IFA

Children’s literature/Area Studies

Dr. Isabel Martin/Carsten Simonis
“birthday”
Ramona Stein
Eva Kaiser
Markus Breiling
SS 2004
24.06.2004

History of Birthdays

Before humans had a way of keeping time, no one paid much attention to the anniversary of
important events, such as birthdays. Only when ancient people began taking notice of the
moon’s cycles, they did pay attention to the changing seasons and the pattern that repeated
itself over and over.
Eventually, the first calendars were formulated in order to mark time changes and other
special days. From this tracking system came the ability to celebrate birthdays and other
significant anniversaries the same day each year.

Evidence of birthday observances dates back before the rise of Christianity. In pagan cultures,
people were afraid of evil spirits, especially on their birthdays. They believed that evil spirits
were more dangerous to a person when she or he experienced a change in their daily life,
such as turning a year older. As a result, birthdays were merry occasions celebrated with
family and friends. They surrounded the person of honour with laughter and joy in order to
protect them from evil.
Instead of gifts, most guests brought positive thoughts and happy wishes for the upcoming
year. However, if well-wishers did bring gifts, it was considered an especially good influence
for the birthday person.

Although historians are certain that people have observed their birthdays for quite some time,
there are few records of such celebrations that still exist. Of these few descriptions, only those
birthdays of kings and other important figures have been documented. Common people and
children never celebrated their birth when the idea came about. This trend has been explained
by a theory that nobility were the only people wealthy enough to throw such celebrations.

Eventually, birthday celebrations became a tradition around the world with young, old, rich or
poor.
Birthday customs are quite similar in some countries today but not everyone celebrates in the
same way.
Different people have incorporated their own rituals into the birthday celebration, based on
spiritual beliefs and ancient cultural traditions. While you may find some of them odd, or
even humorous, each one is unique.

Quelle: www.birthdayexpress.com
 Birthday traditions from around the world

There are numerous traditions surrounding birthdays, some of which are described below.
You may recognize some of the customs, while others will be very unfamiliar. There may also
be special traditions in your family or a friend’s family that do not appear below. Family
history, culture, language and economic status are all details that affect the way a person
observes the anniversary of their birth.

 Birthday celebrations from Africa

In Africa people celebrate with joy the birth of a baby.

The Pygmies would sing a birth-song to the child. In Kenia the mother takes the baby
strapped to her back into the thorn enclosure where the cattle is kept. There, her husband and
the village elders wait to give the child his or her name.
In West Africa, after the baby is eight days old, the mother takes the baby for its first walk in
the big, wide world, and friends and the family are invited to meet the new baby.
In various African nations they hold initiation ceremonies for groups of children instead of
birthdays. When children reach a certain designated age, they learn the laws, beliefs, customs,
songs and dances of their tribes.
Some African tribes consider that children from nine to twelve are ready to be initiated into
the grown up world. They may have to carry out several tests.
Massai boys around thirteen years to seventeen undergo a two stage initiation. The first stage
lasts about three month. The boys leave their parent’s homes, paint their bodies white, and are
taught home to become young warriors. At the end of this stage they have their heads shaved
and they also circumcised.
The second stage, the young warriors grow their hair long and live in a camp called a
manyatta where they practice hunting the wild animals that might attack the Masia herds. This
stage may last a few years. When they are ready, they will marry and become owners of large
cattle herds like their fathers.
The girls are initiated when they are fourteen or fifteen. They are taught by the older women
about the duties of marriage and how to care for babies. Soon after that they are married and
lead a life similar to that of their mothers.

 Birthday celebrations from China

In China everyone celebrates his birthday on New Year, even if it’s not the official date of his
birthday. He turns another year older on this day.
They believe that a baby is born one year old. A Chinese child’s second birthday is an
important event. They might tell the babies fortune. Therefore, the baby is placed in the centre
of a group of objects such as coins, a doll or a book and they wait to see which object it picks
up. If it picks up a coin it might become rich. If it reaches for a book it might become a
teacher. If it reaches for the doll it might have many children.
The sixth birthday is also a big party time.
The official language in China is Mandarin.
In China, it is considered unlucky to give someone a clock as a birthday present. In Mandarin,
the word for “clock” is similar to death.
Legend records Buddha called all the animals in the kingdom to visit him before he departed
Earth. Only 12 came and he named a year after each one as a reward for their loyalty. The
animal which rules the year you were born in is said to influence your life.
The birthday child pays respect to his/her parents and receives a gift of money. Friends and
relatives are invited to lunch and noodles are served to wish the birthday child a long life.
In China, people believe that tigers protect children. Family members bring newborns special
food and present them with gifts of clothing or toys decorated with tigers.

