Birthdays are so important in K-2 classrooms! Of course, primary students love to be recognized on their birthdays. Get ready to celebrate your students’ birthdays with over 7 ideas for celebrating student birthdays in the classroom + party ideas!
Keep in mind that you can’t do ALL of these activities or you’d never get anything done! A fun idea is to let the birthday kiddo decide how he/she would like to celebrate their special day!
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Birthday Parades
First, have a birthday parade where the birthday child gets to walk around the classroom with a birthday crown or sash. Celebrate your student with cheers from their classmates. Finally, take the parade down the hall to their past teachers {for first and second grades} or to the principal’s office!
Related: 5 First Day of First Grade Activities
Read Birthday Books
Another way to celebrate students’ birthdays in the classroom is to read birthday-themed books together as a class. Allow the birthday child to choose a book or find one with a birthday theme from your classroom library.
Here are a few of my favorite birthday books to add to the classroom library:
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Birthday Cake
Ten Rules of the Birthday Wish
A Very Dinosaur Birthday
The Half Birthday Book {for all those summer birthday friends!}
Eat the Cake
Make Birthday Books – Free Template
An alternative classroom birthday idea is to create your own classroom birthday book for each student. This is a great activity to sneak in some writing and drawing! Each student creates one page of the book. The birthday kiddo creates a special page about themself.
Grab the free print-and-go file below to make the birthday books.
Birthday Cards
Although a generic birthday card might get tossed, having students write nice things about the birthday girl or boy on a card is a special keepsake that a child will keep forever!
If your students have school email addresses, you can also use these Digital Cards to email your students a birthday card!
Birthday Songs
Of course, you can’t celebrate a birthday without singing! Sing happy birthday to the child with the whole class.
Keep the music going with a birthday dance party with some of the child’s favorite school-appropriate songs. This fun KidzBop song is my favorite. It gives the kids a chance to get up and move around a little for a brain break!
Birthday Hat or Crown
Whether it’s a silly hat or a princess or prince crown, recognizing the birthday kid with a fun hat or crown is a celebration for the special birthday boy or girl! Birthday sashes and stickers are also great ways to celebrate the birthday kid.
You can even snag free “birthday” crowns from Burger King or affordable tiaras at the dollar store.
Birthday Chair
Save a special chair in the classroom just for the birthday child. On their birthday, they get to sit in the special chair!
If you don’t have an extra chair, you can slip this cute cover over his/her seat so everyone knows whose special day it is. My teammate has done this for years and the kids feel SO special to sit in this chair for the day!
Related Reading: Holiday Winter Party Activities
Birthday Treats
Some schools allow students to bring birthday treats. Make sure you know dietary restrictions and allergies of your students to keep everyone safe.
If you have rules about food at school, consider allowing students to bring non-food treats for classmates, like stickers, pencils, or fidgets.
Classroom Birthday Ideas for Elementary Students Recap
Celebrating birthdays in K-2 classrooms is a wonderful way to make students feel special and create a positive classroom environment. I hope this article’s helpful ideas, from birthday parades and special chairs to classroom books and dance parties, will help you choose activities that best suit their students and classroom dynamics.
Remember, the goal is to make the birthday child feel celebrated while involving the entire class in the festivities, and it’s a great idea to let the birthday student choose how they’d like to celebrate their special day.
Incorporating some of these ideas can make birthdays more fun and memorable for the birthday child and their classmates.
What birthday activities will you use in your primary classroom?
