We started a fun birthday tradition a few years ago and are continuing with it this year—a 12 day birthday countdown. It is similar to the 12 Days of Christmas, we call it “The 12 Days of Parker”, or whoever’s birthday it is. My kids look forward to it every year. I have a lot of fun both putting it together and giving them their gift each day.
I’m late getting this post up this year, but we did the countdown for Parker’s, Rylee’s and Oliver’s birthdays earlier this year and are currently doing the countdown for Ashtyn as her birthday approaches. As each of my kids had a birthday, their countdown gifts were the same or similar.
Today I am sharing what each of their 12 day countdown gifts are!
Homemade Ice Cream
In past years, the first day was always a cake mix they got to make themselves. This year, I am mixing things up by giving them our homemade ice cream recipe. They get to make the ice cream themselves and then we put it in cones for the kids with sprinkles on top. They all have loved it!
Reading Light
I have been wanting to get a reading light for my girls for a while now, as they all share a room. They have a lamp, but an individual light like this is going to work better for our setup. This countdown was the perfect time to get one for each of them.
Candy
I love to mix in candy every few days. I have the birthday kid tell me the three kinds they want and spread them out over the 12 days.
Pocket Microscope
This pocket microscope is fun and educational and pretty inexpensive. All four kids have loved it!
Candy
The second day of candy!
Book Bag
Quite a few years ago, I got to where I was struggling to get the family’s library books out to the car (along with four young kids). I bought everyone their own library bag to carry their books in and it has worked well. The bags are getting old and gross looking, so I have been wanting to replace them. It’s the perfect price range for the 12 days! I let each child pick one out and am saving them for their birthday countdown.
Notebook
This is a thick, nicer notebook to use as a journal. We do journaling each week as part of homeschool and I thought it would be nice if they each had their own nicer one. Parker has absolutely loved hers so far and I know the rest of my kids will too.
Candy
And their last day of candy!
Coupon
I wanted to do a special coupon from Mom and Dad for one of the days. We have a tradition of doing a “special movie night” each week with the children who are ten or older, after the other kids are in bed. Parker had been counting down the days until she could join ever since we started it with Ashtyn, so we did a coupon to let her join in a week early. She freaked out and loved it. For Rylee, we’re doing a special, one-time coupon to join in for movie night for a week. We did a mini date to get an ice cream cone with Oliver. For Ashtyn, she gets a special movie night with just her watching a PG-13 movie.
Watercolor Brush Pens
I love giving my kids new arts and crafting materials, as they all love creating. Parker has been using her pens nonstop since we got them for her.
Twinkies
We don’t buy twinkies normally, but we got some the first year we started this tradition and I’ve gotten Twinkies every year since. It’s the only time of year we buy them and my kids love it.
3D Printed Dragon
My kids are very into dragons and 3D printed toys right now, so these cute little dragons are going to be a hit. They came as a four pack, so I’m saving the extra three for the other kids’ countdowns. My only hesitation with these is that it is really hard to get the dragon back in the egg, so the kids will probably not be able to do it themselves
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