Celebrating children's birthdays is important to the child and their families. It's a special occasion that focuses on the individual child and celebrates the day they were born.
Typically when celebrating a child's birthday families bring in a birthday cake to share but with food allergies and healthy eating policies, there are alternatives to celebrate without the cake.
Birthday celebrations don't have to focus on food, services can introduce special ways to celebrate a child's birthday such as:
- Class Birthday Book - Each child in the room makes a page for the birthday child’s Birthday Book. A page consists of a picture and a message about the birthday child. The birthday child makes the cover. The educators can also make a page, too, and all the pages are bound in a special book for the birthday child to take home.
- Birthday Lunch - The birthday child may invite family members to eat with them. If possible, create a special birthday lunch table. The special table could have a tablecloth and a vase of flowers to make it a little more special.
- Birthday Crowns - At the beginning of the year have a plain white paper birthday crown ready for each child. Each child decorates and paints their birthday crown at the start of the year and then puts back on the wall with a label that reads the child’s name and birthdate. They are hung in chronological order and the birthday child wears them on their birthday.
- The Felt Birthday Cake and Birthday Chair - The birthday child sits on a special birthday chair and a special felt cake with candles is placed on a birthday felt board. Children sing Happy Birthday while the child holds the felt birthday cake.
- Birthday Hat/Badge/Garment - The birthday child wears a special birthday outfit for the day.
- Birthday Plant - the birthday child plants a small plant in honour of their birthday in the garden.
Healthier Food Options For Birthdays
To promote healthy eating, use nutritious foods prepared and presented in special ways, rather than relying on ‘discretionary choices’ for celebrations
Some ideas include:
- Fruit platter or fruit kebabs
- Watermelon balls
- Mini pizzas
- Friendship Fruit Salad – make a fruit salad with fruit contributed by each child.
- Make Your Own Yogurt Parfait – mix plain yogurt with equal parts of vanilla yogurt.
- Layer yogurt with fresh fruit and granola.
- Make Your Own Trail Mix – mix together whole grain wheat square cereal, oat ring cereal pretzels, dried fruit, and shelled pumpkin seeds.
- Make Your Own Pizza - use whole wheat English muffins or pitas as the pizza crust. Set out tomato sauce, chopped vegetables, pineapple, ham, cooked chicken, black beans and shredded cheese.
If discretionary choices are used for special occasions, offer small, children’s serves and consider also offering a fruit platter or other healthy option.
When parents provide cake/cupcakes to share in the setting, make sure:
- They are store-bought
- They are enclosed in sealed packaging
- Ingredients are listed on the packaging
- The ‘use by’ date is clearly labelled
The child whose birthday it is will be given their own cupcake with a candle, this is to prevent the spread of germs through saliva on the whole cake.
Birthdays are a really exciting day for each individual child so make it a special day that they can remember!
Further Reading
Birthday Certificates - The Birthday Certificates template provides 10 brightly coloured birthday certificates that can be given to a child on their birthday. Choose from any of the 10 available within the template, laminate it and present it to their child on their special day. This is a cute idea to acknowledge the child's birthday and a keepsake a child can keep. Children will look forward to being presented with a birthday certificate on their birthday.
Birthday Book Donation - The Birthday Book Donation is a free template. It is a letter to Parents that encourages them to donate a "birthday book" to your room rather than bring in a cake/treats to share with the group of children on their child's birthday. The book donated will be read aloud on the child's birthday, a photo and a date will be added onto the inside cover and it can be placed into the room's library for all children to enjoy. This is a great way to build upon the books within the reading area and families can donate a book that they are not using any more.
My Birthday Book - The My Birthday Book can be given to children when they are celebrating their birthday. Each child can fill in the second page which includes adding a picture (this can be an image of the birthday child with the child filling out the page) or can also be a special picture drawn for the birthday child. Educators then put the pages together in a folder to create a birthday book which is then presented to the birthday child on their special day. This is a special way to celebrate children's birthday and a nice keepsake for children to receive on their special day.
Birthday Poster - The Birthday Poster template can be used to celebrate a child's birthday. When a child has their birthday and attending the centre, they can have their own birthday poster displayed on the room bulletin board for the day. Then the birthday poster can be added to their Portfolios or laminated and given to the birthday child as a small momento of their birthday.
Birthday Colouring Pages - The Birthday Colouring Pages are a great way to celebrate children's birthdays. Friends can colour, paint, collage a birthday colouring page which then can be collected from all friends and put together to form a special birthday book to present to the child on their birthday.