• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Real Mom Nutrition

A no-judgments zone about feeding a family.

  • About
    • Start Here
    • Work With Me
    • Press
    • Disclosure & Policies
    • Contact
  • New Posts
  • Recipes
    • Most Popular Recipes
    • Breakfast
    • Dinner
    • Snacks
    • Desserts
    • Drinks
  • Feeding Kids
    • Picky Eating
    • Packing Lunches
    • Nutrition Ideas + Advice
    • School Wellness
    • Snacks In Sports
    • Meal Planning + Food Shopping
  • Freebies
    • Free Picky Eating E-Course
    • Free Lunch Packing E-Course

October 28, 2013

10 Food-Free Ways to Celebrate Birthdays At School

  • Share
  • Tweet

Stickers, crowns, homework passes & other creative and fun ways to celebrate birthdays at school without food (and that kids will love!).

1o Ways to Celebrate Birthdays at School Without Food

I love cupcakes as much as the next person. I have sweet memories of the birthday cupcakes my mom made for me when I was a child (read “For the Love of Cupcakes“), and I’m sure that some years, she brought those cupcakes to school.

But for better or worse, cupcakes at school are on their way out. High rates of food allergies mean homemade cupcakes aren’t safe for everyone anymore–and concerns about how much junk food kids are getting  (and how frequently they’re getting it) are making more parents uncomfortable with this tradition.

Recently, a friend told me about the way her daughter’s preschool celebrated birthdays without cupcakes–and I liked it so much, I shared it on Facebook (it’s #1 on the list below). Lots of people chimed in with even more ideas, and so I wanted to share those here. These suggestions are geared toward younger children in preschool or elementary school. Maybe you can suggest one of these at your child’s school too!

  Get More: See All My Tops Posts About School Wellness

10 Ways to Celebrate Birthdays at School Without Food

1. Bring in special party napkins (or party hats) to use with the usual school snack.

2. Get a special “recess pass” and choose the main activity the class does at recess time.

3. Bring in your favorite book and the teacher will read it to the class.

4. Give a gift to the class, such as a book (write an inscription inside), a toy for the play area, or a game.

5. Be “VIP of the week”: Make a timeline of your life, have your parents read to the class one day, and have other students interview you about your favorite things.

6. Get a card from the class. All the students sign it saying what they like most about you.

7. Have your name read over the morning announcements.

8. Get a special sticker or crown to wear at school all day.

9. Have your parents provide a special craft for the class that day.

10. Pick out of a birthday prize box that includes fun pencils, temporary tattoos, stickers, and small toys.

Thank you to Facebook readers who provided ideas for this list. If you have one to add, I’d love to hear about it!

Hi! I'm Sally, a dietitian-mom.

I believe that EVERY mom can feel successful and confident about feeding her kids, lose the stress, and finally enjoy mealtime again.

Sign up for my weekly emails for support and inspiration (plus dinner ideas!) and I'll send you 16 game-changing tips for feeding your kids--even the super-duper picky ones.

  • Share
  • Tweet

Filed Under: School Wellness Tagged With: class parties, school wellness, snacktivism, Sweets

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dr. Archer says

    October 28, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    I LOVE THIS. I am all for this. I’ve found my people! Even though I’m a doctor, I sometimes feel like the lone voice at preschool, asking for healthy snacks. It’s so true that we do not need junk food to make a child feel special on her birthday. You are doing such awesome work here.

    Reply
    • Sally says

      October 28, 2013 at 1:41 pm

      Thanks so much! Glad you found my blog. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Tina says

    October 28, 2013 at 7:45 pm

    I did fun post-its from Target last year for my son’s class. They seemed to like that. There was also a girl who did mini hand-sanitizers from Bath and Body that were silly scents. Even my son liked that.

    Reply
    • Sally says

      October 29, 2013 at 7:50 am

      Tina–great ideas. Kids like anything that’s just for them. 🙂 Thanks for your comment!

      Reply
  3. David says

    October 28, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    In both my boys’ classes, we would send in small non-food gifts to share with their classmates: pencils, crayons, sticker books, etc. Both boys were in classrooms that were trying to move away from cakes or candy, mostly because of allergy concerns as you note above.

    Reply
    • Sally says

      October 29, 2013 at 7:51 am

      David–That’s a nice idea to bring little things in for the class. I do think more classrooms are moving away from outside food–it’s simply too risky with so many food allergies.

