In our house, we take birthday month and week very seriously. Birthdays themselves are full of celebration and excitement, and drawing that fun out an extra week adds to childhood magic. Our son turned two in September, and in addition to his party, we did a special themed activity every day to celebrate for a week.
Birthday “Cake” Decorating:
On clear contact paper, I drew a cake and “Happy Birthday” on the non sticky side large enough for him to easily see and touch. After peeling off the paper, I taped the contact paper sticky side out to the wall (using painters’ tape) at his eye level. We used streamers, but you can use cut up paper or tissue paper to stick onto the cake to decorate it. Pro tip from a mom fail: make sure you write the letters backwards or they will show up wrong when you tape the contact paper to the wall.
Library Birthday Books:
On our weekly trip to the library, we picked out birthday themed books to read at home. It was fun to talk him through what his party would look like, teach him the “Happy Birthday” song, and celebrate in an educational way. I picked a few that had parties so that we could practice what it would look like to sing “Happy Birthday” as well as some that had fun, bright colors.
Play Dough:
Using The Mama Notes recipe, I made a batch of play dough for Sully to play with for the first time. After printing a coloring sheet of a birthday cake and laminating it, I added in a couple of cookie cutters and spoons and let him play however he liked. For forty (forty, y’all! A miracle!) minutes he played in his seat with play dough.
Zoo Trip:
Sully loves animals (probably more than people!), so we loaded up and went to the zoo! He absolutely loved it! Out of all of the things that we did to celebrate him, this was my favorite. Of course, the animals were fun, but the best part was that we three got to celebrate our best guy separately from the party and everyone else. It was just a sweet morning of walking and playing and spending time together. Other options could be time at a park, a special meal at a restaurant, the aquarium, or anywhere your kid loves to go!
Balloon Prize:
This one was crazy simple, but I needed a way to celebrate and still get our errands done throughout the day. I bought him a balloon at the grocery store and then let him carry it around with us everywhere we went that day. He was so happy all day just carrying it around and telling people he had a balloon. Other variations of this could be wearing a birthday shirt or birthday pin: anything that lets them feel special!
Kids want simpler things that we often think: a little quality time, a little bit of “magic” to make the day feel special, and a few extra hugs. Any of these activities can be adapted bigger or smaller to make your birthday boy or girl smile!