 Birthday celebrations from England

In England there are cakes known as Fortune Telling Cakes which are made for the birthday.
Certain symbolic objects are mixed into the birthday cake as it is being prepared.
If your piece of cake has a coin in it, then you will be rich.
Also, when it’s your birthday your friends give you the “bumps” they lift you in the air by
your hands and feet and raise you up and down to the floor, one for each year, then one for
luck, two for luck and three for the old man’s coconut.
Sending birthday cards is a custom that began in England about 100 years ago. Today,
millions of cards are sent around the world each year to wish family and friends a happy
birthday.
Being given the key to the house is still considered an important sign of coming of age in
England. This takes place when someone turns the age of twenty-one. The young man who
was given the key to the house is said to be given permission to come and go as he pleases
and to stay out as late he likes.

 Birthday celebrations from Germany

In Germany the children are never given homework or chores on their birthday. This
celebration of a birthday started hundreds of years ago in Germany and has spread throughout
the world.
On a child’s birthday the house is decorated.
The tradition of children’s birthday parties first started in Germany, Kinderfeste.
Kinder means child and feste means festival or party. Historians attribute Germans with the
first birthday parties for kids.
A member of the birthday person’s family wakes up at sunrise and lights the candles on the
birthday cake. There are as many candles as the years of age of the birthday person. If all the
candles are blown out in one try by the birthday person, then his wish will come true. Presents
are then opened and the party starts.

 Birthday celebrations from America

In America people celebrate the birthdays of famous people such as Martin Luther King,
Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
In some parts of South America and Central America, birthdays are celebrated with a pinata.
The pinata is a paper mache type animal that is filled with candy and small toys and is hung
up from a pole or a tree. This is then hit with a stick to break open the pinata to get all the
goodies out of it. The children are blindfolded so as to make it harder for them.
Birthdays are celebrated more for children than for adults, unless it is a milestone birthday
such as 21, 30, 40 or 50... .
At the children’s parties they have balloons and streamers are hung up and lots of friends are
invited to the party. There are always presents, cakes and ice-cream. The birthday person has
a cake topped with candles; one for each year and they must try to blow them out in one
breath. If successful, their secret wish will come true. Sometimes the person having the
birthday can choose what they want to do: bowling, swimming, arcades, amusement parks,
camping trips and so on.
A cake is made and candles are put on top based on how old the person is. Then everyone
sings the “happy birthday song” and at the end of the song the birthday child blows out the
candles. If they blow them all out with one blow, their birthday wishes will come true.

Birthday Song

Origins: "Happy Birthday to You" is by far the most well-known song in the English-
speaking world, and perhaps the whole world, too.
For nearly a century, this simple ditty has been the traditional piece of music sung to millions
of birthday celebrants every year.

The "Happy Birthday" story begins with two sisters from Kentucky, Mildred J. Hill and Patty
Smith Hill. Patty
Smith Hill, born in 1868, was a nursery school and kindergarten teacher and helped to found
the Institute of Child Welfare Research at Columbia in 1924.
Patty's older sister, Mildred, born in 1859, started out as a kindergarten and Sunday-school
teacher like her sister, but her career path took a musical turn, and Mildred became an
composer, organist, concert pianist, and a musical scholar with an speciality in the field of
Negro spirituals. One day in 1893, while Mildred was teaching at the Louisville Experimental
Kindergarten School where her sister served as principal, she came up with the modest
melody we now know as "Happy Birthday"; sister Patty added some
simple lyrics and completed the creation of "Good Morning to All," a simple greeting song
for teachers to use in welcoming students to class each day:

Good morning to you,

Good morning to you,
Good morning, dear children,
Good morning to all.

Here the trail becomes murky -- nobody really knows who wrote the words to "Happy
Birthday to You" and put them to the Hills' melody,
or when it happened. The "Happy Birthday to You" lyrics first appeared in a songbook edited
by one Robert H. Coleman in March of 1924,

The lyrics were copyrighted in 1935,

11 years before Patty's death, and the ownership has swapped hands in
multi-million dollar deals ever since. The current copyright is owned by Warner
Communications. They purchased it in 1989 for more than $22 million dollars.

Happy Birthday is recognized around the world and has been translated into
dozens of languages. It is one of the three most popular songs in the English
language.
 Birthday Cakes

One theory about the origin of the birthday cake is that it originated with the
Greeks, who baked round cakes representing the full moon for their moon
goddess, Artemis. They placed candles on the cake to make it glow, like the
moon.

