Montessori Celebration of Life

A special Montessori tradition explained – ‘The Celebration of Life’

 

Basic information about this celebration

Everyone wants to be remembered and cherished on the special day they were born.  What could be a better way to celebrate the child’s birthday in a special way at school with ‘The Celebration of Life’?
Children in the classroom love to hear about the child’s journey from birth to the present day.  They want to hear stories and look at photos of the birthday child.  They want to share in the wonderful memories being presented by the child and their family.  The celebration honors the child’s life.  We celebrate the child’s knowledge, skills and accomplishments.  We celebrate the child the way they are.  We celebrate the gift of the child being a part of our lives and the world.

What do we need for this special Celebration of Life?

– A mat representing the sun and the months of the year
– A candle (to be lit to signify the special day the child was born)
– A globe (to represent our planet Earth)
– A special birthday book (‘The Night You Were Born’)
– Photos of each year of the child’s life from birth to the present day (provided by the child’s family)
– Life story of the child (poster board is a great way displaying photos and comments)

The globe will help us show the passage of time, and the growth of the child from birth to this present day, their birthday celebration.

Birthday Walk around the Sun

All of the children make a large circle around the sun placed on the floor. The birthday child stands beside the label that has their birth month on it.  The parent or teacher lights the candle to signify the moment the child was born. The parents share the life story of the child up until the age of 1.  At that point, the birthday child begins the journey, walking slowly around the sun once, with the globe in their hands. The child stops when they reach their birth month again.  While the birthday child walks, the children in the outer circle sing to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell’:

The earth goes around the sun,
The earth goes around the sun,
The earth goes around the sun,
 and then __________ (insert child’s name) was 1!                              

The sharing of the life story and photos continues until the age of two. The birthday child begins to walk around the sun again.  The children in the circle repeat singing the verse, changing the ending to ‘2’.

This process continues until the child’s life story is complete.  This brings us to the present day, and the current age of the child.

We end our celebration with reading our special birthday book, ‘The Night You Were Born’.  As the last step, the child blows out the candle while they are thinking of their special wish for the year to come.