Birthday Celebrations

This is a great unit to do at the end of the year. We celebrate everyone's birthday during this week of study and eat lots of birthday cupcakes!

HOUSEKEEPING: To the housekeeping center we add, empty cake boxes, muffin pans, cake pans, hand mixers, spatulas, spoons, and bowls. This allows the children to pretend they are bakers--if you can find a chef hat and aprons these are great too!

SAND AND WATER: To whatever material you have in your water table, add hand mixers, measuring cups, measuring spoons, and bowls. The children enjoy "baking" with whatever you have to offer.

ART: We encourage the children to paint birthday cakes at the easel. We also encourage playdough cakes and candles, as well as, presents. During this time we also do a little cooking. I have 20 children so we divide up into four groups of five and cook Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We make cupcakes (with no icing) to have after lunch each day. We choose different flavors for each day and the cooks of the day are honored with clapping and positive comments on how well they have done. The children actually eat the cupcakes without icing and really enjoy this cooking opportunity.

WRITING CENTER: We add words cards with pictures: balloon, candle, present, birthday, happy, and cake.

CIRCLE: During circle time this week we use birthday cupcakes that have a candle, with child's name on the icing and month and date on the cake part. We work hard to help the children learn their birthday and be able to say how old they are when asked. At the end of the week, if they have learned their birthday, they take the cupcake home.

LIBRARY: Some books you might use during this study could include: