Birthday Celebration

We celebrate birthdays by explaining to the children that it takes the Earth one year to travel around the Sun – this is one unit of measurement for time.
A candle is lit to represent the sun and we talk about events in the life of the child in the 3-6 class. The ‘birthday child’ holds a globe of the world and walks around the Sun once and stops; the first birthday has been reached. If a photograph of the ‘one year old’ is available then we all look at it, we will then mention a special event, provided by the parent, that happened to the child during that year. This is repeated until the current birthday is reached.
The child then blows out the candle and Happy Birthday is sung. This is then followed by a birthday snack provided by the child’s parents. 

The Birthday Snack

The birthday snack can be cookies, fruit, or vegetables, suitable for the children to eat with their hands. 
We can discuss food allergies and if able, bring something in that all children could eat. These children always appreciate being able to eat the same food as everyone else.