Articles Directory - http://www.articlesdirectory.org
Celebrate Birthdays in a Preschool Sunday School Class
http://www.articlesdirectory.org/articles/34614/1/Celebrate-Birthdays-in-a-Preschool-Sunday-School-Class/Page1.html
Denise Oliveri
Denise Oliveri has been teaching Sunday School for the past 13 years. She is the owner of Preschool Sunday School Central, a leading online resource for preschool Sunday School teachers. Stop by Preschool Sunday School Central and see the array of free resources and eBooks that you can purchase at eBook Central. They are guaranteed to make your lesson planning much easier. 
By Denise Oliveri
Published on 16 May 2008
 
The "Golden Rule" for celebrating birthdays in your preschool Sunday School class is that if you do it for one you have to do it for all of your students. They will remember! Here are some great ideas for making a child's special day memorable.

No matter where you are or how old you get, a birthday should be special. When you teach preschool Sunday school, you want to celebrate with your kids when a birthday rolls around. Kids, whether they are turning three, or thirteen, deserve a special recognition. Here are some ideas for celebrating birthdays in Sunday school class.

First of all, in order to celebrate birthdays you will have to keep up with them all. Make a calendar to hang on the wall that lists of everyone's birthdays. This will help you know exactly when one of your student's will want to celebrate.

Prince or Princess of the Day

One fun way to celebrate a birthday in your class is to crown the birthday child the "prince" or "princess" of the day. Make an easy, inexpensive crown and let the birthday child decorate it with star stickers or rhinestones. Your birthday prince or princess of the day can then be your assistant in your class. Let the child help you serve snacks, pick out a special storybook for story time or let the birthday child help take roll for the day.

Have a Treat Box

Kids love treat boxes and they are perfect for celebrating birthdays. Get a box and collect interesting items or small trinkets. Fill it with plastic jewelry, small stuffed animals, books or other items. When a child has a birthday, let them select a special treat.

Decorate Cookies

Have a box of sugar cookies and a tub of frosting on hand and let your birthday child decorate his or her own cookie. It is always fun to have a sweet treat. You can also encourage parents to send in a simple treat for the child to share with the class.

Celebrate Once a Month

If you have a large class, you may find it is too time consuming or difficult to celebrate each and every birthday. Consider have a once a month celebration in honor of all the birthdays. Have a special celebration for the children who have celebrated their birthday that month. Of course, you will have to sing the Happy Birthday song!

Celebrate at Christmas

Another great idea is to celebrate birthdays only once a year, and Christmas seems to be a good time of year to do this. After all, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas. Turn your Christmas celebration into a birthday celebration for everyone in your class. Have one large cake and invite parents to attend. It is a great idea to have the children to bring a small gift to donate to the needy instead of exchanging gifts with one another.

Celebrate at "Big" Church

One fun way that many churches celebrate birthdays for children is inviting the children to "big" church once a year for a birthday dedication. This idea works quite well for older children that are getting old enough to sit with parents during a sermon instead of going to Sunday school. They are finally "big" enough for big church!