Outer Space Classroom Theme: Birthday Edition

Let’s talk student birthdays! This is a topic that I really enjoy talking about with other teachers. Everyone has a great way of celebrating their students and making sure they feel special! One thing that I’ve noticed all teachers need is a birthday bulletin so obviously that means I had to create one for my outer space classroom theme. (PS- Don’t miss out on a super cute freebie at the end of this blog post!)

My First Year Birthday Traditions

When it comes to celebrating my students, I took a lot of little ideas from everywhere. So my tradition from my first year of teaching is as follows: every month, I display their names with the date on a sheet pan that I spray painted. My students absolutely LOVED looking at the pan at the start of a new month to see who we would be celebrating and when. On the actual day, after lunch/recess we would all sing to the birthday students!

I ask the birthday student to stand on a chair in front of the class (which is always insanely exciting for them). I ALWAYS say “Now for the most important question, would you like cha-cha-cha’s?” Believe it or not, some say no! After we sing, I took their picture with the “birthday girl/boy” plaque that I got from the Target Dollar spot a year ago and a number balloon of their new age. I gave them the template that was on the plaque and asked them to fill it out so I would edit the picture to add their responses. Once I took their picture, I gave them a little maze party favor game that said “I hope you have an a-MAZE-ing birthday!”

I had many parents come up to me and thank me for making their child’s birthday fun at school. It seems so simple to me, but to them, it’s EVERYTHING! This year I do plan to make a few changes to my birthday tradition because I realized that some of it was really hard to keep up with.

My New Birthday Plan

Overall, my birthday celebration plan is staying the same for the most part! I am still going to ask my students to stand on a chair, ask them “the most important question”, have them hold the balloon of their new age and give them a maze for a small gift. I’ve decided that I am going to change the plaque situation and how I am displaying their birthdays in my classroom.

The plaque that I mentioned before is honestly a pain in the butt. I think they are super cute but they are SOOOO time consuming. I love to find ways to preserve things that I purchase so I tried to take the picture then edit their responses so I wouldn’t ruin the plaque with chalk. Let me just tell you that I still have their response papers in my desk at home… So once I found a very simple, cute sign in the Target dollar spot that just had a simple “happy birthday!” on it, I knew that was going to be used in their pictures from now on!

When it comes to taking their picture, I am going to use a polaroid camera. I took the plunge at the end of the school year to purchase one after many, many months of debate. Having the polaroid camera saves me time (but not necessarily money), which is all teachers want and need. I save time from having to type their responses, format the picture correctly then print them off my phone at Walgreens. It was always MONTHS after their birthday that I finally got around to printing their picture. What’s the point of having a birthday picture months after your birthday?! I’m not exactly saving money because the polaroid film refills are more expensive than printing out standard pictures. But my time is more precious to me!

Lastly, I decided to make an outer space classroom theme birthday bulletin set. I think it’s really important for students to celebrate each other and learn to be happy for others so displaying everyone’s birthday is a big deal to me. This outer space theme is gorgeous and I love having the different colored stripes to hang from the monthly headers! This is editable so you can add your student names or you can print and write them in yourself.

FREEBIE ALERT!

Grab this FREE outer space theme “Happy Birthday!” banner that you can’t find anywhere else by simply subscribing to my blog! It’s fast and easy to do and you’ll get emails about new blog posts that will have more freebie’s soon. Don’t miss you!

Can’t Get Enough?!

Are you obsessed with this theme as much as I am?! Check out more outer space classroom decor:

Word Wall Headers or use your TeachersPayTeachers credits to purchase!

Number Line and Number Posters or use your TeachersPayTeachers credits to purchase!

2D Shape Posters or use your TeachersPayTeachers credits to purchase!

Focus Wall and Banner Kit or use your TeachersPayTeachers credits to purchase!