HALIFAX -- Children across the Maritimes are adapting to a ‘new normal’ during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Five-year-old Eillie Anthony didn’t let the pandemic stop her birthday celebration with family and friends.

Thirty cars drove past her home in Hubbards Point, N.S. Wednesday night. Many cars honked their horns, others were decorated with balloons, while some even tossed presents out the window and onto the lawn.

“It was a parade and friends came,” the birthday girl explains. “Actually, they couldn’t come in our house because mommy said there was germs.”

Ellie says she had a wonderful birthday, despite the circumstances.

Six-year-old Maria Mothana and her parents have been getting creative with learning activities.

Maria loves to learn and misses school. However, she’s enjoyed playing games and watching cartoons in-between lessons at home.

“I was watching TV for a bit and then I started doing work,” the Bedford girl explains.

Also in Bedford, Mackenzie and Abigayle Belliveau are reading a lot of books and even taking digital dance lessons during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The sisters admit they can’t wait to return to their regular-routine. They miss spending time with their friends and family.

“It’s kind of not really fun,” Mackenzie, 10, explains. “We miss going to school, and like learn, and we like sometimes we fight cause we’re sisters, because we’re more together.”

With schools and parks closed for now, brothers Jacob, Xavier, and Emmett McConnery are still playing outside safely, and close to their home in Dartmouth.

“We’re playing video goes, going outside a lot and practicing our French,” explains nine-year-old Jacob, the oldest of the three brothers,

While children across the region patiently wait for pandemic to pass, they’re encouraging everyone to play by the rules.

“You should stay home and wash your hands a lot,” explains 11-year-old Maddie Dulong. “So you have a less chance of getting it.”

“You don’t want to spread germs or bacteria, so more people have it,” add sisters Mackenzie and Abigayle Belliveau. “You have to stay home all day, and every day until its done.”

Words of wisdom from children that deserve to grow up in a healthy and safe world.