Back when I was a student, celebrating birthdays meant bringing in homemade cupcakes to share with the class. Now, celebrating birthdays in the classroom can no longer involve food, let alone homemade baked goods. So what’s a teacher to do? How can you help your kiddos to feel special on their birthday while keeping to a budget and without the celebration interrupting your classroom schedule too drastically?
Let the Celebration Begin
In my classroom, our celebration begins when the “birthday slide” appears on the smartboard.
Time to Sing
The link in the upper right hand corner of my birthday slide brings us to GoNoodle. Then we sing “Celebrate” together as a class. I love this song for birthdays! Not your traditional happy birthday song. Gets the kiddos up and moving, and singing their hearts out too! In the song, they ask “What are we celebrating” and my students yell out, “Matthew’s Birthday!” The biggest problem I run into is remembering to shut my door prior to singing…we get LOUD!
Birthday Book
The next step in our celebration is making a birthday book. Every student completes a page for the birthday kiddo. Then the book is compiled and stapled together. Here’s the best part…the cover of the book is done for you! All you have to do is make a quick trip to the dollar store to pick up some birthday napkins. Seriously, how easy is that! Genius actually (thanks to Megan for teaching me this birthday book trick)! I also give each student a birthday pencil with a Happy Birthday tag affixed to it.
Here is the link to the student page. I typically have the pages precut so the students only need to decorate or write on the page. When pre-cutting, be sure to leave the top space above the square intact as that is where the staples will go.
I always have a stash of percut birthday pages on hand. They are ready to go so when it’s time to make a birthday book. My students know where they are stored. They can help themselves to a page when they are ready to begin creating their masterpiece.
The students typically ask the birthday kiddo their favorite color. They also ask what kind of things they like so their wish is appropriate. I allow my students to choose whether they’d like to draw a picture or write a special message. They could also choose a combination of both. The only requirement is that they include their name somewhere within the dotted box.
Prepare your Stash
Here’s another way to make the entire birthday celebration process a bit easier. I have a birthday basket that I stock at the start of the school year. A trip to the Dollar Store to pick up a few packs of napkins and the book covers are done. Pencils for Oriental Trading or the dollar section at Target are my go to’s. I have a stash of pencils that are already attached to the toppers. It’s a quick grab and go on birthday celebration days.
That’s it! That’s how we celebrate birthdays in my classroom 🥳 Doesn’t quite compare to the homemade cupcakes I’d prefer but it will do. I have yet to have a kiddo leave class on their birthday without a smile. I take that as a win! Bonus for me since it involves very little prep and hardly any money out of my pocket!