Easy Kids’ Birthday Ideas for Every Age
These easy kid’s birthday ideas will knock their socks off and create memories they will never forget! Traditions you can start today!
I think my love for traditions stems from childhood. Growing up, we didn’t have much. Money was tight and my momma worked multiple jobs to support our little family. BUT I don’t remember it that way. I remember laughter, games, and crazy fun.
I remember my mom making pancakes while breakdancing on the kitchen floor in her nightgown.
I remember elaborate scavenger hunts for Christmas gifts.
And I remember waking up every single birthday morning to a choir of family members singing happy birthday with some sort of breakfast food and a motley candle sticking out.
My mom made life amazing through traditions, games, and all kinds of crazy fun antics. She believed money couldn’t buy memories and she was right.
I thought about this so much as I became a mom. I wanted to teach my kids the beautiful truth my mom taught me: it’s not money or things that buy memories, but your perspective. As a mom, I’ve seen this principle hold true over and over again. The most special and memorable things have almost always been more about family fun than about how much money we had to do something.
For example, instead of going to a movie on a Friday night (and spending $100 for the family), we stay in and have a crazy family fun night that costs less than $10. We save a lot of money, but that’s only a small benefit. We also bond as a family and create memories that cannot rival the big screen.
These kid’s birthday ideas have become a huge part of how we create memories.
Kid’s Birthday Ideas
When I became a mom, I put a lot of intentional thought into how I wanted to create traditions in my home. Of course, birthdays were a central focus in my plans. I knew I had to keep both my budget and our busy schedule in mind before committing. I also wanted as many children as God would give me, so I knew I couldn’t take each child to Paris for their birthday each year.
In an effort to stay simple and budget minded, I created a rotation basis.
Birthday party years
We have birthday parties at set ages (this has kept me from needing to plan more than one party in a given year). I chose a first birthday party with family, and then friend parties at ages 5 years, 10 years, 16 years, and 18 years.
When it comes to parties, we go all out. I have the child pick a theme because it’s super fun to plan everything around that. I find that themes make even the simple things amazing. We’ve done Minion parties, horse parties, art parties and so many things in between!
Playdate birthday years
Just because we only have a handful of party years doesn’t mean we are light on other kid’s birthday ideas that build lasting traditions. Not at all! Another part of the plan is playdate years. The name pretty much tells all. On these birthday years, the birthday child gets to pick a friend or two and invite them over for a special playdate. The birthday child picks the menu and the play activity, but it’s all done at home.
We do this on the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th birthdays.
This year, Luke had 3 of his buddies over after church. They played LEGOs and Wii all afternoon. Oh, and of course there was pumpkin chocolate chip cake, Luke’s favorite!
Activity birthday years
On these birthday years, the birthday child picks a special activity for the whole family, plus one friend. I find that as kids get older, it’s much more fun to go somewhere like an escape room, bowling, an amusement park, etc. It’s also a great way to build family unity!
We do this on the 11th, 12th, 14th, and 15th birthdays.
This year, my 14-year-old daughter planned at trip downtown with her friend and their dogs. They also went on a trail ride later that day. (Both girls have horses already.) I loved her plan because it was simple, didn’t cost a dime, and yet she was super excited to celebrate her birthday this way!
Every year birthday tradition
No matter what birthday it is, every single year the birthday child gets to pick the menu for the whole day. This is a tradition my kids adore. In fact, some of them start planning months in advance. I typically allow them to choose one of their meals at a restaurant that day, but not always. There have been years where the budget doesn’t allow for that.
Nathan loves the birthday meal tradition the most, planning out his menus months in advance. This year he picked Cheesecake Factory for dinner. (I must admit I like his choices!)
13th birthday experience
Last, but absolutely the most memorable, is the 13th birthday. Since the teen years bring with them such mixed emotions, I decided to thwart that by starting them the right way. We kick off the teens with a weekend getaway with just mom! The birthday child gets to pick the location and the activities. (I do give them a budget to work with- it’s generous, but not infinite.)
During the weekend, we spend a lot of time talking about God’s purpose and direction for their life. We have deeper talks about the opposite sex, texting, social media, and other pertinent topics. So far, we’ve done this twice and I’ve got to tell you it’s been the most amazing blessing for both me and the birthday child. Even if your budget is small, I highly recommend finding a way to work this one in!
