The past year has created some interesting situations, and the need for long distance gender reveals ideas is certainly one of them! Whether you are looking to do a gender reveal for family who live far away or are unable to throw a gender reveal party until things return to normal, then this post is for you!
If you are looking specifically for ideas for announcing gender remotely, then after reading this post, be sure to check out our post on virtual gender reveal ideas!
I am no stranger to having to do gender reveals for family out of town. In fact, I’ve done them for two different pregnancies! The first we did by mail and Skype (where we knew the gender ahead of time) and the second we were surprised along with our family on a joint Zoom call.
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Check out my post on How to Do a Long Distance Gender Reveal over Facetime or Zoom for a step-by-step look into the logistics of both planning an online gender reveal and for how to mail party surprises so they could find out the very same day we did!
While it might seem like a disappointment to not be physically present with friends or family, there are lots of ways you can still celebrate.
And I promise, people are just as excited online as they are in person!
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Tips for doing a Long-Distance Gender Reveal
If you plan on doing a virtual reveal over an app or on a computer, then there are some things to keep in mind and to figure out in the planning stage.
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Other things to consider include:
- Do you want to find out with your friends/family or ahead of time?
- Are there any holidays coming up that you might want to do a theme around?
- Mail delivery timelines (especially important if sending treats in the mail)
- Shipping times from the store/seller to you, if mailing items personally. Depending on what you decide to go with, you may want to consider buying one set of each male and female so you can do your reveal more quickly after an ultrasound appointment.
Fun & Easy Long Distance Gender Reveal Ideas
Send It in the Mail
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Relying on snail mail builds up quite a bit of anticipation! If you have family members that live far away and don’t use video chatting programs, there are lots of things you could send through the mail to reveal the surprise.
One fun way to reveal the gender of your baby is to send them a blue or pink paint chip or fabric sample. Label a regular letter envelope as you normally would. Put the fabric or paint chip in another envelope for extra padding before stuffing the labeled one.
Other gender reveal items you can send through the mail include:
- Cookies, Gender Reveal Cake Pops, Truffles or other treats colored to indicate boy or girl
- A themed or colorful onesie
- A greeting card from their future grandson or granddaughter/ niece/nephew, etc
- A picture from the ultrasound with anatomy revealing the sex
Don’t forget to tell your family to check their mail!
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Host a Virtual Gender Reveal Party
People are getting so creative these days by moving game night, get together and birthday parties online. Having a virtual party to reveal the baby’s gender is a great idea!
Send out invites (Evites or Facebook invites are perfectly fine) with a special date and time and create your own Facebook Event or Group for the Party. You can have people play guessing games by creating posts, and then do a Facebook Live Video reveal using one of the great ideas on this page!
Play a Game
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Get the whole family involved with a guessing game like Wheel of Fortune, Snowman (an alternative to Hangman) or even just a simple game of fill in the blank!
Once everyone is on a Zoom call, have your family guess your baby’s name, or make them spell out a phrase that will reveal the gender. Use a clue of some sort so they can’t easily tell boy from girl in the blanks!
Use a posterboard to write the letters as they guess so it is visible through the computer screen. Your gender reveal will be fun and interactive, but won’t take much effort to execute.
Show Them on Skype
If your long-distance family members use Skype, FaceTime, or another app, plan a simple gender reveal over the Internet. Ask them to hop online so you can reveal the gender. When the call connects, they’ll see you in a pink or blue T-shirt. It’s that simple!
Get the Pets Involved
Grab a pink or blue bandana, collar, or outfit for your pet. When your family is ready to learn the gender, bring out your pet. Alternatively, you could have your pet bring your family a pink or blue toy.
We actually did a pregnancy announcement using dog bandanas over Skype for our first, it was great! And the best part is that the bandanna becomes a special keepsake for later. 🙂
Send a Card
Send a greeting card to your family for a classic gender reveal. Grab a few “It’s a Boy” or “It’s a Girl” cards from your local card store, or create an e-card online.
If you’d rather make your own cards, get creative! Write a poem, draw pictures, or use other hints to share the news with your loved ones. You could also make a card through an online service like Shutterfly or Minted and upload a photo or ultrasound to it, and then have it mailed directly to them.
Make a Scratch-Off
Part of our gender reveal for long distance family included scratch off cards in the package. You can buy them on Amazon (here’s one for a baby boy, and one for a baby girl).
Or make your own that tell your family whether you’re having a boy or a girl:
First, decorate some pieces of cardstock and write the baby’s gender somewhere on the card. Cover the gender with a white crayon. Paint over the crayon with a 2:1 ratio mixture of acrylic paint and dish soap. Don’t forget to include a penny with each card!
Make a Video
Make a gender reveal video to post to platforms that your family uses. You can keep the video simple – talk to the camera, do a quick dance with your partner, or make a montage. Or you can get super elaborate and use your creativity. Whatever you are in the mood for!
Upload the video to Facebook and/or YouTube, but adjust your privacy settings to make the video only viewable by invitation.
Whack a Pinata / Pop a Balloon / Other In-Person Ideas done Virtually
Lots of fun gender reveal ideas have something to physically do to reveal the gender, typically at a gender reveal party. You can still incorporate this, either by taking a video of you doing it yourself and then sending it, or streaming it live for others to watch on any of the platforms mentioned above. (I vote for the live stream!!)
Here are some fantastic baby reveal piñatas: gender-reveal box piñata, question mark piñata, baby bottle piñata.
Just don’t forget to fill the piñata with candy and confetti to reveal the gender! They do not come pre-filled on purpose – so you can customize them. You can get pink or blue confetti here.
Perform a Magic Trick
We love this idea! Go a different route with a video announcement by performing a parenting magic.
Instead of pulling a white rabbit out of a hat, pull a pink or blue stuffed animal out of a hat to announce your baby’s gender. If you’re throwing a virtual gender reveal party, you can easily stick this reveal into a magic themed celebration.
Let the Sorting Hat Decide
Do you have Harry Potter fans in your family? Let the Sorting Hat “choose” your baby’s gender assignment!
Place a pink or blue object under a witch’s hat. When it’s time to reveal the gender during a virtual party or video chat, simply lift the hat. Take this reveal to the next level by making a pink or blue Harry Potter-themed item to go underneath the hat – a Quidditch snitch, a broom, or wand. Or maybe assign a house to each gender!
You could also mail a fun gender announcement package that includes a miniature hat and colored candies to go with the theme, and have people open their gift while on Zoom together. It was so fun doing that type of reveal for us!
Use a Bath Bomb
You probably don’t have enough room in your bathroom to fit your whole family anyway (nor would you want to), so you’ll want to record a video for this reveal.
Purchase a bath bomb that has a “surprise” color inside (these are made specifically for gender reveals). The bathwater will turn pink or blue. Here you can get magic bath bombs that turn blue or pink.
You can also do it using a clear tub of water rather than a bathtub or could purchase the bath bombs and mail them to other people for them to discover on their own!
Gender reveals can still be exciting even when apart from family and friends. Many of these ideas can be executed with less than $20, and none of them should lead to an emergency room visit.
With a bit of creativity, you can make revealing the sex of your baby fun for everyone, even family out of town!
Check out these other trending posts:
- How to do a long-distance gender reveal in 5 easy steps
- Fun virtual gender reveal ideas
- One-syllable unisex name ideas
- What to pack in a hospital bag
- Choosing a pediatrician: Questions to ask at a meet and greet
- Fun ways to play with a newborn baby
