Celebrating Yummy Birthdays

Hi friends! I hope you all are rested from the summer break and ready to head back to school. Today I writing to share how I make birthdays special for each of my students. After all, celebrating the day you're born is a big deal when you're a kid!

Many students don't always have the same opportunity for celebrating their birthdays. Each year a small percentage of parents will contact me to celebrate their child's birthday. My heart breaks for the ones who don't.  It's the little things we do to make the kids feel like they matter.  

The first display you see when you walk in my classroom door is our birthday graph. It's a beautiful and purposeful. Later in the year, it will become a focus lesson for graphing and data entitled "Celebrating Yummy Birthdays!"

The cupcakes are editable.  I not only add the name but a full date so I'm aware how old each child will be.

During preplanning, I prep the materials shown below for each child. Having the materials already prepped and easily available will help later in the year when I am focused on lesson, assessments and data. 

Each child receives a crown to be stapled on a sentence strip and worn at specific times. I have a birthday sign which is displayed for all to see. The birthday badge has a safety pin adhered to the back and is worn throughout the day. The most beloved item is the personalized lollipop from Oriental Trading.  

The birthday file is editable, allowing you to easily enter your student's name. The document autofills each editable fields within the file to make prep and printing easier. I keep a sheet protector adhered to the classroom door and simply add their birthday sign to be displayed for all to see. When my students enter the room, they are aware we are celebrating one of their friends.

The crowns are precut and ready for sentences strips. 

I store all the artifacts in my birthday buckets at the front door. As I enter, I can easily pull the button, crown, certificate and lollipop to place on the birthday student's desk.

From the moment the kids realize the personalized lollipops are for their birthday, I receive real time updates. The personalized swirl lollipops are from Oriental Trading and come in packs of 24 for $13.99. Don't they look delicious?

This is the first year that I didn't say "Love, Mrs. Saoud". I decided to say Happy Birthday without thinking the label already said Happy Birthday. Lesson learned. Oriental Trading allows three lines with 12 characters and spaces per line for your personalization needs. Thankfully, the kids are more excited about the delicious looking sucker rather than the label.

I take super simple steps in hopes that each child's day is a special day on a budget. For my darlings who celebrate during summer break, I feature them in a "unbirthday celebration" in the weeks leading up to our final day of school.  

I would love to hear how you recognize each child for their birthday! Each of the pictures above have a direct link if you're interested in Celebrating Yummy Birthdays or the Personalized Swirl Lollipops from Oriental Trading.