The Germans are also credited with the first cakes and candles. They used a
sweet, layered cake and they put a large candle in the center of the cake to
represent "the light of life." Some people believe the smoke from extinguished
candles carries their birthday wishes up to heaven.

Birthday Balloons

The first balloons are believed to have been children's toys, made from animal
bladders and/or intestines, often filled with water. The Aztecs used to blow air
into the bowels of sacrificed cats and twisted them into animal shapes and
presented these to the gods as a sacrifice. Toy balloons were introduced by pioneer rubber
manufacturer.
European jesters and troubadors were said to sometimes inflate the entrails of
recently butchered animals and "entertain" with them. This is where the
association of modern-day balloons with celebrations is throught to have
originated.

Birthday Cards

The tradition of sending birthday cards started in England about 100 years
ago. Originally cards were often sent as an "apology" when a person couldn't
visit somebody in person.

What can I do to celebrate birthday in class?

poems

The Birthday Child

Everything's been different,

All the day long.
Lovely things have happened,
Nothing has gone wrong.
Nobody has scolded me,
Everyone has smiled.
Isn't it delicious
To be a birthday child?
 Rose Fyleman

Today

Glory may
I like today
Today, today
I like today
No other day's
quite like today
Not tomorrow
or yesterday
I like today
In every way
Today, today
Today-
My birthday!

John Archambaulty

Happy Birthday!

Today's the day

We get to say
We're happy you were born-
Hooray!

The Wish

Each birthday wish

I've ever made
Really does come true
Each year I wish
I'll grow some more
And every year
I DO!

Ann Friday

songs

(to tune of "Old MacDonald")

__1st name__ __last name__ has a birthday.

Hip, hip, hooray!
 And on her cake, she has _#&35;_ candles.
What a happy day!
With a puff puff here
And a puff puff there,
Here a puff
There a puff
Everywhere a puff puff
__1st name__ __last name__ has a birthday.
Hip, hip, hooray!

(to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star")

__________, your birthday is today.

We will listen to what you say.
Tell us now what we should do.
We will do it just for you!
__________, your birthday is today!
Happy, happy, happy day!

Tell Birthday Jokes

Q: Why do we put candles on top of a birthday cake?

A: Because it's too hard to put them on the bottom!

Q: What did one candle say to the other?

A: "Don't birthdays burn you up?"

Q: Where do you find a birthday present for a cat?

A: In a cat-alogue!

Q: What does a cat like to eat on his birthday?

A: Mice cream and cake!

Have a Happy Unbirthday Party

Choose a day at the beginning of the year, before anyone has a birthday and plan
a party for the afternoon. Buy a cake or cupcakes, play party games, and sing
happy unbirthday to the whole class. Encourage parents not to bring treats
through the rest of the year for birthdays. Just a simple "happy birthday" to each
student will do for the rest of the year.

Make a Happy Birthday Book

On a piece of paper each student has to write out "For your birthday, I would like to
give you _________.", and then draw a picture to go with it. Or you can ask them
to write out "Happy Birthday _________. My wish for you is
___________________." Staple all the pages together, add a title page and give it
to the birthday person as a special present from the class.

Birthday Certificate
Make a birthday certificate

Happy Birthday!
Have a Super Birthday!
Have a Great B-Day!
Sorry I missed your Birthday
Happy Birthday Girlfriend!
Hope you had a Super Birthday!
Wishing you a Wonderful Birthday!
Hope your Birthday is Special in Everyway !!
Everyone pitched in to get this totally
fantastic birthday card just for you.
Have a Great Birthday !!
You're worth every penny I spent on this card !!
Happy Birthday Mom
Happy Birthday Dad
Happy Birthday Grandma!
Happy Birthday Grandpa!
Happy Birthday !!!
Celebrate your Birthday !!!
Happy Birthday to a great …. Year Old!

Then sign it, add some stickers to it, and laminate it.

V.I.P for the Day

The most popular way to celebrate birthday! Have the birthday person perform
duties to help the class out and give them special privileges.

Birthday Box

Cover a good size shoe box with bright children's wrapping paper so the lid can be
removed. Inside put a cupcake (you can bake them ahead of time and freeze
them), can of frosting, sprinkles, a plastic knife, a birthday napkin, sticker, card, a
class birthday book (pictures/good wishes that the class draws on half sheets of
paper and bound with yarn), and a small gift. The box is kept in a visible location
and then on the morning of a birthday it is moved to the birthday child's desk
(remember to thaw the cupcake the day before). At a designated time, the class
sings, the child skips around the room, and gets to open the box.

