Ways to Celebrate Your Child’s Birthday

Yesterday my Baby turned 9! My oh my how the time flies. Birthdays in our home are pretty special. I love the challenge of trying to do new fun things for the kids every year to make them feel honored. Several years ago I gave my Kids a choice: they could either have a birthday party and invite a lot of friends, or they could do a fun family adventure together.

Here are some ideas to get your imagination going at some of the fun possibilities you can do with your kids for their birthday:

Ways to Celebrate Your Child’s Birthday:

Rent a local pool. Many aquatic centers offer either partial or full rentals of the facility. This is great if you want to invite a large number of guests to share the birthday with you, without breaking the bank. Be sure to see if they have a space to serve cake to your guests.

Host an art party. Art parties are so much fun! There are multiple companies nationwide that offer them. You can either go to the studio or have your home turned into a studio. We did this a few years ago. We chose a local company. The instructor brought everything we needed (minus the birthday cake!) and set up and cleaned up.

The perk of hosting an art birthday party is that you don’t have to make party favors because everyone gets to take their masterpiece home.

Have a backyard glamping sleeping or camp out. Last year Anika decided that she wanted to have a bohemian styled backyard glamping movie party (that’s a mouthful, right?). Anyways, we made sure there were plenty of snacks, games, and entertainment. We decorated with sheets and fabrics, outdoor rugs, an air mattress and plenty of pillows. I set up a projector and screen and the girls giggled the night away.

Spend the night in the snow. This is obviously a seasonal activity too, but instead of a party take the family up to the snow and stay the night. One year we traveled up to Mt. Hood and spent the night in the Timberline Lodge. The kids were in the outdoor pool and sauna with snow falling on them in January. It was pretty memorable.

Go to an amusement or water park together. Another idea for a family overnight trip instead of a party is to go to an amusement or water park. One year we drove a couple of hours up to The Great Wolf Lodge for Emma’s 10th birthday, where we spent 24 hours of fun family time together.

Have a family camping weekend. We are lucky living in Oregon where there are so many beautiful places to go camping. One of our favorite places is to camp in a yurt next to the beach. Since camping is more affordable than many other things, and it takes longer to pack, I’d recommend making this a 2-night birthday adventure. Make it more special by letting your child plan the activities and meals, or perhaps let them bring a friend.

Go snow tubing. This year for Emma’s 11th birthday we packed two vehicles with family and friends and drove up to Mt. hood for the evening to go snow tubing. We actually went on a night where they were hosting a “cosmic tubing” session, which made it even more fun. Afterward, we all went out to dinner before driving home.

There are countless ways to make birthdays special! What are some of your favorite ways to celebrate your kid’s birthdays?

Click here for a free guide to help plan your child’s birthday!