My brother turned
70 recently and I’ll tell you a funny story about him. On his big day he could go any place or
have anything he wanted to eat.
Jack chose to go to his local convenience store and have a Coke and a
hotdog. I think it’s in our genes
because my siblings and I all love junk food. We’re all very health conscious and try to eat things that
are good for our bodies, but when it’s a special day we’ll choose potato chips,
Coke, and a hotdog every time!
Jack’s birthday was September 5th and he told me that from
now on every month on the 5th day he was gong to splurge and have or
do something special. I like the
idea of celebrating each month, don’t you?
I think it’s
important to celebrate children’s birthdays in your classroom as well. If you go to my website you’ll find a
YouTube or Teacher Tube video you can watch with an idea that won’t cost you a
thing and there’s not one ounce of sugar in it. But it sure is a sweet idea!
When a child has a
birthday you let them choose friends to be the candles on their cake. If they are five years old they select
five friends; six years old six friends, etc. The candles/friends stand around the birthday child and then
the rest of the class makes a human birthday cake by holding hands and standing
around them. Say this chant:
Today
is child’s name birthday.
Let’s
make her/him a cake. (Circle
arms to make a bowl.)
Stir
and mix and mix and stir, (Pretend
to stir.)
Then
into the oven to bake. (Pretend
to put cake in the oven.)
Here’s
our cake so nice and round.
(Circle arms.)
We’ll
frost it with icing white. (Spread
frosting with palm.)
We’ll
put age candles on it. (Hold
up fingers.)
To
make her/his birthday bright.
After singing the
traditional birthday song, let the birthday child “blow” out the candles. The candles slump to the floor when
they are blown out.
What else can you
do?
*Make the
traditional paper birthday crown for the child to decorate.
*Make a “Happy
Birthday” book. Each child in the
classroom draws a picture of something they would like to give the birthday
friend. A simple sentence like “My
wish for you is_____.” could be added to the page. The birthday child decorates a large sheet of construction
paper in which the pictures from their friends can be stapled to make a book.
*Give the birthday
child one special wish. She can
choose a game, book, song, friend to sit by, etc.
*Spray paint a
chair gold and decorate with fake jewels.
The “Fancy Nancy Chair” can be used for birthdays and other classroom
celebrations.
Hint! Be sure and celebrate summer birthdays
in May.
