Storytime: B is for Birthday
Happy Birthday!
Children eagerly look forward to their next birthday with excitement and anticipation each year. But did you know birthdays can also be valuable learning experiences? They can help children develop an understanding of time and age, explore family values and traditions, and even learn empathy and the joy of giving.
When planning your child’s next celebration, consider incorporating one of these fun and meaningful activities:
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Role-Play Parties – Pretend birthday parties with dolls or stuffed animals encourage storytelling, creativity, and empathy.
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Make-Your-Own Cupcake Station – Following simple steps to decorate their own cupcakes builds independence and sequencing skills.
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Birthday Calendar Craft – Marking the birthdays of family members helps kids learn about months, numbers, and names.
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“All About Me” Poster – Creating a poster with drawings or pictures helps children express themselves and build self-awareness.
Join us Tuesdays, and Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. or Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Room.
Ages 2-5
Sing, Talk, Read, Write, Play
Tip
Moving to music, dancing, swaying, running, and jumping help young children feel rhythm and begin to understand how their bodies work. Such movements help them gain muscle control and improve balance. All of this contributes to a child’s gross motor development. ~Reading Picture Books with Children by Lambert
Activity
Using a scarf, washcloth, or a towel practice tossing and catching while singing the rhyme, “Toss Your Scarves.” You can also sing and play the familiar rhyme, “Pat-a-Cake”, with your child. This will help them develop hand-eye coordination.
Books Presented
I Got You a Present! by Mike Erskine-Kellie
Happy Birthday, Moon by Frank Asch
The Secret Birthday Message by Eric Carle
Click, Clack, Surprise! by Doreen Cronin
Songs, Rhymes, and Fingerplays
Five Candles
Five candles on a birthday cake
Five, and not one more.
You may blow one candle out…
And that leaves four!
Four candles on a birthday cake
There for all to see.
You may blow one candle out…
And that leaves three!
Three candles on a birthday cake
Standing straight and true.
You may blow one candle out…
And that leaves two!
Two candles on a birthday cake
Helping us have fun.
You may blow one candle out…
And that leaves one!
On candle on a birthday cake
We know its task is done.
You may blow this candle out…
And that leaves none! Make a wish!
Source: Storytime Katie
Toss Your Scarves
Tune: Jingle Bells
Toss your scarves, toss your scarves
Toss them way up high.
Toss your scarves up in the air,
‘til they reach the sky.
Wave your scarves, wave your scarves,
Twirl them ‘round and ‘round.
Twirl your scarves one more time,
Then let them, all fall down.
If You’re Happy and You Know It
If you’re happy and you know it, wave your scarf.
If you’re happy and you know it, wave your scarf.
If you’re happy and you know it, your face will surely show it.
If you’re happy and you know it, wave your scarf.
*peek-a-boo, wave it high, wave it low, shake it fast, shake it slow.
Birthday Months
If your birthday is in January, turn around
If your birthday is in February, touch the ground…
(March, march along; April, sing a song; May, wiggle your nose; June, shake your toes; July, jump up high;
August, reach the sky; September, tap your shoe; October, call out “Boo!”; November, tickle your ears;
December, give three cheers)
Source: Storytime Katie
Birthday Cake Draw and Tell Story
Crafts and Activities
Kitten Birthday coloring page
Party Hat Craft
Additional Books
Happy Birthday discovery kit
The Law of Birthdays: A Story About Choice by Brenna Jeanneret
Party Rex by Molly Idle
The Brighter I Shine by Kamee Abrahamian
For one Armenian child, birthdays are days for decorating the house with bunches of rose and mint and sumac, for eating beef dumplings with garlic yoghurt, and for baking cakes with family and friends. But birthdays are also a time for telling stories–stories of ancestors and homelands, of births and new beginnings, and of the land their family now calls home. Because stories make up who we are, they are like rivers that lead into oceans, like seeds that fall from flowers, like pages of this book that come from trees. And the more stories that are told, the brighter this little child shines. A magical tale about finding yourself in the stories of your ancestors and keeping their memories alive
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