Kids Ministry Idea: Throw an 'Everybody's Birthday!' party.
Celebrating ‘Everybody’s Birthday!’ at Indoor Sunday School. Brooklyn, NY. Circa 2016
Throw an ‘Everybody’s Birthday!’ party! Invite everyone. Celebrate everyone. This theme blossomed out of the desire to recognize and celebrate our Sunday School kids birthdays, but since we literally had so many kids in attendance, it just wasn’t possible to do something individually. So the idea grew and we tried something we’d never done before: we aimed to celebrate everyone’s birthday all at the same time. Maybe it was the excessive amount of sugary things we all ate, or the multiple renditions of Happy Birthday we all sang, or the extra games we all played, I’m not sure…but ‘Everybody’s Birthday’ quickly became one of our favorite days.
3 SUPER SUGGESTIONS:
Let them eat cake! Cake and ice cream for all. What kind of birthday party lacks these two very delightful treats? No party I want to attend, that’s for sure! Depending on the size of your kids program, you can scoop ice cream and cut pieces of cake for all of the kids if that’s manageable. For our Sunday School in Brooklyn we literally had thousands of kids so we provided ice cream sandwiches and brownies in packages on the way home. You’ve definitely got to find what logistically works for your setting, but cake and ice cream is a birthday party staple.
Wrap up birthday gifts as door prizes. Birthday presents for all is probably an unrealistic thing to pull off, but wrapping up a couple of toys in birthday paper is do-able. Hand out little tickets when everyone enters and then call out the winning tickets during the program. Or play some games and have the winners choose their own wrapped present.
Smash a pinata to smithereens. I can’t imagine anybody NOT liking a pinata. A long stick. A blindfold. A few twirls and then you off swinging like a madman until finally someone smashes the thing wide open and candy goes flying everywhere? Count me in! Pinatas are a good time! You can buy a pinata or DIY that project yourself. Check this out: I’ve made an Everybody’s Birthday board on Pinterest where you can find some of those ideas if you’re interested.
BONUS STUFF:
Have you ever tried an Ice Cream Sunday Bar?! This will take your birthday party to the next level. Be forewarned, things will get STICKY! But it is well worth it. I’ve pinned Ice Cream Sunday Bar ideas here.
This theme is a great one for including church folks and asking them to donate to the cause. Whether it’s actually baking a cake, or buying a pack of cookies from the supermarket, a collection of tasty treats makes any birthday party extra fun. I caution you - don’t count sugar content or calories on this day! If you’re doing it right you’ll consume far more than you truly ought to, but hey, it’s only Everybody’s Birthday once a year! The only thing you want to truly be mindful of are kids actual food and nut allergies.
Send everyone home with a little goodie bag. Hit up your local dollar store or somewhere like Oriental Trading for little bits and bobs and fun small candies. While you’re at it, you can try popping special little notes inside of each bag, too.
