How Childrens’s Birthday Parties are Celebrated Worldwide

Thursday, May 28, 2009 | 11:19 am

We celebrate children’s birthday parties with fun, but have you ever known how kid’s birthday parties are celebrated worldwide?

We can take a quick trip around the world to find out how people from major parts of the world celebrate birthdays and how they practice it in general. In the United States and many other parts of the world, we commonly celebrate children’s birthday parties with themes of choice by the one celebrating his or her birthday.

It is a common practice to have the party at home, with decorations set up in place and common party fare includes cakes, candies, soda, hotdogs, marshmallows and other treats children enjoy. Games are played during the course of the party where guests participate and win prizes at the same time.

This is also a similar practice throughout the Western world and is one of the most awaited party activity for kids all over. In Africa, there is a tribe in Ghana that celebrate the birth of their children on the day of the week they were born.

They call it Krada which means ‘soul day’ as their way of giving tribute to the creator for giving them the gift of a child – another soul added to their family. Most tribes or communities do not celebrate the birth of their children and common celebrations only involve tribes -people celebrating the manhood of children, as they are ushered in to adulthood through certain rituals and traditional practices.

In the Middle East, specifically in Egypt, children’s birthdays are commonly celebrated with singing and dancing with the party venue decorated with fruits and flowers, which symbolizes life and growth as the years go on for those celebrating their birthdays.

However, people do not traditionally celebrate birthdays as part of their religious practice. In Israel, food is also prepared with guests invited to attend from family, friends and neighbors. The highlight if the party is to have the one celebrating the birthday sit on a chair adorned with fresh flowers as guests gather around the chair offering prayers and well wishes to the celebrator.

In Great Britain, birthday parties are also held in homes with food and drinks prepared for guests. The British practice their tradition of celebrating the birthday by sending out birthday cards to the birthday celebrator, a tradition that was begun more than a hundred years ago.

As part of their cultural tradition, an Irish child celebrates his or her birthday by gently getting hit on the floor of the home by family and friends on the day of his or her birthday. The Danish people, on the other hand, celebrate birthdays by expressing their love for their country as well.

The Danish proudly raise their county’s flag outside their home whenever somebody in the house celebrates a birthday. Russians, on the other hand, also celebrate birthdays with food and drinks, but the only difference is, they do not prepare cakes but would rather have pies.

In China, a child celebrating his or her birthday receives money as a gift from his parents, who in turn, pay his respects to them as tradition dictates. Family and friends are invited over for lunch, where noodles are served, which symbolizes productivity and long life.

In India, a birthday child is showered with colorful dresses and chocolates and the home decorated with colorful balloons and shredded colored paper. If it is a school day when the child celebrates a birthday, the birthday child gets to wear a colorful garment and passes out chocolates to friends and classmates.

Now you know how kid’s birthday parties are celebrated all over the world and who knows, you may be able to get an idea from these and innovate your upcoming birthday party for your child.

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—Sue | no comments
(posted in Birthday Party Ideas | tagged Adulthood, Birthday Parties, birthday party history, Candies, celebrating childrens birthdays, Celebrations, Children S Birthdays, childrens parties, Family Friends, Friends And Neighbors, history of birthday parties, Hotdogs, kids parties, Manhood, Marshmallows, Party Cakes, Prizes, Quick Trip, Religious Practice, Rituals, Soda, Traditional Practices, Tribe, Tribes, Trip Around The World)

A Stress Free Kids Birthday Party

Sunday, May 24, 2009 | 11:06 am

Organising a kids birthday party should not that be stressful for you for as long as you will know what to do. To help parents organize simple yet successful birthday parties for their kids, here are some tips for you:

1. Determine the theme. The theme of the party will greatly depend on the age of the child. For one year olds, it is best to have a theme that everyone can relate to. In short, you can come up with a general theme such as your kid’s favorite character or TV show and the like. For older kids, you can ask them what they want for their party. If they have not decided yet, suggest kiddie themes such as Harry Potter theme, Pirates theme or Cowboys’ theme for the boys. For the girls, you can suggest Fairy theme or Princess theme. Once you were able to come up with the theme, the rest of the steps will follow.

2. Estimate how many people, including kids, in your guest list. This is the next best thing to do after the theme. You can start with the immediate family members, cousins, uncles and aunties, grandparents, god parents. Then, the friends of your child in the neighborhood and his or her classmates if he or she is already in school. Knowing how many people will be attending will give you an idea how big the party that you need to prepare is.

3. Find a fitting venue. For some parents, their home is the most fitting venue for small parties. But if there will be many guests, it is best to find a location where everybody can move freely. You can consider the nearby theme park or a playhouse inside a mall for the location. In choosing a venue, always take note of the convenience of the attendees, wherein majority of which is kids.

4. Set the time. Most birthday parties are usually set in the afternoon when everybody has rested. But, depending on the availability of your guests as well as of the venue, you can schedule it earlier, like before lunchtime or during lunch itself.

5. Do the invitation and send it in advance. You can make your own invitations that bears the motif of the theme or you can buy ready made ones from craft stores. The most important thing is that you have sent it in advance so they the parents of the attendees can arrange their schedules.

6. Call parents of the children to be invited. This is also one good way of knowing how many attendees will be there and if there are necessary preparations for the child guest.

7. List down the foods you can prepare. Depending on the number of guests, you can make a tentative list of the foods to be prepared. In the menu, make sure to make the selections children-friendly.

8. Make a list of supplies and decorations needed. This is also important so you won’t have to cram when the day comes. If possible, decorate the venue a day ahead so you won’t have to worry about it when the date comes.

9. Create a program flow. Young attendees during kids birthday parties can be unruly. To maintain orderliness, try to come up with a program so they will know what to do.

Tags: wedding decoration, wedding favour, wedding gift

—Sue | no comments
(posted in Birthday Party Ideas, Party Planning | tagged Attendees, Birthday Parties, Classmates, Cousins, Fairy Theme, Fitting Venue, Free Kids, God Parents, Grandparents, Immediate Family Members, Invitati, Invitation, Kids Birthday Party, kids parties, Lunchtime, One Year Olds, Party Organising, Pirates, Playhouse, stress free party, Theme Park, Uncles)