and drinks beforehand.

4: Virtual Tours

If you and your gang of friends love exploring new places and are itching to go on a virtual adventure, then you could sign up for virtual tours of museums, national parks, cities, and historical sites.

It’s absolutely amazing how much you can see of the world today without leaving your living room.

5: Slumber Party

Slumber parties aren’t just for kids.

Host an online adult slumber party for a birthday and sit back and relax in your favorite pajamas.

You and your friends can indulge in some self-pampering pedicures, face masks, decadent treats, and gossip the night away.

And if you have the phone battery life, you can keep the party going until morning.

6: DIY Project Parties

This one is for all those who love taking up artsy DIY projects and crafting something new.

Plan a DIY project where everyone works on a similar project at the same time, sharing their suggestions and ideas, while also catching up on chat.

For example, you could choose a bread recipe and everyone bake bread together.

7: Virtual Scavenger Hunt

Celebrating your birthday while playing a virtual scavenger hunt with your friends and family is an easy way to keep your guests entertained. This is a great online birthday party game for adults to do at home.

Just prepare a list of things for everyone to find and decide on a suitable time limit. The list could include regular objects such as a coffee mug or paper clip, to tricky things like finding a graduation photograph or a gift from someone else.

8: Learn a Skill Together

Have you and your friends always wanted to learn something in particular? It could be painting or learning to knit, carve wood, etc.

For your birthday party, you can pay for everyone to take an online class together, or hire a teacher to come into your Zoom to teach everyone together.

9: Movie Night

For a virtual birthday, you can organize and watch a movie with your guests online. First, use our free movie night printables to decorate.

Then, invite your friends to your party and stream a movie at the same time together while chatting.

Use the Chrome extensions, Netflix Party if you want to watch a movie on Netflix, or use Vemos, which works with Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube, and Prime Video!

Just pick your favorite movie, pop some popcorn, and party with your friends!

10: Escape Room

This one is for those who love solving puzzles together. Why not try an online escape room? This is another great virtual birthday party game for adults to do from home.

The internet has plenty of virtual escape room options where you can find your way out of a witch’s curse, a bank heist, even a Minecraft escape room.

11: Talent Show

How about throwing a virtual talent show as you celebrate your birthday?

The guests can showcase a talent, such as their guitar playing, singing, standup comedy, slam poetry, juggling, or even showcasing a choreographed dance performance.

It’s a great way for your guests to entertain each other!

12: Gaming Party

Just because you’re an adult, doesn’t mean you can’t play online games at your birthday party.

Here are some choices:

• Jackbox Games: They offer fun party games such as, “Dribbage”, “Drawful”, and “You Don’t Know Jack. Setting up Jackbox can be a little tricky, so check out this post we did about setting up Jackbox Games for a virtual party.
• Fortnite: While this is a fighting game with a gun, the animated graphics make it a safer alternative for a wider audience.
• Game Pigeon: This is an iMessage plugin via which you can play games through texts
• Online Jeopardy: It is another fun game to play with friends and family, just like the TV show

13: Spa Party

Practicing self-love and self-pampering is so important, so how about encouraging your loved ones to do the same, as you celebrate your birthday?

You could either get spa products delivered to everyone’s homes or make some homemade spa essentials and drop them off.

Your virtual guests would love to indulge in some mani/pedis, skin treatments, face masks, makeovers, etc. During the party, feel free to break out some champagne and chocolates while you gab.

14: Wine Tasting

How about hosting a virtual wine tasting with an actual sommelier‎?

A lot of wineries are offering the services of virtual wine tastings wherein they will deliver batches of different kinds of wine and guide everyone through the wine tasting on a video call.

How fun to taste and compare wine notes together. Too oaky or just enough grapefruit?

15: Murder Mystery Party

For those who are intrigued and fascinated by whodunit murder mysteries, hosting a virtual murder mystery party is a fun way to have an online interactive party activity.

Online platforms offer several themed murder mysteries with elaborate scripts and characters that can be played by your guests. Playing characters and investigating virtual mysteries would be a thrilling and exciting way to celebrate a birthday.

It’s a great activity to get everyone involved.

Whether you are planning to host a birthday party for yourself or for a loved one, we are sure one of these ideas would work for you.

We’d love to know how yours turned out. Please add your party photos to our site, Catch My Party, so we can share your party with our community!

Happy Celebrating!

MORE ONLINE PARTY POSTS YOU’LL LIKE:

Need more ideas and free printables?

• Throw an Outdoor In-Person Party Safely
• FREE Zoom Backgrounds for Girl Virtual Birthday Parties
• FREE Zoom Backgrounds for Boy Virtual Birthday Parties
• How to Throw a Fabulous Virtual Party
• 12 Cool Ideas for Throwing a Virtual Birthday Party
• How to Throw an Easy Virtual Teen Birthday Party
• Download These Free Movie Night Printables