Happy Summer Birthday!
Posted by Hope Spencer on 10 Jul 2009 | Posted in: Classroom Routines, Holiday and Seasonal
My birthday is coming up soon! I have to say, having a summer birthday never really bothered me. I had friends who felt a bit cheated about not being able to celebrate their birthdays at school, but I guess I didn’t notice it. I always had a good time having a birthday party with my grandparents or with other relatives we were visiting during the summer. My little sister’s birthday was in the summer too, three weeks before mine, so I guess that helped me love a summer birthday. But, now that I think about it, it might have been fun to have my mother bring cupcakes to school on my special day just once.
In my classroom, I was careful to make a fuss over students with summer birthdays. Some years we celebrated half-birthdays. Other years, I asked students to choose a day that was special to them and we celebrated that day.
To celebrate, we sang to the birthday child and, depending on the grade I was teaching, decorated his chair, made a card in his honor, or wrote a poem for him. After all, the best part of a birthday, no matter what day it’s celebrated, is making the birthday person feel special.
Here’s hoping all of your birthdays are celebrated in style!
Hope
Congratulations to Kathy Dobbs, director of Kathy’s Family Daycare in Simi Valley, CA. She is the winner of a copy of The Big Book of Monthly Ideas (Pre-K) in our weekly blog drawing.
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43 Responses to “Happy Summer Birthday!”
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More Comments Pages: « 1 [2] 3 4 » Show All Comments
We celebrate birthdays by singing to the birthday student during calendar time and letting them choose a birthday book. Summer birthdays are celebrated before school lets out in the spring.
I do summer Birthdays in April and May. In April I’ll do the June Birthdays and May will be the July Birthdays. If a child has an August Birthday when we’re not in school, then I will celebrate it in one of those months. My kids make a Birthday Book for one another. I just found a nice Birthday cake picture that I copy and in the morning when the children come in, they color the Birthday Cake and on back they have to draw some things they would like to give the Birthday person. Since I teach kindergarten, we do a lot of talking about things to give others. I bind the book together with my cake on top and a certificate I tape on back. They love their book and look at it all day. (If someone is absent that day, I just add an extra copy with that child’s name on it. The Birthday person ALWAYS brings their book back to school so that picture is colored too.) The Birthday person can pick two things from my Birthday Bucket. (This is a container where I have little items for the kids that I pick up.) I also send my students a Birthday card with a little coupon I made up so they can have a free popcorn on me on our next school popcorn day. They love receiving mail and they think the coupon is so special.
When it is my Birthday, we play Grocery Store. I buy some crackers, cut up meat & cheese and anything else that I find. They receive 15 little chips and can come to my store to buy their snack. For every item they take, they owe me a chip. It is so much fun watching how careful they are with their “pretend” money. It is a great way to introduce money, counting, saving, etc.
As a Pre-K teacher The last week of school we always had something special everyday. One of the days we would have an unbirthday party for all the children who had summer birthdays. I would usually prepare and pass out goodie bags. We always made this day a big deal. Also there were years when we would go to Burger King And they would donate birthday crowns for us to use during the year.
I try to celebrate the students birthdays before they leave at the end of the year. I want to ry to make more of an excitement this year. Sometimes students do not want to come on their birthdays. I want to make such a fuss that they cannot wait for their birthdays to come. My birthday is in December and I did not receive much because it was close to Christmas. This year I want to make a big deal when their birthdays come around. THANKS for the ideas.
Summer birthdays are not much fun when you are young and miss out on celebrations but they are better when you are older and no one gets to give you black balloons and dead roses for your birthday!
I let my students celebrate their half birthday if they have a summer birthday, or they can choose a day to bring in treats in August or May if they prefer. I give the birthday child a certificate, a pencil, and a bookmark. I like the idea of letting them choose which book to read to the class. I’m thinking that maybe this year I will let the birthday child get time in the “reading corner” as a special reward as well.
I usually give a card, bookmark, pencil, & money for the drink machine as hirthday gifts for 6th graders. So the first week of school aftere the first couple of rule days, I give out those things to the summer birthdays. Mine is also an August birthday, so I bring the cupcakes/cookies for them and for me!
In Preschool we celebrate August birthdays in September and June and July birthdays in May, since we usually end the week of Memorial Day. If there are any birthdays during holidays, we celebrate them either before or after the holiday, depending on the date or the choice of the families. The children are given a “Happy Birthday” certificate, a birthday crown, and a special birthday pencil. We also sing “Happy Birthday” to the child, and he or she gets to pick a prize out of our “Birthday Box”. Parents are invited to stay and celebrate with us, and treats are also brought in by the parents to share with the class. Birthdays are really special!
I love the half birthday idea! I just might do that this year. Thanks for the idea
I have a June birthday and I do remember feeling cheated out of sharing my special day with my school friends when I was younger. I make sure to reconize students with the birthday hat, singing to them and talking about the season of their special day. Each student also draws a picture of a birthday cake for the birthday student instead of eating those high cal treats. Students love to decorate their drawn cakes and make it very special to give their friend a kind birthday wish.
I also have had that same experience. I am a July baby. I guess it didn’t affect me as a child. We always had birthday parties and the friends and family that were close to us always were invited.
In the school the children with summer birthdays are recognized on their half birthdays. They like to bring in a special treat and the other children make cards for them. This is also confusing for some children as well, so it is recognized as their half-birthday, letting the other children know that we are celebrating their birthdays this way due to the fact that they have summer birthdays.
My son is also one who has a July birthday and We have had birthday parties at the end of the school year for all of his friends. He had fun with this idea at first, but now he wants his party on his birthday. I think he likes being recognized, but just wants his special day to remain his special day. That is what happens as we grow up, right?
My preschoolers with summer birthdays were surprised and delighted to find out they had their own day to celebrate their birthday during the last weeks of school. Besides the crowns and other birthday privileges, they love being able to pick the book to be read to the class at story time. I have a basket of birthday stories that are only read on someone’s birthday. It is a growing collection and the children love it.