Birthday Parties

[dave4him]

How do you handle birthday's in your daycare? My niece has her second birthday coming up and i want to make sure its special as possible

[Cat Herder]

I throw parties and take lot's of photos just like they were one of my own.... Plus random fun shots all year.

At the end of their attendance period (off to PRE-K), I make photo books with them and send them to the parents as a gift.

[Meeko]

I stopped doing it years ago. Each birthday child gets a crown and we sing Happy Birthday at lunch time.

A number of years back, I had two daycare kids with birthdays a few days apart. Kid #1's parents brought cake, fancy gift bags for each child, hats for each child, etc. etc. etc. Child #2's parents didn't do anything at all. The kids were asking boy#2 where HIS treat bags were...it was heartbreaking. He was so upset and I could see he felt hurt.

That was the most extreme case, but I still find that birthdays often become an opportunity for "You're not coming to my party" bullying which drives me crazy!!

So I keep birthdays generic and let the parents do whatever they do at home. That way hopefully no child feels singled out in a negative way.

I have 20 kids on my books and 16 here at any given time. I cannot afford to do party after party myself....which I would do if I could.......so we keep it simple and let the parents deal with anything extra.

[SilverSabre25]

I keep it simple--birthday child gets to choose things that need choosing that day, like what color cup and plate they use, what books we read at storytime and what songs we sing. We have a special snack that afternoon, like cupcakes or cookies. If the child is old enough, I ask them what they want for the snack or what kind of cookies they want me to make, etc. We sing Happy Birthday at snacktime and that's it.

I don't think I would do anything differently if it were my relatives in care, unless I knew their parents weren't doing anything in particular.

[trobin2355]

birthdays

I feel that birthdays are to be celebrated at home, its the parent's job to make a big stink about it

[Blackcat31]

I stopped doing it years ago. Each birthday child gets a crown and we sing Happy Birthday at lunch time.

A number of years back, I had two daycare kids with birthdays a few days apart. Kid #1's parents brought cake, fancy gift bags for each child, hats for each child, etc. etc. etc. Child #2's parents didn't do anything at all. The kids were asking boy#2 where HIS treat bags were...it was heartbreaking. He was so upset and I could see he felt hurt.

That was the most extreme case, but I still find that birthdays often become an opportunity for "You're not coming to my party" bullying which drives me crazy!!

So I keep birthdays generic and let the parents do whatever they do at home. That way hopefully no child feels singled out in a negative way.

I have 20 kids on my books and 16 here at any given time. I cannot afford to do party after party myself....which I would do if I could.......so we keep it simple and let the parents deal with anything extra.

Same here. Pretty much for the same reasons too.

[PitterPatter]

We celebrate every childs birthday the same. They get a cake made by me, and 1 gift which I allow them to open but they must wait and play at home so it doesn't cause disputes Everyone gets a goodie bag which they also take home. We play games and sing happy birthday same as any party but they don't get cake until after lunch. I give each child a small treat bag with a few things like a box of raisins, a party favor, stickers etc. They get those when they go home. I don't allow them to be opened and mixed up here.

No food from home is my policy so that means b-day cake too that is why I do it all myself. I have had a few families that don't do much for the kids so I try to make everyones day special.

I should state that I can afford it as my group is never over 6. If I had more I too would keep it simple.

[dave4him]

Ill prob just make a cake and sing sounds like enough

[JenNJ]

Dance party, pizza for lunch, I make a cake, we sing happy birthday. I have all the kids draw a picture for the birthday child and I make a Birthday Book for him/her.

[littlemissmuffet]

We decorate with a banner and balloons, have cupcakes and a pizza lunch. I take photos and email them to mom and dad. We give the child their gift from hubs and I to take home at the end of the day. We only do parties on Fridays (the week of the child's bday) and we don't allow any parents to bring treats or gifts from home.

[WImom]

They decorate a crown they can wear all day. The parent can bring in a treat if they would like and we sing happy birthday. If a parent doesn't bring a treat (Haven't had that happen yet though) we would just sing happy birthday during snack.

I give the birthday child a gift from me (and my family) that they can take home and open.

[kidkair]

I have a birthday theme and so I take down the current theme and put up the birthday stuff for a day for the kid's birthday and we just have fun playing with balloons and a ball pit for a day. I also give them all cookies after lunch. Gifts are reserved for parent hosted parties.

[e.j.]

We have very low-key birthday celebrations. At afternoon snack, we sing Happy Birthday and I serve the kids cupcakes which the parent usually provides. (I keep some store bought ones in the freezer just in case the parent doesn't offer to bring something in or forgets.) At the end of the snack time, the birthday child gets to pick a gift from the big "Gift Box". I had bought a big box of computer paper from Sam's Club once and wrapped the empty box to look like a big present. Throughout the year, when I find toys, puzzles or books on sale, I put them in the big box. When it's someone's birthday, last day at day care, etc., they get to pick something from the box before they go home.