Five Simple and FREE Birthday Traditions to Start This Year

I survived another birthday season! Our kids were all born within a few weeks of each other (well, not all in the same year obviously), so springtime can be a busy and stressful time for me. I love to make my kids’ birthdays special, but I also like to keep things simple. Sometimes, by the time the third birthday rolls around, I’m ready for a break, but I don’t want one child to feel as though I spent more time or effort on another.

Five Simple and FREE Birthday Traditions to Start This Year

Thankfully, special doesn’t have to equal elaborate. I’m a big believer in traditions and my kids love them every bit as much as I do. We’ve established several birthday traditions in our family that are simple, easy, and free. If you’ve been looking for ways to make birthdays a bit more special, I encourage you to try these traditions.

1. The Birth Minute Photo

A couple of months before Eli turned one, a Facebook friend posted a picture of her son on his birthday with a caption that said it was his ‘birth minute’ photo. I immediately knew it was a tradition I had to start. So that year, on Eli’s birthday, I took a picture of him at 8:34 pm, exactly a year after he was born.

It never occurred to me that our other children might not be born at such an opportune time, so now, the night before Samuel’s birthday each year, I have to set my alarm so that I’m up at 12:38 am to snap a picture of him sleeping soundly. Maybe one year when he’s a little older, I’ll actually get a picture of him awake.

This year’s birth minute photos: Annelise decided it was best to start acting like a threenager immediately

2. The Birthday Plate (or Cup or Bowl or…)

Before I got married, my mom, sisters, and I went to one of those Paint Your Own Pottery places. I ended up making a ‘Happy Birthday’ plate. After Eric and I were married, I put it in our cupboard and now we pull it out on each birthday when it’s dessert time.

If you want to keep this tradition free, you can always choose a special plate from the ones you already own, but I think it’s worth the one-time initial price to make (or have one made) especially for birthdays. You don’t have to use a plate either. My sister’s family has a Birthday Goblet, but you could also make a bowl or even a whole place setting!

3. The Birthday Dinner

In our house the birthday child (or adult!) always gets to choose what they want for dinner. Usually the kids want me to make something, but occasionally they’ll request pizza or to go to a restaurant.

Samuel always chooses noodles and sauce 😉

I guess technically this isn’t a free tradition, but you’d have to eat dinner even if it wasn’t someone’s birthday, so I’m still calling it free.

4. The Birthday Letter

The year I started blogging was the year I started this tradition. Each time a birthday rolls around, I write a letter to that child. Usually it talks a bit about the previous year, how I’ve seen them grow, and what I’m looking forward to. My kids have yet to read any of these letters, but I’ll save them for when they’re a bit older.

I’m sure a lot of you are thinking, “I’m not much of a writer; I could never do this.” Yes you can! Your kids don’t care how eloquent you are. Think of what a gift it will be when they’re older and can look back on what you had to say to them each year. Wouldn’t you love to have something like that from your parents?

You can read this years’ letters here, here, and here.

5. The Birth Story

Okay, I have to admit that I don’t do this one, but I should start (mostly because Loralai did it in Gilmore Girls and she’s kind of awesome). What kid doesn’t love to hear stories about himself? Tell him all about the day he was born (well, maybe not all about it… you should probably leave out the gorier details) and before you know it, he’ll be telling the story to you.

Does your family have any birthday traditions? Tell me about them in the comments or join the conversation on my Facebook page.