5 Simple & Meaningful Birthday Traditions to Start with Your Kids
By nature I am a very sentimental person. I love creating traditions. I love making birthdays and holidays memorable with the tiniest of details. I think I inherited these traits from my mom. I am especially thankful for the simple birthday traditions she started with my sisters and I over the years.
Birthdays were always a big deal in our house. Some years my parents threw big birthday parties and other years they kept things a bit simpler; however, my mom always made sure our birthdays were special. Even down to the wrapping paper selection on our presents. My mom is seriously the most amazing gift wrapper ever (I sadly did not inherit her gift wrapping gene)! Now that I have children of my own, I can fully appreciate all of the effort she put into making these occasions extra memorable for us.
My oldest just turned 4 last week. I’m still getting used to saying that. I had just gotten used to having a 3 year old, and in the blink of an eye, my 3 year old was turning 4! I’m always SO sappy when it comes to my kids’ birthdays. I cry – every.single.year. Anyone else?! There’s just something so sentimental about birthdays now that I’ve given birth to two little beings.
The event planner in me loves throwing parties for my kids. And the mama in me loves expressing the sentimental feelings that come with each passing year. So, I combine both of these loves to ensure their big day is a memorable one. Even without the big birthday parties and fancy wrapping paper, I want my kids to know how important their birthday truly is.
Below are a few of our birthday traditions we’ve started with Noah & London. The best part about these traditions is that they cost almost nothing, yet are still very meaningful.
Surprise your child with balloons! Every Birthday Eve, after I tuck the birthday kiddo into bed, I run to the store to pick up balloons to surprise them with in the morning. This has quite honestly become one of my favorite traditions. I head off to the store by myself and just reflect on the past year. I enjoy this quiet time while doing something that I know they will love when they wake up in the morning.
Make your child a special breakfast. In our house, this usually means Mickey Mouse pancakes (or waffles). Bonus for extra chocolate chips on top! I love starting their birthday morning off with balloons and a special breakfast!
Conduct a birthday interview. If your child is old enough, conduct a birthday interview with them. Include questions such as favorite toys, TV shows, movie characters, foods, etc… Be sure to also include basic stats such as height and weight, so you can see how much they have grown over the last year. This was our 1st year doing the birthday interview with Noah, and I’m so excited to see how his answers change over the years.
Take a birthday photo. Every year we take an “official” birthday photo to put in their baby book. For both Noah & London’s 1st birthdays, we created a chalkboard birthday poster. These make a great photo prop and can also be displayed at their birthday party as part of the decor. (The posters do take a bit of time to complete in Photoshop; however, there are many shops on Etsy that sell these adorable posters) Below are both Noah & London’s 1st birthday photos. I switched things up for London and made a “ONE” banner as her photo prop, but we did display her birthday poster at her party.
Write a birthday letter. I actually started this tradition when Noah was first born. I wrote monthly letters to him documenting his milestones, our daily schedules, and our everyday life. Once he turned 18 months, I started writing yearly letters instead. It is so good for a mama’s soul to look back on the year and reflect on how much your child has grown. It’s also a great way to remember all of the special events that occurred in your child’s life that year that might otherwise be forgotten.
Do you have any special birthday traditions? I love hearing what other mamas do to make their little ones’ birthdays memorable. Tell me about YOUR traditions in the comment section below!
xo,
Sumer
32 Comments
Francesca
We do a special breakfast and picture! I love the idea of the interview I’ll definitely be starting that one! It will be so fun to compare their answers as the years go by!
Amanda | Maple Alps
Super cute! I love all these ideas, and I bet these babies will really feel and know they are loved growing up! I need to keep these in mind if we ever have kids…way down the road 😉
Brooke
Oh my gosh! This is amazing! Going to start doing these this year! Thank you!
Kate
These are such fun ideas! My sons birthday is in early December, so there are so many holiday things going on around his birthday. I will definitely be doing what I can to make his birthday stand out and be extra special.
Stefanie
I do all of these things with my kids! I love yearly birthday traditions! Something else we do is buy them a new outfit and hang it in their room while they are sleeping. They also end their birthday with a new pair of pajamas!
