Birthdays Around the World

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

People all over the world celebrate the incredible day they were born.

It is an opportunity to recognize a person’s life and appreciate all that they are. What’s fun is that birthday celebrations are different in different parts of the world. Let’s take a look at some of those unique traditions.

Many Americans celebrate with a birthday cake and lighted candles for each year of the person's life. A wish is made before blowing out these candles, in the hope it can be done with one breath and the wish will come true! This tradition is carried out after the guests at the celebration sing the song, "Happy Birthday to You."

Mexican children often celebrate with a piñata that is filled with candy and small toys. In Vietnam, birthdays are recognized on Vietnamese New Year because everyone is starting a new year of life. Chinese children slurp long noodles and try not to bite because the length of the slurp symbolizes the length of your life!

Australians eat fairy bread, which is bread with butter and candy sprinkles. If you live in Jamaica, you’d better run because you might get covered in flour! In Russia, it’s important to write a personal card to honor a person’s birthday. New clothes are often given to Indian children as birthday gifts.

Every culture has unique traditions to celebrate birthdays. These are important because every person is special and deserves to be celebrated!

• Have you ever been invited to a birthday party?

People in the same geographical location often celebrate their birthdays in similar ways. But people in different countries or from different cultural backgrounds often have different traditions for this special day.

Watch the video below to see how some people around the world celebrate birthdays!

The Big Red Lollipop is a book by Rukhsana Khan and illustrated by Sophie Blackall. This book is about a girl whose family is new to the United States. She is invited to a birthday party, and some of the traditions are new to her and her family.

Listen to the story as you watch this read-along video.

After watching the video, answer these questions.

• What is Rubina excited about?
• Who is Ami?
• Why doesn’t Rubina want Sana to come with her to the party?
• What happens to Sana at the party?
• What do the girls receive when they leave the party?
• How does Rubina help Sana at the end of the book?

It’s important to understand that different cultures celebrate in different ways. No way is right or wrong.

• It’s fun to learn and experience unique cultures around the world, don’t you think?

Continue to the Got It! section for a fun art project!