Birthdays

Birthdays! 

First Grade Frenzy is having a Birthday Linky party in honor of her birthday week! This is also my birthday month! I love having a summer birthday because I love doing outdoor activities. But I also felt slightly left out in class because everyone else got to celebrate their birthday and I did not.

My district does not allow us to celebrate birthdays with any food, cupcakes, cookies, cake, and we are not supposed to actually celebrate. While we are required to follow the rules about food and not having a "party", we find ways to celebrate and make birthdays special in the classroom. 

I give my students a birthday bookmark, pencil, huge sticker that says "Happy Birthday" and how old they are, and lots of hugs to celebrate their birthday. We usually sing the birthday song if they want to at the beginning of the day when they are given their prizes. 

For my students in my class we celebrate their birthday in June the last week of school. Since I have little ones they love the idea of celebrating just a month early. I like the idea of half birthdays and may do this next year. I just want to make sure no one gets left out.

My new school also has birthday books for a school wide celebration. The student may donate a book to the library and have a sticker on the inside cover that says it is their birthday book, age, and why the book is special to them. They also get to go on the morning announcements to say the title, author, age, and why the book is special to them. I think this is a great idea that I want to incorporate into my own classroom library. I think my students would love seeing their names in books and if enough students participated I would designate a special bin for birthday books. 

How do you celebrate birthdays in your classroom! Link up with First Grade Frenzy and share!