Birthday Box Surprise Countdown

This month The Virtual Book Club for Kids is reading books by Laura Numeroff. Early this month I shared some of her books and activities to go along with the If You Give series.

January is a big birthday month around here. Today we get to celebrate Little Buddy’s second birthday, and one week from now we’ll be celebrating Lovey’s fifth birthday. It’s not possible she’ll be FIVE!

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Birthday Books by Laura Numeroff

We love reading birthday books as we get closer to everyone’s special days, and Laura Numeroff has written quite a few books that go great with a birthday theme. So far we’ve read Happy Birthday, Mouse!, If You Give a Cat a Cupcake, If You Give a Pig a Party, and Otis and Sydney and the Best Birthday Ever.

Lovey requested not to have a birthday party this year, and I was happy to honor that request. However, I still wanted to make this a special birthday for her, so instead of a big party (which she finds overwhelming) we’ll be doing a little something each day for the week leading up to her birthday.

First we’ll spend today celebrating Little Buddy. Then this afternoon when we get home from dance class Lovey will find a special delivery waiting on our doorstep. I’ve filled a box of all the supplies for our special birthday countdown and a little note for Lovey telling her how special she is and how excited we are to celebrate her fifth birthday. Over the next week we’ll do a couple of the activities each day until we reach her birthday.

Fun Birthday Traditions

As I was thinking of ideas to make the birthday box extra special but also simple enough for us to include in our busy schedule, I read a few great articles from other sites. You’ll see some of the ideas from each of the posts below wrapped into our birthday box in some way.

20 Ways to Make Kids Feel Special on Their Birthdays from The House of Hendrix

Balloon Birthday Countdown from The Imagination Tree

Birthday Traditions shared at B-Inspired Mama

Our Surprise Birthday Box 

So what goes in the box? The great thing about this tradition is that it can be anything that your child will enjoy. If it’s something the girls enjoy (and I’m betting they will!), then it will be so much fun to change the special surprises over the years as they get older and their interests change.

How much stuff goes in the box? There’s a lot of flexibility there, too. You can choose just one special activity and deliver the box on your child’s birthday. Or choose a handful of ideas that your child will really enjoy and do one a day as your schedule allows. I had a little trouble narrowing down my list, so we’ll be doing more than one activity per day.

How do you keep track of which activities to do each day? I’m not numbering the items in the box so we are free to change the order of activities, but I will be keeping a list of the activities planned and crossing them off as we go. You could also wrap the individual item that goes along with each activity to add that surprise element, but if you do that be sure to number them or identify them in some way so you remember what is in each package. I’ll be leaving the items unwrapped so Lovey will have sneak peek of what we’ll be doing…she’s a planner, and she likes to know what’s coming (a bit like mama).

So what’s the plan already?!? Below is a list of the activities we’ll be doing. I won’t be placing all of the materials we’ll need for each of the activities in the box, just something that symbolizes each activity. That item is noted at the end of each description.

1. Special Delivery -Have fun with the delivery of the birthday box. We have a very busy day the day we’ll be starting, so ours will be in a special place when we arrive home from gymnastics in the afternoon. I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll say it is a special box from Mommy and Daddy or the Birthday Fairy. You could also have the box delivered to a special location where your child will be. {Birthday Box}
2. Birthday Pretend Play -Have a party without the party. Set up a birthday pretend play area like this one from The Imagination Tree so kids can play birthday party all week (month?) long.  Add a felt birthday cake set for even more fun.  {Hats, Invitations, Noisemakers}
3. Watercolor Birthday Banner -I adore this birthday banner from The Handmade Home. It will be a great project for the kids to make together, and it will be a great decoration to hang up for the week.  {Watercolors}
4. Buy or Pick Birthday Flowers -Lovey always likes buying me flowers when she goes to the store with someone else. For her birthday we’re going to take her to buy a special bouquet of her choice. {Vase}
5. Birthday Cake Craft-Like the birthday banner this cake craft from Happy Hooligans is another collaborative project that the kids can enjoy together. It will make another cute decoration, too.  {Crepe paper}
6. Birthday Popsicles-Winter or not, popsicles are always a beloved treat around here. We’ll be making birthday popsicles like these ones from Rachel Cooks. {Popsicle mold}
7. Birthday Shirt-Since we made our glitter Christmas shirts in December Lovey has been asking to make more sparkly shirts, so she’ll get free artistic license to design her own birthday shirt. {Glitter}
8. Birthday Books-Each year since the girls were born they receive a special book for their birthdays. It usually ties into the theme of their birthday party or something they are interested in at the time. We have friends and family sign the book to add a special tough. Each birthday book, including this year’s new book will be in the box. Each night before her birthday we’ll read one of the the books and look at photos that go along with that year’s birthday. {Books}
9. Birthday Interview-Do a simple birthday interview. You can create your own, or use a free printable like this one from Digi-Mama’s.  If you have done previous birthday interviews, add them to the box and have fun reading them. {Interview Paper}
10. Trip to the Ice Cream Shop-Take a trip to a favorite ice cream shop for birthday ice cream.  {Ice Cream Scoop}
11. Birthday pancakes -The girls love pancakes on the weekends, so we’ll have special birthday pancakes the weekend before Lovey’s birthday. {Sprinkles}
12. Special Dinner -Plan a special dinner at home or a restaurant. Lovey would like a special dinner at a restaurant, so we’re taking her to dinner with Cinderella. {Outfit, toy or restaurant clue that relates to the dinner. Lovey will get a princess dress to wear to dinner.}
13. Play Date with Family -Plan a low key play date or lunch at a park or your home. Invite close family members. Lovey adores her cousins, so we’ll be having a play date with them at the park. {Family Picture}
14. Decorate the Bathroom Mirror -You can decorate the bathroom mirror or another special area of your house or car to celebrate the special day or invite your child to help. I think the girls will love decorating the bathroom mirror together.  {Window Markers}
15. Cake and Ice Cream-On her actual birthday Lovey will get to decorate her own birthday cake, and we’ll celebrate her official birthday with cake and ice cream. {Cake Decorations and Candle}
16. Birthday Bath-We’ll finish the night off with a special birthday bath {Balloons}

And when it’s all over, she’ll be FIVE! Can you tell I’m struggling with that a tiny bit? 🙂

What ways do you celebrate your child’s birthday? Does anyone have a kid like mine who would prefer not to have a party?

Now that we’ve shared our activity with you, we’re excited to see what you came up with! Please link up your Laura Numeroff inspired posts to the blog hop linky below.