Made It Monday - Birthday Cups (Plus How to Celebrate Student Birthdays)

Birthday Cups are my favorite thing to make over summer as they help to make sure every child gets at least one thing for their birthday!

*Please note that this post contains some affiliate links.

I first found these cups on Pinterest years ago.  I loved how they looked like Vanilla milkshakes.  Now, I make them each year and LOVE THEM!  Inside,there are crayons, pencil sharpeners, erasers, and of course, a cherry sucker.  Most of this comes from the dollar store (my favorite place to school shop) like the school supplies except crayons - cheaper at Walmart, suckers, and white crinkle stuff.  The cups themselves, I order off of Amazon (see pic below).  

Having them pre-made makes it easy during the year to pull them out.  

Moving on...How to Celebrate Student Birthdays

Student Gifts:

I always put a birthday cup on the birthday student's desk before school begins, so they have something to look forward to when they get there.  (This past school year, I finally was able to remember the dates easier, because on the school calendar in the front of our classroom, I put all the birthdays up each month.)

When I get a former student that comes back to give me a cupcake on their birthday, I pull out my birthday box (from the dollar store) and give them a bookmark.  (I don't have the finances to give everyone a Birthday Cup!)

Read Alouds:

This tradition became a special moment this past year.  I filled a dollar store (notice a theme) gift bag up with birthday books.  Students got to pick out the one that they wanted us to read during our read aloud times. (Please note: the students only pick a book for you to read, they do not keep them.)  This was so popular that the students asked me to add them to our classroom library, so now I also have a birthday bin of books for them to check out.

If you are having trouble thinking of birthday books, there are a couple to get you started in the picture.  I also put some more below to get you started.  They were our classroom favorites.

                 

Extras:
I have created a fun pack of birthday activities that I just put on TPT.  It contains labels for the birthday cups, a spot to record all your students' birthdays, certificates, sheets to create a class book and a few other goodies that I use in my classrom.  Click the pic below to check it out.