Birthdays in the Classroom

Birthdays are such a special occasion for kids in our classrooms. They get SO excited when their birthday falls on a school day. But let’s get real…it can be a lot of work! Some families want to celebrate birthdays at school like they would at home. In my case, that just can’t be done. Our school has a wellness policy with treats and food, and our schedule is jam packed throughout the day with meaningful learning going on. Not to mention, some families don’t celebrate birthdays. So, what do you do to celebrate birthdays and make them feel special, while making it easy on you?

Here are a 3 easy ways to celebrate student birthdays!

Celebrate without treats or food:

You can have a wonderful birthday celebration for your students without any worry of food or allergies! If a student wants to bring in something for their classmates, I give them two choices. They can donate a book to our classroom library, OR they can bring in a non-food item (pencils, bookmarks, erasers, silly straws) to share with the class instead. It makes it easier for me since I don’t have to worry about kids with allergies.

Keep it simple:

You can decorate their chair with a birthday cover to make their day special! I use these from Etsy shop Claire + Ganni. My kids LOVE seeing these on  their chairs when they come in first thing in the morning. It totally makes their day. :)

Birthday Scratchers:

Scratchers that won’t break the bank! Another easy way to celebrate birthdays is with these fun scratchers I made for my students. You can learn how to create your own HERE. They were really simple to make and the kids seriously LOVE uncovering the birthday prize underneath. Some ideas for the prize can be sit with a friend, sit at the teacher’s desk, classroom money, homework pass, pick a prize from the student treasure box, etc. You can get creative and pick something that won’t cost you anything.

I hope you can use some of these ideas in your classroom!