It’s no secret that I love celebrating and everything that goes along with it.

Planning and organizing an awesome birthday party? Yep.

Making holidays extra special with holiday traditions? You bet.

One thing I want to do is find little ways to show my son how important he is to us on his birthday. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as his birthday gets closer (three weeks!). I’ve been thinking about all the ways to make a birthday special, but without going crazy on cost or spending a ton of time I just don’t have.

He’s getting older and hitting the point where he’ll begin to remember his birthdays and how we spend them. I want nothing more than to give him extra joy. Additionally, it gives him another reason to look forward to that day every year. And if I can start a tradition he can share with his kids someday, even better!

As much as I want to do ALL THE THINGS, I don’t have the time and money to. I have to reign it in. I’m sure you can relate!

I’ve come up with some inexpensive, not time-consuming ways that I plan to make my son’s birthday extra special. I only get so many years with him in my home, where his dad and I are his whole world. I want to make the most of the memories from these years.

7 Ways to Make a Birthday Extra Special

Here are the 7 surprises and traditions I’m going to begin to incorporate into Zach’s birthdays.

1. Special Breakfast/Dinner: This could be either letting him choose the breakfast or making a breakfast that’s special, like pancakes with sprinkles in them or cut into balloon shapes. Zach would like either.
2. Write a special letter to your child: I already sort of do this one, by posting a letter to him on this blog each year. He has one for his first birthday (in his birthday book), second birthday, third birthday, and fourth birthday. And I’ll be posting one every year. But I may start to do a little one to put into his birthday book, too. Something a little more personal.
3. Do an art project to save: I love the idea of having Zach do a similar art project every year. One that can be kept and will show how he’s grown and changed over time. Right now, he seems to really love painting on canvas. They’re super cheap at Hobby Lobby so I think this would be a great art project for us. They can be hung up and each year we can see how his ability and creativity changes!
4. Do a treasure hunt for the gift: As a great tradition and surprise, I’d love to start doing a treasure hunt for his gift. Zach’s turning 4, so this year would have to be pretty easy and use mostly picture clues. As he gets older, they could become more elaborate and perhaps even lead him to places outside of the house. And all it requires of me is a little thought and some paper to create a fun experience as part of the gift.
5. Enjoy a surprise treat we normally wouldn’t: Aside from apple juice when we stop for coffee, we don’t indulge in many treats. We don’t usually buy candy on a whim or stop for unplanned treats. His birthday would be a super fun time to surprise him and randomly stop for a slushie (he loves slushies) at a gas station or pick up donuts at the local bakery, unplanned.
6. Let them choose how to spend the day: Or how they want to celebrate. (you can give guidelines if you need to) Sometimes we’re so quick to just decide how we want to celebrate that we forget our kids may have a better time doing something different. For example, some kids love parties while others might really like to take one or two friends and do something fun. Some might want to spend the day hanging out at the park or doing art projects. Which would probably not be our first thought when we’re trying to plan the party for the next day! But just asking and taking the time to do something they truly love to do would add so much joy to their special day!
7. Fill their room with balloons while they’re asleep: My son loves balloons. I think most kids do. In fact, he would probably freak out (in a good way) if he woke up to a room full of balloons. After a few years, I can imagine him falling asleep the night before, filled with excitement for what awaits him the next morning. As he gets older, and the balloon excitement wears off, I can switch it up. I can add streamers, or put some little surprises in some of the balloons for him to find. This keeps it a surprise while also keeping it a tradition.

It doesn’t have to cost a lot of time or money to be extra special

There are tons of ways to celebrate birthdays in special ways. You can start a new tradition, continue a longstanding family tradition, or just throw some fun surprises into the day. There are an endless number of ways to make a birthday extra special.

Unfortunately, some of those ways can be expensive, time-consuming, or a little overindulgent. A lot of what we see on Pinterest and social media skew in that direction. But they absolutely do not have to be in order to be special.

The most important thing is that it makes your child feel special. It should also make you feel good to do it, not stressed. All of the ideas above fit those criteria and can be tailored to what works, and is most exciting, for each family.

I hope I gave you a few ideas that you can implement in your home. And all without blowing the budget or spending a week preparing. What did you think of my list of ways to make a birthday extra special? Do you have any ideas to add? Let me know in the comments!

-To your Better Life

Kira