My oldest daughter, Leah, chose a weekend in the mountains. We went hiking, toured the Biltmore Estate, and dined at the historic Grove Inn. The whole trip embodied her personality as we strolled through used book stores in between our nature hikes.
Rachel also chose a trip that embodied her personality. We went to New York City to see a Broadway musical. We spent the entire day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and of course got a few dozen selfies with the Statue of Liberty.
More Epic Kid’s Birthday Ideas
Annual birthday letters
Write a letter each year to your child. Save it in an envelope with the date and age. Give it to them when they are 18. (Don’t get caught up with starting at age 1. Just start anytime!)
Do a birthday interview each year.
I actually do this each year when we start a new homeschool year, but it’s super fun to do it at their birthday, too! Check out this free printable one here.
Celebrate by serving others.
This is becoming a popular trend I love. Instead of focusing on getting something or being honored, why not take up donations for a cause or do one Random Act of Kindness (RAK) for each year of your age.
Start the day with a special breakfast treat complete with candles.
I love this kid’s birthday idea because this was the birthday tradition in my house growing up. Mom would wake us up with a plate full of something yummy, a candle, and a festive birthday song. We groaned every time, but secretly loved every minute of it!
Have a birthday or celebration plate.
I know lots of families who have special plates to celebrate special days. It’s even more fun if you and your spouse go to a pottery place and paint it yourself. What a beautiful memory.
Share your kid’s birthday ideas
So what are your kid’s birthday ideas? Leave a comment and tell us about a favorite in your family or tell us which one of these you’d like to try!
If you’re needing a little inspiration when it comes to a gift, I’ve created a gift guide with gift ideas for kids!
Through practical tools & Bible-based resources, Kim Sorgius is dedicated to helping your family GROW in faith so you can be Not Consumed by life’s struggles. Author of popular kid’s devotional Bible studies and practical homeschooling tools, Kim has a master’s degree in education and curriculum design coupled with over 2 decades of experience working with kids and teens. Above all, her most treasured job is mother and homeschool teacher of four amazing kiddos.
Tomorrow is the first time my son will be gone on his birthday. (College, they grow up so quickly!) Out tradition is decorating their bedroom door with streamers and balloons. As the kids have gotten older, they have helped decorate their siblings’ doors, too! We plan on decorating his door, and sending him a text picture. He might not appreciate a photo of us eating his birthday cake, though! Guess we will have to eat his cake when he comes home in a couple weeks!
I’m a grandma and try to make each grandchild’s birthday special. When they were little I had a big birthday bag and would fill it with all kinds of little presents and one that they especially wanted. As they got into elementary school I changed it up. Now just the birthday child gets to spend the night and chooses the activity that we will do the next day. Special breakfast, and then we’re off! We have gone to the pumpkin patch (that has kittens to hold, that was a requirement!), science city, museums, special limited exhibits, a zoo in another city, an aquarium, and shopping. We always have lunch out and go to our local frozen yogurt place. The key is me and the birthday child, the two of us spending time together, talking and having fun doing something they chose.
That sounds amazing! Go, Grandma!!!
I make a birthday video each year which is a summary of about 50 photos set to music from the year before. The kids get to pick the music and we used to show this video at the party each year, but as the years go on, I’ve had to delay getting it done because it’s not always worked out – it takes me about 12-14 hours to complete the DVD. They have a CD case that holds each of their videos starting at age 1. This gift costs very little money (I have a $35/year subscription to ANIMOTO to use the software to make the video/photo movie and I have to buy blank DVD R discs), but overall a low cost memory builder.
When I was growing up my parents had us pick a restaurant that we wanted to eat at for our birthday. I have 2 older brothers. We all managed to pick a different place to eat at. Money was tight so we didn’t get to eat out, only on a special occasion. Both my parents have passed. It’s amazing though how times have really changed. I remember how we use to get to eat McDonald’s like once every to months, it was a real big deal back in the day. My favorite memories are that of Christmas though. We use to play silly games all day to win little prizes on Christmas eve and then on Christmas morning my mother would make a big breakfast and we would open our presents at night after we got done watching Christmas shows. It is good to have so many fond memories, makes a person wish in some ways one wouldn’t get old. I just pass on most of my family traditions to my son, in hopes he will have them when he has a family of his own.
