This post: How to celebrate your graduate in a quarantine.
Social distancing is the new norm, at least for the foreseeable future, which means we won’t be throwing our high school or college grads any big graduation parties.
Oh, how we wish we could celebrate with them in the traditional sense… seeing them walk down the aisle in their cap and gown, watching them accept their diploma, throwing them a party (big or small) and honoring all their hard work and accomplishments. But life has a way of throwing us curve balls and, as difficult as these times are, we need to do our best to honor our grads despite the challenges we’re facing.
Because we can’t celebrate the way we’d like to, we need to get a little creative! From virtual parties to neighborhood drive-by parades, there are actually more than a few creative and fun ways to celebrate our grads despite these challenging times.
Here are 8 clever ways to celebrate your graduate in a quarantine.
#1 Decorate Your Front Door
When Gretchen Manmiller’s daughter, who’s a senior high school, tossed her class of 2020 t-shirt in the garbage because she “had a moment,” she decided to honor her daughter and all her high school accomplishments by decorating the front door of their home for all the neighbors to see. To recreate this idea, simply make a poster showcasing highlights of your grad’s college or high school days, display their 2020 t-shirt, football jersey, band or cheer uniform, etc. and add other memorabilia that is meaningful to your grad. I love this idea for neighborhoods that have several grads! (Image shared with permission.)
#2 Throw a Family Only Grad Bash
Our grads deserve a party, even if it is on a much smaller (family only) scale. Choose a theme, put up a few graduation decorations, have your grad pick their favorite foods to serve, make (or buy) an awesome cake, cupcakes or a few fab desserts and play a few graduation games to make it fun! Check out this site to host an adorable “Taco Bout a Future” themed party. Plus, here’s a post for some fun outdoor grad party ideas!
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#3 Host a Virtual Grad Party
“Social-distancing” doesn’t mean you can’t be social and honor your grad at the same time. Thanks to cool technology, you can celebrate your graduate in a quarantine by throwing your grad a virtual graduation party and invite as many people as you wish! Sites such as Skype, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts (a few of our faves), offer the tech tools so family, friends and distant relatives can all join in on the celebration. For fun virtual graduation invitations, check out Paperless Post.
#4 Host a Neighborhood Drive-By Parade
It stinks that our kids’ graduations just happen to be during a time when no one is allowed to venture too far from home and socializing is considered taboo. But the good news is, there’s a way around that! A clever way to celebrate your grad’s amazing accomplishments is by hosting a “let celebrate our grads” neighborhood drive-by parade. Whether there are just a handful of grads in your neighborhood or a bunch, gather up friends, relatives, and neighbors and honor the grads in style with a parade they’ll never forget. (Need ideas? Here is a video of a drive-by parade a neighborhood did for a young girl who missed her birthday party.)
#5 Bring the Restaurant Home
You might not be able to head out to your favorite restaurant to celebrate, but you can bring your grad’s favorite restaurant meal right to your door. Order for pick-up or use Uber Eats or Door Dash to order just about any meal your grad likes. Make it special by using the “special occasion” dishes, decorating the kitchen with streamers and balloons, turning on festive music and playing a few games. Don’t forget a festive grad dessert!
#6 Create a High School or College Memory Book
Nothing will make your grad feel more special than a memory book filled with precious moments from their high school or college days. Surprise your grad by including photos of their friends, classmates, get-togethers, football tailgates, and even their favorite teachers. To make a photo book for your grad, check out sites like MixBooks and Shutterfly.
#7 Plan a Future Vacation
If you’re stumped on what to buy your grad to celebrate all their hard work, consider buying them a vacation… a future vacation, that is. While nearly everyone worldwide is putting off vacation planning until further notice, Jean Pickard, Luxury Travel Agent with SmartFlyer Atlanta, says now is actually a great time to book a vacation – especially cruises.
“The hashtag in the industry now is #postponedontcancel. If it was supposed to be a spring break trip, make it a fall break trip or plan next year’s spring break. Now is a particularly good time to book a cruise with relaxed cancellation policies in place.” Some airlines are even offering incentives where if you book now you can change later for free. For more information about booking future travel plans, check out this site.
#8 Surprise Them with a Custom T-Shirt Quilt
Just because our kids won’t be having a formal graduation ceremony and we won’t be throwing them the big grad bash we planned doesn’t mean they can’t wrap themselves in all their amazing memories. This custom t-shirt quilt, filled with all their favorite t-shirts (think t-shirts from their sorority, fraternity, vacations, sports events, competitions, etc.) will forever be a reminder of their amazing high school or college days.
We’re in the midst of difficult and challenging times. But let’s not let that get in the way of celebrating our graduates! They’ve studied hard and they deserve a celebration – even if it means looking for unconventional ways to honor them! Do you have other ideas? Please share them in our comments section below!