Birthday Mobile
On a coathanger put the child's name and a picture of the child. On small pieces of
paper in the shape of birthday cakes ask each student in the class to write out "For
your birthday, I would like to give you ______." In the meantime, ask birthday
person to write out their birthday wishes on pieces of paper in the shape of
candles. The number of wishes they get corresponds to the age that they just
turned. Tie these cakes and candles with string to the coat hanger.

Party games

Monday painter

The class is divided into two groups. One person of group A has to paint a picture of a given
object on the blackboard . The other members of group A have to find out, what the painter is
painting. One member of this group after another has to be the painter till three minutes are
over. After that group B starts guessing. Winner of the game is the group who has found out
the most paintings.

Guess who I am

In this game, there are two groups. One person of a group stands in front of the others. This
person has to describe his job only with gesture and mimic.
He’s not allowed to speak.
If the group has found out the person’s job, the next has to describe a job.
The job is always given by the game leader.
Every group has 5 minutes for guessing as much jobs as possible.
The group who has found out more, is the winner.

Memory test

On a tray, place about 10 to 15 small items and cover with a cloth. Sit everyone in a circle.
Place the tray in the middle of the circle and remove the cloth for 60 seconds. Everyone has to
remember the objects. When the time is up, replace the cloth. In turn, each person has to name
an object on the tray. The first person to fail to name an object, repeat an object or name
something not on the tray is out. The tray is then removed and some or all of the objects
replaced and the game restarts with the person following the one who is out. If the game is too
easy for the group, add more objects or reduce the time.
 BASIC MUFFIN RECIPE

1 ½ c. whole wheat flour

½ c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. Sugar
1 egg
1 c. skim milk
6 tbsp. apple sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first 4 ingredients together in a

medium size bowl. Mix last 3 ingredients together in another bowl.
Add liquid ingredients to dry.
And mix with as few strokes as possible. Line muffin pan with
paper liners. Fill liner ¾ of the way full. Bake for about 20 minutes
or until done.
 Variations add about 1 cup of fruit or vegetables and 1 teaspoon
of spice.

Quelle: www.nancys-kitchen.com

Double Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

 1 3/4 cups flour

 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  1/2 cup cocoa
 2 teaspoons baking powder
 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
 1 egg, lightly beaten
 1 1/4 cups milk
 1/2 cup butter, melted
 1 teaspoon vanilla
 1 package (1 1/3 cups) white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well.
In a medium bowl mix the egg, milk, butter and vanilla.
Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients, and mix lightly, just enough to moisten.
Set aside about 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips, and mix the rest into the batter.
Spoon into muffin tins that have been greased or lined with paper muffin cups.
Sprinkle reserved white chocolate chips over the tops of the muffins.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Sources:
- www.birthdayexpress.com
- www.birthdaycelebrations.net
- www.canteach.ca
- www.nancys-kitchen.com
- www.donogh.com
 Verlaufsplan
Minuten Phase Unterrichtsgeschehen Methodisch- Medien
didaktischer
Kommentar
ca. 1’ Begrüßung L. stellen sich vor Stimme
ca. 5’ Hinführung L. führen mit S. S. sollen sich mit Tafel
Brainstorming durch dem Thema der
Stunde
auseinandersetze
n
ca. 7’ Einstieg L. informiert S. über S. sollen Stimme
die Geschichte und Kenntnisse über
die Traditionen des die Geschichte
Geburtstags und die
Traditionen
bekommen
ca. 15’ Vertiefung S. werden in S. sollen sich mit Arbeitsblätter,
Gruppen eingeteilt den einzelnen Folien
und arbeiten an ihren Themen vertraut
Aufträgen machen und die
Informationen
zusammenfassen
ca. 10’ Darbietung S. stellen Ergebnisse S. sollen anderen OHP,
vor Schülern ihre Folien
Erkenntnisse
vorstellen
ca. 10’ Erarbeitung L. fragt nach, wie S. machen sich Tafel
man Geburtstag in Gedanken;
der Klasse feiern
kann;
danach stellt L. S. bekommen
eigene Ideen vor zusätzliche
Anregungen
ca. 5’ Festigung L. teilen Muffins aus Muffin
ca. 30’ Vertiefung S. spielen typische S. benutzen Tafel
Geburtstagsspiele, unbewusst
die am Geburtstag Vokabeln, die für
gespielt werden die Spiele
können gebraucht werden
ca. 5’ Schluss L. stellen Rezepte S. bekommen
vor Einblick, wie
man Muffins
backt