Birthdays

Birthdays are fun to discuss because everybody has one sometime. This game usually inspires lots of pretend birthday parties in the playhouse and sandbox.

Objectives

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Children will learn to match their name to their birthday and will identify own name by pointing. Children 4 and up will know their month of birth Lang. IIIA

Materials

Big piece of butcher paper; felt pens; birthdates of all the children in class 

 

Procedures

1. Make a list of all the children's birthdays grouped by months.

2. Put the butcher paper in front of class. There should be two large circles.

In the NAME CIRCLE should be written the children's names. In the BIRTHDAY CIRCLE should be written to 12 months.

3. Have the children come up, find their name, find their month of birth, and then draw a line to connect name with month.

4. After everyone has connected their month to name, lead the class in counting how many birthdays are in each month. 

Variations

1. Write names on paper -- let children tape paper to name circle, then draw a line.

2. Write birthday with month/day/year on paper and have children paste up their birthdy, then draw line.

3. Practice remembering birth months with this movement game: in big circle, try chanting and clapping this jumprope rhyme:
                    Strawberry Shortcake,
                   Huckleberry Finn
                   When we say your birthday month
                    You JUMP IN!
 
Tell children to jump into middle of circle and crouch down as brithdays are called out slowly and rhythmically, "January ... (clap, clap), February ... (Clap, Clap), etc."  Repeat rhyme again, this time instructing children to JUMP OUT! (back to standing circle) when they hear their birthday month called.