Kids Birthday Traditions

I love a good tradition and hearing what other peoples’ traditions are!  Traditions help create lasting memories and, of course, hilarious photos to enjoy for years down the road.  Since it’s currently the month of 3 of my 4 kid’s birthday (did you know they all have the same birthday!?), I have our fun kids birthday traditions on my mind.  So, without further adieu, I hope you enjoy reading about these kids birthday traditions!

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I am re-sharing this post from a previous year, so please enjoy pictures from past year’s of my kiddos.  And this was all before baby Sam arrived!  

Cake Flavors

• Each one of the kids gets to pick their favorite cake flavor on their birthday. My mom always did this with us (my older sister and I have birthdays 3 days apart, and she’d always make 2 separate cakes!)
• This year Freddie and Frankie obviously aren’t old enough to decide, so we chose for them.  Freddie loves blueberry, so I made frosting by adding blueberry puree to a frosting recipe.  Frankie loves strawberry so she got strawberry frosting.  Ben chose “sprinkles”  
• I used this cake recipe (banana cake with Greek yogurt frosting) and added a little bit of fruit puree (or sprinkles on top) to individualize each cake.
• I bought these small cake pans (set of 3 4-inch cake pans)
• Check out this post on how to make baby smash cakes!

Special Plate

• Every year, we have birthday dinner on the You are Special Today plate.  Get them early because they often sell out!

Birthday Breakfast

• Make them their favorite breakfast – eggless waffles is popular in our house!

Birthday Candle

• To start the day, we light a candle and walk into the kids room singing Happy Birthday.  My parents always did it for me, so I love passing that along to my kids.

Birthday Crowns

• Crowns each kid gets one and they have Velcro in the back so they will have a different pic each year.  I got them from this Etsy shop. Her shop is taking a break right ow, but I found a few other great options:
  • Here
  • Here
  • and Here!

Growth Ruler

• Every year, we measure how much the kids have grown.  My Father-in-law got us a great, floor length measuring stick that we use every year.  It’s floor length and lives upstairs in the hallway, so it’s easy to measure each year and it’s like a piece of art.  It’s from Etsy.  There are a lot of great options like this one and these.

After sharing some of the traditions I love doing with the kids, I thought it would be fun to ask SweetPhi followers and readers what some of their favorite birthday traditions are.  I loved reading your responses, so thanks for taking the time to respond. Here are some other kids birthday traditions:

1. Picking a cake from all of Grandma’s magazines and then her making it.  She used the same cake tray and filled it with candy around the outside.  Sooooo good.  You are special plate and same birthday meal every year, pizza! (Nina K)
2. For my kids, we had ice cream cakes or ice cream cones that were turned upside down and decorated like clowns.  When I was little, we also got to choose our dinner menu, including dessert.  Always made the day special.  My mom must have hated my birthday because I chose homemade chocolate eclairs filled with vanilla custard, still my favorite! (Mary W)
3. I always let my children choose their birthday dinner.  Of course, all mine had separate birthdays. (Denise Elmer)
4. My mom always let us pick out dinner.  Whatever we wanted, she would make. We didn’t have parties or anything, but I loved picking dinner.  When we got a computer (I was like 8 or 10), she’d print us a banner and hang it up too. (Miranda K)
5. My husband used to be the Human Piñata at my daughter’s parties.  I sewed wrapped candies all over an old work shirt of his.  Each kid gets a long piece of crepe paper tied to each wrist.  They try to grab the candies while he tries to grab their crepe paper. When the all of the crepe paper is gone from a wrist, the kids can’t use that wrist. Right away, the kids learn to work together. One kid distracts him while the others grab all that they can.  (Susan C)
6. On the morning of your birthday, we always got to open one gift.  It was usually a new outfit to wear to school!  I went to a private school that required uniforms, but you got a casual day on your birthday, so a new outfit was very exciting for us!  We also always got to choose our favorite dinner for our birthday.  For me, this was extra special because I am a twin, so my Mom went out of her way to make two separate meals for my sister and I to be sure we each got our favorite one. (Bridget L)

I have loved reading what everyone does for their kids birthday traditions.  If you haven’t written in, leave a comment below and let me know.  Happy Celebrating!