USING A BIRTHDAY CHART IN CLASS

Want to create a sense of belonging in your classroom? Add a birthday chart to help everyone feel included and valued.

There's no more exciting day in a child's calendar than their birthday. Not even Christmas matches the excitement of counting down to that special day which is all about them.

And celebrating that with friends?

Even better! 

That's just one of the reasons I make room for a birthday display every year in my classroom.

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Celebrating birthdays in your class doesn't need to be a big deal.

The best advice I can offer is that whatever you decide to do or how you choose to celebrate each birthday - make it sustainable and everyone is acknowledged throughout the school year including those whose birthdays fall with the holidays.

Just make whatever you do special.

That might be having everyone sing happy birthday, getting a special birthday sticker, being the teacher's helper for the day, sitting in a special spot or wearing a birthday crown.

Every year during the first week back at school, I have my children create their own birthday crowns which then become part of our birthday display until we reach their birthday and we get their crowns down for them to wear.

We make ours from a single length of light weight card paired together with some crayons and watercolour paint but you could try these paper plate hats from Art Bar Blog or keep it 2-dimensional with these other crown designs found on Pinterest.

Another reason to have a birthday chart on display is because it can be a useful tool when teaching the concept of time.

The children can see a real world example of the sequence of months.

They can count down the days to a birthday and it's not just their own birthday they count down to. 

If you have a classroom calendar, add everyone's birthdays to that as well.

You can decorate using photos of the children themselves holding a sign with their birthday. This makes a perfect display for pre-readers particularly. 

Or use a birthday chart like this and edit it to include everyone's birthdays. You can find simple ones or if you have a themed classroom, your birthday chart could be part of the theme.

If you want to save on printing, why not use clothes pegs to mark each child's birthday.

My teacher hack? Cover the peg with colorful tape then write on the tape.

This means at the end of the school year you can remove the tape and reused the peg for another child the following year.

As I mentioned before, don't ever miss a child!

Children can forgive most things but not forgetting their birthdays.

They'll probably do this for you but encourage your children to remind you when a birthday is coming. Discuss ahead of time how and when you will celebrate those with birthdays in the school breaks and summer holidays. Doing this can help prevent some children experiencing anxiety around their own day and wondering when it will be celebrated.
Include families in your celebrations. 

Having a Class Dojo or other private class group online means special events like birthdays can be shared creating a sense of community. Like most things, guidelines need to be made clear and the beginning of the school year is a great time to talk to parents about birthday guidelines at your school. 

Add these reminders to your meet the teacher night packet or your back to school newsletters. 

With some parents liking to send cakes to school to help celebrate, having some guidelines in place regarding the preparation and sharing of food from the start of the year can save you time (and frustration) during the year.

Of course, the handing out of birthday invitations can be another thing worth setting some guidelines around. It's always devastating for a young child not to be invited to someone's party. Asking families to allow you to hand out the invitations can help avoid this situation in class.