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FOR THE BIRTHDAY CHILD (Adult Preparation)
Make the birthday child feel special by using one or more of the suggestions below. For one-time use, create the items out of colorful paper and let the birthday child take them home at the end of the day. Or, for items that can be used over and over again, select more durable materials, such as felt or fabric.
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Make a Birthday Badge to safety-pin to the child’s shirt. |
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Create a Birthday Crown for the child to wear. |
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Fashion a Birthday Banner to hang on a wall or bulletin board. |
BIRTHDAY WALL CALENDAR (Calendars/Art)
Make a special Birthday Calendar to hang in your room. At the beginning of each month, let the children who have birthdays during that month attach stickers onto their special dates. At the end of each month, invite the birthday children to decorate their calendar page with crayons or markers, if they wish. (Note that children with summer birthdays can attach stickers on dates closest to their “half-birthdays,” and children with weekend birthdays can choose weekday dates for their celebrations.) |
CREATIVE BIRTHDAY FUN (Art)
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Birthday Hats: For each hat, roll a sheet of construction paper into a cone shape and secure the edges with tape. Let your children decorate their hats with collage materials, such as paper and fabric scraps, ribbons, bows, glitter-glue designs, and pompoms. Poke two holes on opposite sides near the bottom of each hat and attach yarn pieces for tying under the child’s chin. |
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Birthday Collages: Invite the children to tear birthday gift-wrap paper into small pieces and glue them onto construction paper to make collages.
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Playdough Birthday Cakes: Provide playdough in various colors. Encourage the children to mold cakes out of one color of dough and decorations out of other colors. Give them short plastic straw segments to use for candles.
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BIRTHDAY LEARNING GAMES (Remembering/Fine Motor Skills/Matching)
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Birthday Memory Game: On a table, place several birthday party items, such as a hat, a paper napkin, a paper plate, a candle, and a greeting card. Let the birthday child remove one of the items while the other children close their eyes. When the children open their eyes, have them try to guess which item is missing. Let the child who first guesses correctly remove an item for the next round of the game. |
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Birthday Puzzles: Choose several birthday cards and cut the fronts of each one into four or five puzzle pieces. Put the pieces of each card in a separate zipper bag. Let your children take turns removing the pieces and putting the puzzles back together again. |
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Birthday Card Game: Divide 10 index cards into five pairs and attach a different set of matching birthday stickers to each pair. Mix up the cards, place them in a box, and let the children search for the matching pairs. |
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BIRTHDAY B’S
When a child has a birthday, play this B game. Invite everyone to sit in a circle. Have the children take turns thinking of gifts whose names begin with the letter B, such as ball, basket, bear, brownies, boat, baseball, bubble wand, and birthday balloons.
Hint: Discuss B words with your children before playing this game.
Variation: Draw pictures of B presents on index cards. Have each of the children take a card. Ask the children to use a complete sentence to tell the birthday child what his or gift is.
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BIRTHDAY BOOK (Art/Writing)
From toy store catalogs and ads, have your children tear or cut out pictures of items they would like to give to the birthday child and glue them onto pieces of construction paper. Help the children sign their names on their papers. Then bind the papers together with a cover titled “Happy Birthday, (child’s name)” for the child to take home.
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BIRTHDAY PARADE (Movement/Music)
Let your children choose musical instruments and parade around the room singing “Happy Birthday” to the birthday child. Encourage them to continue parading and singing some of the birthday child’s favorite songs.
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BIRTHDAY SONG (Music/Movement)
Tune: “Did You Ever See a Lassie?”
Oh, let’s clap our hands for Jacob,
For Jacob, for Jacob.
Oh, let’s clap our hands for Jacob,
It’s his day today.
It’s his day, it’s his day,
So shout, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
Oh, let’s clap our hands for Jacob,
It’s his day today.
Liz Ryerson
Other Verses: Oh, let’s stomp our feet; Oh, let’s tap our toes; Etc. Substitute the birthday child’s name for “Jacob.” |
WONDERFUL DAY
Tune: “Zippity Doo Dah”
Zippity Doo Dah, Zippity-A
My oh my, what a wonderful day.
It’s _________ birthday
And we want to say –
“Have a Happy – Birth – day!
Jean Warren
(Fill in the blank with the name of the birthday child.)
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THE BIRTHDAY CHILD
Tune: “The Farmer In The Dell”
The birthday (boy/girl) is ____.
The birthday (boy/girl) is ____.
Heigh-ho, way to go.
The birthday (boy/girl) is ____.
Jean Warren
(Fill in blank with age of birthday child.)
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BIRTHDAY SNACKTIME (Food Preparation)
Give each of your children a cupcake on a small plate. Let them use frosting, gels, small candies, and sprinkles or colored sugars to decorate their mini cakes. For the birthday child, provide an edible flower or similar kind of decoration (available where cake decorating items are sold). Also provide a candle, if you wish.
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BIRTHDAY PARTY PROP BOXES
These are great to have any time of the year. Fill a box with party items, such as; party hats, a small cake pan and candles, party plates and cups, gift bags, and invitations. Place the box in your home making area.
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Any child who wants to plan a party can open the box and set up for a birthday party. |
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They can fill the cake pan with playdough (from your art area) and stick in some candles. |
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They can then hand out an invitation and a gift sack to three other children. |
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The chosen children, go around the room and each choose a gift for the birthday child and stuff it into their bag. |
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Then they all come to the home area and sit down at the party table. |
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The child having the party opens her presents. |
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Then she pretends to pass out cake and everyone sings “Happy Birthday” to her. |
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When the party is over, the gifts go back into the sacks and the children who brought them are responsible for returning them to their proper place. |
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The child having the party is responsible for returning the playdough to the art area and then placing all of the party items back into the Party Prop Box. |
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