I have a large chalkboard in our dining room that I use for holidays, sayings, scripture, etc. And every year I design a board for their birthdays that includes a silly rhyme about whatever age they are turning. They roll their eyes at the rhyme as they get older but underneath I think they like it! 🙂
My mom only had two girls, me and my younger sister. When we turned 13 she took us and a friend to the Clinique counter at the mall and had them put makeup on you and then she bought what they used. Before 13 we were not allowed to wear makeup so this was a big deal.
God’s timing! Wow! I, literally, just did an internet search for birthday ideas. I really like these. Up until now, we go to breakfast as a family and have cake in the late afternoon. The activities in between were decided by the birthday child (and my budget). Lately, they opted for birthday parties, somewhat like your playdate description.
Thank you for this post! You have a lot of great you shared, and so do your readers! Your mom gave you a happy gift bc I can just see you smiling as you typed out this memory.
A birthday tradition that we have is giving the kiddos their own box of cereal of their choice since we normally eat warm breakfasts. They look forward to having their own box and it has branched into Pop Tarts for one and I bet the latest one chooses bagels for her birthday!
I have two daughters, now 18 and 12. On birthdays they are allowed to pick breakfast and dinner and then the other girl decorates the table according to a theme of her choosing. No peeking is allowed till everyone is ready to sit down. We have had Wildlife Parks (we live in South Africa), seaside, spicy food theme(for Daddy!), camping trip, musical, even an ‘end of school’ complete with schoolbooks and stationery for my older daughter the year she graduated. Everything used is already in the house, ornaments, toys, spices from the kitchen, shells and beach sand etc. We also take a photo of the birthday girl and her dad in the same pose. It is lovely to put all these together and see how they have aged.
One of my 2 kids’ favorite traditions for birthdays was birthday cake (often the day after) for breakfast! As it was only an annual event, it was looked forward to very much. We also had ice cream (usually Dairy Queen blizzards) once or twice a year for suppper. After a day at the beach, who wants to go home and cook supper??? My strait-laced mother taught them to occasionally have leftover pizza for breakfast. The memories are priceless!!
My husband and I (and sometimes the sibling whose birthday it isn’t) will stay up after the birthday child falls asleep and secretly decorate their door with tons of streamers and balloons. We put up the happy birthday banner – sometimes in the living room, sometimes in funny places like the bathroom, or one year when my son was younger we hung it on his bunk bed WHILE HE SLEPT LOL. We leave messages on the bathroom mirror in dry erase marker. One year we put messages inside balloons (things we love about that person) and attached a garbage bag to the ceiling and door, loading it with the balloons so that when my daughter opened her bedroom door, the balloons would fall on her. Then she popped them all to read the messages inside.
Since we homeschool, the birthday child always gets their birthday off… usually we all take the day off. 😉
These are such great ideas! I’ve already established that we will be doing big parties for special years but not every year. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your 13th birthday idea, I hope I remember when my now 2-year-old turns 13! 🙂
Thank you so much for these ideas, Kim! With five kids, our home is overflowing with STUFF, and my husband and I are so tired of birthday parties where guests flood the house with more and MORE stuff! Starting today, we’ve implemented these ideas and we’re all excited! Just in time for the birthday season (one birthday a month from now through April)! Blessings to you and your family (from one fierce, brain tumor mama to another). 😉
We allow the birthday child to be the “boss of the day” choosing activities and meals. The day begins with dad taking the child out for bday breakfast. During this time, the other children and I decorate the house and set out the presents. We also do a special 13th bday getaway and my daughter chose to go to Paris with mom! ? But we live in Europe and Paris is only 4 hours away. My son turned 13 this year and he chose a weekend hiking trip in the mountains with dad for a weekend.
That’s a good idea o have years where you do a big activity and years that are a bit more lowkey. I could see how doing something like renting a bounce house would make my son’s day but would be a bit too pricy to do every year. I’ll have to look into doing something like that this year, and then maybe something bit simpler the next year.
I literally love the idea behind having different events for different birthday years and I am totally stealing this. My oldest turns 3 on Saturday and with all this covid stuff I am certain I can make this day super special even without being able to go anywhere or do anything. Thank you so much for the inspiration.
In our house, we tie balloons on the kids bed so that they wake to the fun surprise. It started when our oldest was in a crib as she turned one. It was so cute to hear her giggles and babble when she woke, we now continue that fun 10 years and 4 kids later. We move the balloons down to the table once they are awake, so they mark the special birthday kiddo all day.