Birthdays are such a magical time of year! I must say, growing up with a Christmas Eve birthday was not my favorite thing as a kid, but my mother did an excellent job of making sure I still got to celebrate my day and feel special (even if it was a month or two early). I only wish we did this Montessori Birthday walk celebration to make it even better.
Use this beautiful Montessori birthday celebration to remind your child how extraordinary they truly are. This is a perfect way to acknowledge your child’s journey and growth throughout the years, and will provide them a firm foundation of their own personal narrative (which is essential for feeling centered and grounded later in life). Your child will also learn some astrology and science along the way, too, in a fun and musical way.
Preparing for the birthday celebration
You’ll need a few homemade props for this birthday walk. Don’t worry, you can easily make the props with just a few pieces of construction paper! Make one big yellow circle for the Sun, then write each month on its own strip of paper. (Pro tip: laminate the paper for added durability. Here’s my fave, cheap laminator.) You may also need to draw the Earth on a piece of paper, or you can use a globe if you have that instead. Then you’re ready to begin!
Birthday Walk Celebration Part 1
To begin the celebration, sing the “Months of the Year” Song with your child (watch the above video to learn this simple song). As you sing each month, place the corresponding paper strip around the sun, like sun rays. In our family we like to pause at specific months that are important to us. For example, we pause at my husband’s birthday month, my birthday month as well as our child’s birthday month. Then, when you sing your kid’s birthday month, make sure to place that paper strip a little farther out from the rest (you’ll see why soon).
At this time you can also discuss some facts about the sun. Ask your child, what does the sun give us? (Answer: light and heat.) You may also choose to place a small candle on top of the sun to represent the light and heat.
Montessori Birthday Celebration Part 2
After the “Months of the Year” song, we move on to the best part! Now you’ll sing “The Earth Goes ‘Round the Sun” song (see video for this song as well). Your child holds the globe (or paper earth) and starts at their birthday month. As you sing, they make one rotation around the sun and stop at their birthday month again. This song helps demonstrate to the child that the earth revolves around the sun, and that one full rotation through all the months equals one year.
At this point, you then share one or two memories of your child from their first year of life. Repeat the song for each year of life, making sure your child only walks one rotation per song, followed by you sharing memories from each age.
Bring out any family photo albums or pictures your have from your child’s life as well, to share and relive those memories together.
And then we feast
And that concludes the Montessori Birthday Celebration! Feel free to continue with any other birthday traditions afterwards (cake, presents, etc). As you can see, this is a wonderful, joyful and active birthday walk ritual that your child will look forward to doing every year. You can celebrate this ritual with just your family, or even make it part of your child’s birthday party with friends. Afterwards the friends can ask the birthday kid any further questions about their life. A perfect bonding activity for everyone involved.
Now your turn!
Comment below and tell us, will you try this with your kid for their next birthday? What are your favorite birthday traditions?
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Cheers