We celebrate kid’s birthday parties with fun, but have you ever known how kid’s birthday parties are celebrated worldwide?
We can take a quick trip around the world to find out how people from major parts of the world celebrate birthdays and how they practice it in general. In the United States and many other parts of the world, we commonly celebrate kid’s birthday parties with themes of choice by the one celebrating his or her birthday.
It is a common practice to have the party at home, with decorations set up in place and common party fare includes cakes, candies, soda, hotdogs, marshmallows and other treats children enjoy. Games are played during the course of the party where guests participate and win prizes at the same time.
This is also a similar practice throughout the Western world and is one of the most awaited party activity for kids all over. In Africa, there is a tribe in Ghana that celebrate the birth of their children on the day of the week they were born.
They call it Krada which means ‘soul day’ as their way of giving tribute to the creator for giving them the gift of a child – another soul added to their family. Most tribes or communities do not celebrate the birth of their children and common celebrations only involve tribes -people celebrating the manhood of children, as they are ushered in to adulthood through certain rituals and traditional practices.
In the Middle East, specifically in Egypt, children’s birthdays are commonly celebrated with singing and dancing with the party venue decorated with fruits and flowers, which symbolizes life and growth as the years go on for those celebrating their birthdays.
However, people do not traditionally celebrate birthdays as part of their religious practice. In Israel, food is also prepared with guests invited to attend from family, friends and neighbors. The highlight if the party is to have the one celebrating the birthday sit on a chair adorned with fresh flowers as guests gather around the chair offering prayers and well wishes to the celebrator.
In Great Britain, birthday parties are also held in homes with food and drinks prepared for guests. The British practice their tradition of celebrating the birthday by sending out birthday cards to the birthday celebrator, a tradition that was begun more than a hundred years ago.
As part of their cultural tradition, an Irish child celebrates his or her birthday by gently getting hit on the floor of the home by family and friends on the day of his or her birthday. The Danish people, on the other hand, celebrate birthdays by expressing their love for their country as well.
The Danish proudly raise their county’s flag outside their home whenever somebody in the house celebrates a birthday. Russians, on the other hand, also celebrate birthdays with food and drinks, but the only difference is, they do not prepare cakes but would rather have pies.
In China, a child celebrating his or her birthday receives money as a gift from his parents, who in turn, pay his respects to them as tradition dictates. Family and friends are invited over for lunch, where noodles are served, which symbolizes productivity and long life.
In India, a birthday child is showered with colorful dresses and chocolates and the home decorated with colorful balloons and shredded colored paper. If it is a school day when the child celebrates a birthday, the birthday child gets to wear a colorful garment and passes out chocolates to friends and classmates.
Now you know how kid’s birthday parties are celebrated all over the world and who knows, you may be able to get an idea from these and innovate your upcoming birthday party for your child.