      Reply
  4. Marlo says

    September 25, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    My kid school does not celebrate birthdays with food treats because of food allergies. One of the way they let the kids celebrate is by picking a theme for the class on their birthday. Such as pajama day, favorite team jersey day, hat day, or crazy sock day are just a few that we have had this year! It’s cute and the kids love it.

    Reply
    • Sally says

      September 25, 2014 at 9:31 pm

      Great idea! Bet the kids love it too.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 10 Food-Free Ways to Celebrate School Birthdays — Real Mom Nutrition | Snack Wars says:
    October 30, 2013 at 11:34 am

    […] 10 Food-Free Ways to Celebrate School Birthdays — Real Mom Nutrition. […]

    Reply
  2. Non-Food Birthday Celebration | Healthy Baby Beans says:
    January 16, 2014 at 1:15 pm

    […] If you are interested in other non-food celebration check out Real Mom Nutrition’s, 10-Food Free Ways to Celebrate School Birthdays. […]

    Reply
  3. Become a School Wellness Ninja: Lesson 2 | Dont Panic, Mom! says:
    March 17, 2014 at 7:02 am

    […] Appeal to their love of increasing their instructional time. “Elaborate birthday parties are eating into instructional time and excluding some of our underprivileged students. Maybe we could phase out the cupcakes and encourage some other ways to recognize students on their birthday. I can send you a great PDF from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.” (Here’s a great list from Real Mom Nutrition.) […]

    Reply
  4. A New Initiative to Get Junk Food Out of Classrooms - The Lunch Tray says:
    August 1, 2014 at 11:08 am

    […] huge number of reader ideas for food-free birthday celebrations (Real Mom Nutrition has a good list here, too) and I’ve also referred you to a useful handout for teachers created by […]

    Reply
  5. School Wellness: 3 Ways To Get Involved This Year - Real Mom Nutrition — Real Mom Nutrition says:
    August 18, 2014 at 12:34 pm

    […] food–or go the non-food route for your own child and see if it catches on. Read my post 10 Food-Free Ways to Celebrate School Birthdays for creative ideas that kids and parents will […]

    Reply
  6. Smart Eating For Kids» » 3 Ways to Handle Birthday Treats at School says:
    September 11, 2014 at 10:44 am

    […] Sally from Real Mom Nutrition put together a list of 10 reader-submitted ideas. My favorite: Bring in special party napkins (or party hats) to use with the usual school […]

    Reply
  7. A Year of Healthy Class Parties: A Planning Guide for Parents & Teachers » School Bites says:
    September 25, 2014 at 7:35 am

    […] Some par­ents may be up in arms about cel­e­brat­ing with­out cup­cakes and other junk, but there are many spe­cial ways to rec­og­nize a student’s birth­day with­out load­ing up the class with sugar and arti­fi­cial dyes. With food aller­gies and dia­betes dra­mat­i­cally on the rise, I per­son­ally think non-food cel­e­bra­tions are the way to go–what kids really want is to be rec­og­nized on their spe­cial day. (SEE A Healthy School Birth­day Party–But Did We Really Need the Food?). Need ideas? Check out Real Mom Nutri­tion’s 10 Food-Free Ways to Cel­e­brate School Birth­days. […]

    Reply
  8. Why I'm Okay With Chocolate Milk - Parents.com says:
    May 5, 2015 at 10:56 am

    […] But I just don’t think it deserves its bad reputation. Though I get fired up about birthday cupcakes in the classroom and candy valentines, I’m actually okay with chocolate milk in the lunch line. Here’s […]

    Reply
  9. 15 Food-Free Ideas For Classroom Rewards - Real Mom Nutrition says:
    August 31, 2015 at 10:38 am

    […] Go here for 10 Food-Free Ways to Celebrate Birthdays At School. […]

    Reply
  10. Want a Healthier School For Your Child? Do Something About It! - Parents.com says:
    September 1, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    […] food–or simply go the non-food route for your own child and see if it catches on. Read my post 10 Food-Free Ways to Celebrate School Birthdays for creative ideas that kids and parents will […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Get it!

How To See Seven UT & AZ National Parks In Six Days

How to Make An Epic ALDI Cheese Board

Veggie Nuggets

Healthy Veggie Nuggets Recipe That Kids LOVE!

Copyright © 2021 Real Mom Nutrition · Site Design by Rita Barry. Banner images by Michelle Daniel Photography
Disclosure & Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Brunch Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

End mealtime battles TONIGHT!

Get this free bonus download.

You'll also get my weekly message. Unsubscribe anytime.

x