As parents and/or teachers, we know that each year, schools are pushing harder and harder away from allowing food to be brought in to celebrate a child’s birthday. Usually they either have a select bakery that you have to purchase from or give you strict guidelines for bringing in a packaged treat that is peanut-free, tree nut-free, and sometimes even gluten-free. I remember at the kids’ old school, even after meeting all the guidelines, you would still have to escort your treat to the nurse’s office for them to inspect the packaging and apply a “Nurse approved” sticker to prove that the treat is indeed safe for class consumption due to all of the allergies and sensitivities. I remember growing up, parents used to bring in homemade cupcakes and such all the time for birthdays with only maybe one child in the class having an allergy but my how times have changed. So with this in mind, what are some ideas for making a child’s birthday super cool and enjoyable at school while meeting the school requirements? Here are just a few ideas along with some pics below:
Snack items:
Oreos
Packaged original Rice Krispy treats
Animal crackers
Blow pops or Dum Dums
Ring Pops
Fruit Roll-up/Fruit by the Foot
Goody bag items or individual items to share:
Rulers (if you are crafty, you could decorate them or even put each student’s name on them. Cheap and resourceful)
Pencils
Stickers
Tattoos
Slap bracelets/wristbands
Mini Rubik’s cubes
Bookmarks
Whistles
For younger kids:
Crayons
Puzzles
Coloring books
For Marshall’s 4th birthday, since he didn’t have a big party, I still wanted to do something fun and memorable to celebrate his birthday. I found this company called Noah’s Ark that actually has reps come out to schools, daycares, parties, etc to host special sessions (For more info, visit www.noahsarkworkshop.com). Since they didn’t have a rep available for the date I needed, they sent me all of the stuff to host the session myself in his class, which was pretty cool. In the package came “unstuffed” stuffed animals, a theme book, stuffing, bags, and certificates for each stuffed animal. The kids had the chance to pick out which animal they wanted (polar bear, snow owl, etc), name their animal so that I could write it on the certificate, and they had the chance to use the cotton to stuff their animal and close it up. It was almost like a homemade Build-A-Bear session. They had a blast. I was able to read the book to the class as they also received a special bag to carry their new stuffed buddy home in. The price for all of this was VERY reasonable and Marshall’s smile made every moment worth it. (Pics below)
For Mariah’s 9th birthday this year, being in a new state plus having to go to school on your birthday, I wanted her to feel special. I made LOL Queen Bee stickers to decorate the outside of the clear bag. Inside, we included a Rice Krispy treat, Emoji stickers, a Rubik’s cube (great deal from Party City), and I also made a scratch out game card that was inside that the class could play a 2 minute game and Mariah could hand out a prize for whomever had a card that read “LOL” when scratched.
Share some of your ideas or comment if you feel this list was helpful.
Thanks!
~Yo! Mama