Stacy
We always allow the birthday person to choose dinner and what kind of cake they want on their special day. This is something my mom started and still does for all of us now…my hubby loves it!
Suzanne Hines
I love this list! I am such a sentimental person, but I am not one for over the top Pinterest parties! So this is a perfect list. My husband and I also made a list of meaningful presents to give our children on each of their birthdays. It’s specific to gender and age and are things that we find meaningful to our family. So for example, for their fifth birthday, they get to go on a camping trip solo with Daddy. For a present they would probably be getting their own hiking pack. It’s so fun!
jehava
Great ideas! I always start the day off making them their favorite special breakfast!!
Marielle
Love this post! I want to start ALL of these!!
Lauren
I love the idea of a birthday interview! I need to start that!
Keala
Awe. My son is turning 4 in a few weeks. We did the chalkboard poster for first birthdays too. I LoVe the idea of birthday letters. I may start that this year.
Emily
I love the simple things and so I think this is a great list. Balloons & breakfast is a great combo. 🙂
Sometimes we THINK the kiddos want something extravagant, but many of their memories will be the simple things!
Samantha Kuzyk
Such grreat ideas!!! Love this!!!
Maria Bowersock
I love the idea of the birthday interview. How fun would that be to look back on when they are older? I pinned to remember to do this!
Justine Y @ Little Dove
Adorable pictures! I basically write a birthday letter every year, it’s in their scrapbooks. :)0 And we usually do surprise balloons too, the kids love them!
Aly Funk
I LOVE these ideas and will be saving this for future birthdays! You have a couple of cuties!
beth kelley
Super cute ideas!!! Great post.
Melissa
These are such sweet ideas. I especially love the interview idea. I want to do that with my little guy.
Savanna
I love this! I struggle with traditions big time even though I grew up with tons and LOVED them. I am always open to simple traditions to start, I think breakfast and balloons will be happening next year. Thanks!
Mommy Little
We did the balloons and special breakfast this year for my son! He loved it and still talks about it now, over a month later. I love the idea of a birthday interview- that would be such a fun thing to look back on!
Jess
My twins just turned one and we went out for a birthday breakfast and I gave them each a new book for their little home libraries. I love the idea of balloons and a birthday interview! Thanks for sharing!
Amanda
Awww I love these pictures so much!! And the traditions! I want to do them all!!! Thanks for these wonderful ideas- I wish you lived closer so you could help me with the planning… I love your taste! ❤️
Shani | Sunshine & Munchkins
Birthdays were always a big deal in my house growing up so I’ve always LOVED my birthday. However, my husband is the youngest of 6 kids and so by the time he came around his parents were tired and didn’t really do much for his birthday. (Sad, huh?) So I’ve tried to make birthdays special in our home for him and our two kids. I’ve done the breakfast one, but I like the others you’ve suggested. Pinning!
Kimberly
I love these ideas! 🙂 I can’t wait to start doing these with my boys! Pinned!
Breharne
I LOVE the idea of the birthday interview! I think that is such a fantastic idea, my oldest will be 4 this year so I think it will be a perfect age to start this tradition!
haylee
I don’t have children yet but I always think about traditions I want to start when I have a family! LOVE THESE!!
Malissa
I missed my sons birthday last year because I was deployed… So this October I want to make it especially memorable! He will also be 4!!! Thanks for the tips. I like the interview, it will be even funnier if I make it verbatim hahaha ..curious to see what he will say…
Megan
This is great advice. I love the birthday letters! Definitely marking it in my to-do list.
ValAroundTown
Such great ideas and we did start some of those this year!
Anna
I love the writing the letter idea! This year my daughter turned one and we did a birthday photo, balloons, made a homemade cake from scratch, and purchased a special candle to use on everyone’s birthday cake from here on out.
Meredith
Love these! When I was growing up my mom always had a birthday banner out for me (she still has it, and I’ll be 30 soon haha!). I’m going to start to do this for my daughter this year when she turns one!
Steph
These are some great ideas! I love the letter idea! I wish I would have started that a long time ago!