In our home, we do it up for each birthday! Why? It’s a national holiday as far I’m concerned. It’s the day when we get a little older and we reflect back on the years prior, what we’ve done, memories we share and eat cake of course! Since parties have gotten out of control, you know, the petting zoo, amusement park rides, live entertainment, we only have big parties every other year. More importantly, I’ve come to realize that although the kids have a great time, they only really care that we acknowledge them on their birthdays. Thinking back on when I was young, I can’t really say we had a tradition except for gathering around to sing happy birthday so I decided to start my own. Actually, my sister started it when she brought the party to my labor and delivery room on the day my son was born. Yes, party hats, balloons and more! So here are some of our favorite ways to celebrate birthdays in our home.

1.  Get the kids excited with the Birthday Count Down. We start the count down at the beginning of the birthday month or 10 days out. Sometimes we use a calendar and stickers to keep the momentum going.
2. Choose a space in your home and decorate it with a theme character or colors. Okay this is where we reign supreme. After we put the kids to bed, we pick one wall to decorate. I usually pick up the wall decoration kit from Party City, blow up balloons, hang streamers and get one specialty balloon.
3. Skip the bakery; Homemade birthday cake. Whether it’s a full fondant covered cake or chocolate cupcakes with figurines on top, do it yourself. Everyone is usually involved at our house but I don’t do the big reveal until it’s time to sing the birthday song.
4. Wake up the birthday child with a song or loud music! Since we’ve been doing the count down, they look forward to waking up on their special day. If we wake up before them, we sneak in the room and start singing Happy Birthday super loud! I mean, who doesn’t want to wake up with someone singing their praises.
5. Arrange a birthday phone call from your child’s favorite Nick Jr. Character. I love this program from Nick Jr.! One year we surprised my daughter with a call from Dora. Smiling from ear to ear, she was trying to figure out if Dora was going to come out of the phone!
6. Have an intimate party at home. Yes, people still do that! Play board games, have a dance party and plenty balloons.
7. Birthday Scavenger Hunt. This is pretty simple but super fun for the kids. Just hide gifts or prizes around the house and stick clues on the walls as a guide. Need more ideas, click here.
8. Be sure to sign up for restaurant rewards to get free meals and treats on the special day. Enough said.
9. Party Hats!! What’s a birthday without party hats? Make the whole family wear party hats during the day, even if you’re not having a party.
10. Say Happy Birthday at least a dozen times!!! This is a must. Every time there’s a dull moment I run over to my kids and sing some sort of birthday song that I’ve made up. They love it!
11. Let the child decide at least one meal during the day. Relax, it’s just one meal!!

We do our best to make each birthday a memorable one. Our kids look forward to their special day each year because of silly things we do and the traditions we’ve created.  I hope they never get to old for this stuff and pass it on to the next generation.

What are some of your simple birthday ideas?