February 17, 2021 Miss Your Friends? Plan a Virtual Party! Part 1 How To Have a Super Fun Virtual PJ Party In 8 Easy Steps! Today on ASK NIKKI, I decided to tackle a really important question that I’ve probably been asked a HUNDRED times since the COVID Pandemic began! With many schools moving to virtual classrooms and everyone practicing social distancing, almost ALL of us are missing our FRIENDS. WARNING! This column is kind of long. But it has a lot of great info, including a sneak peek at friends hanging out in a real virtual party. Dear Nikki, Since the pandemic, I haven’t been able to hang out with my best friends for what seems like FOREVER! We all miss each other and are totally MISERABLE ☹️! To make matters worse, our parents have decided that we shouldn’t spend time together in person until the COVID situation is under control. Do you have any ideas for how we can hang out with each other and laugh and have fun?BROKENHEARTED, BITTER, AND BORED BFFs! (Kiara, Amy, Olivia, Emily, Sofia, Emma, Ava, and Imani) Dear BROKENHEARTED, BITTER, AND BORED BFFs, Yes, I have a FANTASTIC idea for how you and your BFFs can spend time with each other and laugh and have fun just like you did before COVID! Actually, I have SO MANY IDEAS that I’m dividing this advice column into PART 1 that I’ll post today and PART 2 that I’ll post right HERE on Saturday. The PERFECT way to safely hang out with all of your BFFs is to have a SUPER FUN VIRTUAL PJ PARTY!! And, I’m going to give you all of the DETAILS for how YOU can do this! Our superfan, Lemonerdy, actually took MY advice and had her own virtual party a few weeks ago. She invited five of her best friends, and they had a BLAST!! The BEST part is that she has agreed to share several live videos from HER party! You can meet all of Lemonerdy’s very cool friends and watch them hang out together later in this column. But FIRST, let’s start by planning YOUR VIRTUAL PJ PARTY!… HOW TO HAVE A SUPER FUN VIRTUAL PJ PARTY IN 8 EASY STEPS! Step 1) Make a List of Friends You Plan to Invite To Your Virtual PJ Party Making a guest list is always the most exciting part of planning a party! To start, determine the number of people you want to invite. You can have a small party with 2 to 3 friends or a larger party with 4 to 6 friends. Keep in mind that the more people you invite, the more work it’s going to be to keep everyone entertained and feeling included. When creating your list, consider your closest friends first since you’ll enjoy hanging out with them the most. My personal list for a small party would definitely include my BFFs, Zoey and Chloe! Step 2) Choose A Video Conferencing Service For Your Party Be sure to ask your parents for permission to use a video conferencing service for your party. If your parents work from home, they might already have an account that you can use. Otherwise, they can sign-up for a service that you can use for your party. ZOOM is probably the most popular video conferencing platform. It’s also totally FREE for the first 40 minutes! However, using the FREE service means that you and your friends might have to log out and then log back in every 40 minutes for however long your party lasts. Step 3) Select a Date and Time and Send Out Party Invites Like a real PJ party, the ideal DAY and TIME is a Friday or Saturday evening. While the usual PJ party is a sleepover that goes on for hours and ends the next morning, an online one probably shouldn’t last longer than two hours. Guests may get tired or even bored after a while since a virtual party is not quite as fun and exciting as a real one. There are several ways you can SEND OUT INVITES for your party. You can buy or make your own paper invites and mail them through your local POSTAL SERVICE. However, be sure to mail your invites 12 to 14 days before your party so they are delivered to your guests in time. The second option is to send invites to your friends by EMAIL. It can be as simple as a short letter with all the details or it can be a cute digital invitation. The third way is to use a FREE ONLINE INVITATION SERVICE like “Evite.” It has dozens of fun invitations that can be personalized with your party details and emailed through the service. Be sure to include your name and the date and time for your virtual PJ party along with any special instructions for activities. And, most importantly, don’t forget to PROVIDE A LINK FOR YOUR PARTY on the video conferencing service you’ll be using. Step 4) Choose Some Fun Games and Activities That Can Be Played Online Games are fun and a huge part of any party! Since your PJ party is virtual, interactive games like “Two Lies and A Truth” and “Truth or Dare” will be a BLAST!! A virtual karaoke or dance contest would be an exciting activity as well. You can then vote on awards for Best Singer, Best Dancer, Best Song, Best Celeb Impression, and Cutest Costume. Also, try finding cool games and activities online that you can all participate in using screen sharing or your cell phones. Our superfan, Lemonerdy, had a virtual party with her five BFFs! One of her group activities was answering questions from our Dork Diaries book, “OMG! All About Me Diary!” Check out the videos below of Lemonerdy hanging out with her friends. Even though both videos start out with her introducing her friends, they are different. You can watch Part 1 and Part 2 below: OMG! Questions Part 1 OMG! Questions Part 2 I hope you enjoyed the first half of my advice column, “How To Have a Super Fun Virtual PJ Party In 8 Easy Steps!” On Saturday, February 20th, I will post the SECOND HALF which will include Steps 5, 6, 7, and 8. So, check back here on ASK NIKKI to find out the final FOUR steps in planning the PERFECT virtual PJ Party! Do YOU miss hanging out with YOUR friends? If so, why not start planning YOUR virtual PJ Party right now! I would LOVE to hear about your PARTY PLANS and TWO fun GAMES or ACTIVITIES that you’d choose. Please post everything in the comments section below. Even if you don’t actually have a party, it would still be really fun to plan one, right?!
