How We Celebrate Birthdays in Kindergarten

My Kindergarten Birthday Memory

My one and only memory of kindergarten is how we celebrated birthdays.

There was a clothesline that hung from one end of the classroom to the other and on it hung the months of the year. When it was a child’s birthday, they drew a self-portrait and hung it next to their birthday month.

Since my birthday was in June, I waited alllllll year for my turn to come. But I loved this tradition and it was something I still remember today.

Making Kindergarten Birthdays Meaningful

When I became a kindergarten teacher, I wanted to create my own birthday traditions that were simple,  yet meaningful. I wanted each child to have their own special day that they could look forward to all year long.

So here’s a rundown of our classroom birthday routines and the ways in which we honor the birthday child.

Birthday Banner and Necklaces

To track and graph our birthdays, we use this Birthday Banner that hangs above our calendar.

At the beginning of the school year, each child is given a pendant with their picture on it and shown how to attach the right number of pony beads to the ring to match their current age.

The pendants are then hung on the Birthday Banner and we can easily see how many children were born within each month.  This is a great opportunity to tie in a little math as we count the birthday circles and compare the months to see which ones have the greatest number of birthdays.

When a child’s birthday arrives, we remove the pendant from the birthday banner and the child picks out a shoelace in their favorite color. They add another bead to show their new age, wear their necklace throughout the day, and take it home as a keepsake of their kindergarten birthday.

Our Birthday Circle

Another tradition that makes our birthdays special is the Montessori Birthday Circle. While there are many variations, here’s how it works in our classroom.

Prior to a child’s birthday, the family is asked to complete a Birthday Timeline that highlights one event for each year of their child’s life.

On their special day, we gather around the birthday circle and the child holds an Earth ball and walks around the “sun,” one time for each year of their life.

At each rotation, the parent uses the timeline to share a photo/story of their child at that age.  If parents aren’t able to attend, they send in the timeline and I share it.

Once we reach present day, I ask the child to tell something they want to learn how to do or get better at in the next year as they move from 5 to 6 or 6 to 7.  It’s a sweet tradition that also helps them understand the cycle of a year.

More Ways We Celebrate Kindergarten Birthdays

We follow that with a fun movement activity where we “make a cake” for the birthday child.  Once the cake is made, I “light” the candles using a glitter wand and we sing Tom Chapin’s Happy Birthday song.  It all feels very magical and the kids love it.

The birthday child then picks out a favorite book from our classroom library and the parent reads it in their honor.

Other ways we honor the birthday child include wearing a birthday sash,

choosing a birthday chair to sit in for the day,

and decorating a Birthday Crown.

Kindergarten Birthdays They’ll Remember

At the end of the birthday celebration, the child picks out a birthday rock to take home and keep as a momento of their special day.  I’ve had past students tell me they still have their birthday rocks, so I’m hoping they will remember their kindergarten birthdays just as I did when I was young.

For help on creating your own classroom routines/rituals, download this free Routines and Rituals Toolkit and check out the Growing Traditions page in the Roots & Wings Resource Library.

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