A guest post...and a FREEBIE!!!!




Hello everyone! My name is Jeannie and I am the author of Kindergarten Lifestyle. Elizabeth was generous enough to invite me to guest post for her. With back-to-school I know we are all becoming super busy. We always have so many things on our to-do lists! Any good teacher plans for the most important events throughout the school year. And, what's the most important event to a kid? .....even more exciting than Christmas (although Christmas is a close second).......Yup - their birthday (I can hear all you K teachers screaming that now - Duhhhh....:0)


Of course, their birthdays are the most special day of their lives... So, it's the duty of every good teacher to make that day special for them (I know add it to our ever-growing list)......
So, for my post today, I thought I'd bring you some fun birthday celebration ideas with a couple of freebies thrown in. Does anyone here like freebies....ok girls - it's not Black Friday at Walmart....there's enough for all :0) Ok, so I'll get started!

One of the things that I do each year is give my birthday kiddos a birthday card, pencil, sticker, and crown. I'm not super big into treasure boxes so I keep my "presents" low key. I want to keep the focus on the fact that they are a year older and it's their special day - not on getting something.
At the beginning of each year as soon as I get a class list one of the things I do to help myself during the school year is to "pre-make" all birthday cards. I staple a birthday card - all made out and ready to go-- and sticker together. Then I hole-punch the top and bottom of the card and slide a fancy birthday pencil through. I keep all the cards in a convenient place  so I never have to give much thought to birthday preparations. With all we have to keep up with - it's so nice knowing that Johnny's birthday card is all ready!
On the day of the special birthday, I hang a paper crown like this in our doorway. This alerts all the kiddos that someone has a special day today! They get so excited! Sometimes they know who's birthday it is and sometimes it's a surprise! The fun thing about birthday celebrations in K is that ALL the kids are excited!! It makes no difference if it's their birthday or not! :0)




Our morning message announces who the birthday child is and during Calendar time he/she gets to be the "teacher" and help lead us through our calendar routine. Not only does the birthday child love this, but the other kids seems to really enjoy this ritual too. We place the birthday child on our birthday calendar. He/she chooses which color to type his/her name in. Then, it's time to sing, Happy Birthday.  We all sing a special version of Happy Birthday to the birthday child. I have included a FREEBIE for you if you like!

                             
                             CLICK HERE for your FREEBIE!

I have a bucket of "birthday" books that we only touch on birthdays. So, the birthday child gets to choose the "birthday" book we read. Here are some that are in my "birthday" stash:


During Writer's Workshop, we begin work on THE GIFT BOOK. This is also a FREE download for you here!

               CLICK HERE or click the picture to grab it!


This FREEBIE contains 6 different cover pages your birthday child can choose from and write his/her name on the line. Then the rest of the kiddos get to work creating a "gift" page to include in the book. The "gift" page has a little peek-a-boo window that reveals the "gift" each child has chosen to "give" the birthday child. Combine all the "gift" pages with the chosen cover and....Wa-la!!



This is a great keepsake and a wonderful way to top off a very special day!!

How do you celebrate your students' birthdays?




**Thank you once again to Elizabeth for allowing me to post about how I celebrate birthdays in the classrooms. I hope you enjoyed it and/or found something new to do with your crew.....
I have a matching word wall game that I also play with my birthday child during guided reading over on my blog today (Kindergarten Lifestyle).....and it's FREE - hop on over to grab it as well! :0)




6 comments

  1. Love this Post! I love the idea of having a basket of books just for birthdays. I'm definitely doing that.
    Ms. Kerri and her Krazy Kindergarten

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  2. Love these ideas! Thank you so much for sharing them! :)
    Cheryl
    Crayons and Curls

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  3. So glad you like it! I love celebrating birthdays at school! Plus we don't lose any educational time. :0)
    jeannie
    Kindergarten Lifestyle

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  4. The keepsake gift book is such a great idea! I am sure the parents really love it as well. Thanks for sharing how you organize all of this at the beginning of the year!

    Carla
    Playful Learning Brooklyn

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  5. Thank you so much for sharing! I am so excited to use the gift book in my class this year!!

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  6. Birthday Free Gifts! Do you want to get Birthday Free Gifts! Bdayo.Com was created with one goal in mind to help our users enjoy, celebrate, and remember their birthday! Bdayo allows you to find unlimited amount of Birthday Freebies in your area and offer unique features to help you learn more about that special day!

    ReplyDelete

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