nikkimaxwell lover says February 23, 2021 at 11:16 am well i would add my friends davon itius kyara kiana kallie and i would play two lies and a truth and the bff challenge Reply to this comment
ELLIE says February 23, 2021 at 9:19 am I really miss my BFFS. I would love to have a virtual sleepover, too! Reply to this comment
UNKNOWN says February 23, 2021 at 7:40 am I just love that idea, I have to go to online school and it sucks, and I feel bad for people who actually go to the school and have to wear masks, Anyways I forgot, but i will come back if I can remember. Reply to this comment
Kittycatgirl2467 says February 23, 2021 at 6:46 am OMG, this totally helped me!! I went on Zoom with my 7 bffs! Reply to this comment
eli says February 23, 2021 at 5:32 am I want to meet you in real life Nikki Maxwell in the united kingdom Reply to this comment
Simply Cloudy says February 23, 2021 at 3:54 am TYSM NIKKI!! IM PLANING TO DO THIS WITH MY BFF’S RN! 😀 Reply to this comment
Dorky says February 23, 2021 at 2:08 am This is sooooo great! I will try it!!!!! Reply to this comment
Me says February 23, 2021 at 1:14 am My school is back to in person finally, but there are 2 different groups that go and my BFF is in the other ne, not mine ☹️ Reply to this comment
RED VENTED! says February 22, 2021 at 10:36 pm You could always have a sleepover with one of your cousins Reply to this comment
MacKenzie Hollister (cosplay) says February 22, 2021 at 10:25 pm Dear Nikki, OMG! Is this another of your Dorky parties? Ha! My Parties are so much better than yours! Daddy pays lots of money for my parties! I’m such a lucky girl! YAY ME 🙂 While you are spending time with your lame party, I’m having a makeup booth at my party! (Which, BTW, has the same makeup brands used by celebritites!) Toodles! Reply to this comment
GET A NEW YOU MACKENZIE! says February 26, 2021 at 8:46 pm Mackenzie, it’s not all about how RICH you are, it’s how much you LOVE
Dorky Dork girl says February 22, 2021 at 10:20 pm OMG! Me too! I really miss my BFFs. Hey, Nikki! You and your BFFs, Chloe and Zoey, love to hang out at the Liabrary, right? Well, me and my BFFs hang out there every school day! Reply to this comment
Itachi says February 22, 2021 at 10:17 pm Nikki I need your help Im sad all my family thinks that I can do all things at the same time all my family thinks that I am so happy when I am not. I have to say somthing to you to all of you . [ I AM A CLOWN ] what do you think I have to do Reply to this comment
Sadliy girl says February 22, 2021 at 10:13 pm Nikki I need your help Im sad all my family thinks that I can do all things at the same time all my family thinks that I am so happy when I am not Reply to this comment
chloe g. says February 22, 2021 at 10:04 pm SQQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! I can’t wait to try this AMAZING ADVICE!! SQQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Reply to this comment
Dorkgurl says February 22, 2021 at 7:37 pm I miss my bff’s to but I have their contacts so I can text them! (Tip) Maybe if you have a iPad or iphone or anything you can text with try to get their numbers some how because if they are your bff’s I assume your parents have their parents number but if not try to get away to get their number or emails. HOPE IT WORKS! Reply to this comment
6 Dork diaries says February 22, 2021 at 3:31 pm That is so true! I go to school and I don’t like masks BFF:Reese,Sophia,Chloe and Eli Reply to this comment
Coco125th says February 23, 2021 at 6:30 am Meeeeeeee tooooooooooo! I miss my friend’s like craaaaaazy! BFF’s Gigi, gwenith,Kendra,Scarlett,Hannah,Natalie,Natalia.
yay says February 22, 2021 at 3:27 pm This is soooo helpful! Thanks for the tips Reply to this comment
Mara lover says February 22, 2021 at 2:11 pm WHWIOOOWOWOWOW OHHH SOOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING I WILL TRY YOUR IDEA WITH MY BFFS Reply to this comment
Anonymoose says February 22, 2021 at 1:40 pm That’s a FAB idea! I’m totally gonna try it out 😀 Reply to this comment
Anonymous says February 22, 2021 at 1:34 pm thank you i need it for my party!!!!!! Reply to this comment