Children's birthday party

The tradition of festivals

In earlier times, primitive peoples celebrated special events in the astronomical cycle of the year: the winter and summer solstices, when day and night are exactly the same length, the winter solstice, when the sun has reached its lowest point, and the summer solstice, when the sun has reached its highest point and the longest day is the shortest night of the year.

As the Christian religion spread more and more through the church, the missionaries took up these festivals and placed the Christian annual festivals that are still valid today close in time to these old festivals: Easter and Michaelmas are celebrated at the equinox, Christmas is celebrated at the winter solstice and St. John's Day at the summer solstice.

The original worship of nature has been replaced by the celebration of prescribed festivals of the church. The church fathers knew how much the celebration of festivals delights people and offers them an opportunity to escape from their everyday lives with fun.

Another celebration that we have not been celebrating for very long is the birthday. In the past, not much importance was attached to the birthday, but the name day was the greatest celebration of the individual. In certain Catholic countries, people still celebrate it this way, but in our country, especially for children, the birthday is the most beautiful celebration next to Christmas.

The children's birthday

A child's birthday in particular can be a wonderful, unforgettable celebration. There is so much excitement and anticipation in advance for the birthday child. In the best case, the parents and the family make an effort to celebrate the child in its uniqueness and to give it the best day of the year. In some families, there are fixed traditions, such as a birthday cake and a gift for breakfast. In the afternoon, there is a celebration with the family and, soon after, a celebration with the birthday child's friends.

Of course, a child's birthday can also be celebrated spontaneously, but it will be a particularly successful child's birthday if you think about it in advance and involve the child in the preparations: who should be invited to the birthday party and how many can come, invitations can be made, games can be thought of that can be exciting, exciting but also quiet, when should the party begin, how many hours should it last, is there a gift for the guests, a treasure hunt, what kind of food should there be, the child can also help to bake the cake. In this way, such a child's birthday can become a wonderful experience.

In kindergarten, children's birthdays are also celebrated in a special way. A song is sung, a birthday story is told which, although it has been heard so many times before, is still exciting for the birthday child because it is now being told just for him or her. And here, too, the birthday child receives a small gift.

What do we adults associate with celebrations? Fun, good food, presents, funny moments and also festive ones - the day should be perfect, stand out from our everyday life and remain in our memories for a long time!

Celebrating festivals is also part of the everyday life of Waldorf kindergartens and Waldorf schools. In the kindergarten there is a custom or even several for each festival: at Easter it is painting eggs and sowing Easter grass; at Whitsun white doves are created and given to the children to take home, at St. John's Day, the midsummer festival on the longest day of the year, a big fire is lit over which the very brave children can jump and also at Michaelmas the fire has a special place, for example when a wandering blacksmith is invited and of course lots of tests of courage find their place here, at St. Martin's Day lanterns are made and accompanied by lantern songs the children parade through the streets with their parents and the educators, in Advent time there is baking, candles are drawn and little presents are made.

The classic festivals that we celebrate at home in the family are Easter and Christmas. On Christmas Eve, the children's eyes light up and when everyone has gathered around the table full of delicious culinary delights, the children can hardly wait to finally unwrap their Christmas presents that are already waiting for them under the Christmas tree.