How to Create New Birthday Traditions

by Cambria on March 21st, 2012 | No Comments »

Looking for ways to make birthdays more than candles and cake? Birthday traditions are part of what make birthdays meaningful. The memories birthday activities are going to last longer than the memories of what gift you gave or received. These are some of the traditions my family has developed over time.

Fun Family Birthday Traditions

Here are some ideas to make your birthdays special and unique:

Special Breakfast

Serve the birthday person their favorite breakfast in bed.

Birthday Place Setting

Decorate a chair at the table with ribbons and balloons. The birthday person gets to sit in their throne for every meal. Decorate their place setting as well with a designated “special” plate and cup you can use only for birthdays.

Surprise Decorations

Decorate their bedroom while they’re sleeping so they wake up to a surprise.

National Birthday Traditions

Find out what your nationality does for birthdays. Many birthday traditions come from different countries. Directly after singing “Happy Birthday,” my family sings “Lang zal hij leven,” the Dutch birthday song.

Opening Presents

Mix up your present opening routine so it’s not all right after another. What’s a present if it’s easy to get? Here are ways to have fun while opening presents and make it last longer:

Set up a treasure hunt to find the presents. Have new clues attached to each present in a new location. Our hunts started around the house but have spread to around the neighborhood. A treasure hunt around town would be super fun, though, especially for a 16^th birthday since they get to do the driving!

The classic “Heavy, Heavy Hang Over” is a great way to pause and think about the gift giver and thank them with a “wish” before thinking about the gift. It’s also really fun to see what creative things the kids come up with to “wish.”

Lead them to their presents with the “Hot & Cold” game. Hide their presents before they come into the room. Guide them to their gifts by saying warmer…hotter…burning up, as they approach the hiding spot and colder…freezing…ice as they move or look in the wrong direction.