The Montessori Birthday Walk
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The Montessori birthday walk has become a favorite birthday tradition in our home. This is our third time doing it and I look forward to many more times. On my son’s second birthday, we saw him start to understand some of the concepts behind this. I know on his third birthday he will understand it much more as we have talked about seasons and he remembers different events from the last year. The Montessori birthday walk is a bit different for a first birthday because obviously, even the most concrete concepts about seasons and birthdays are meaningless to them. Also, neither of my babies have walked on their first birthday. But still, I find the Montessori birthday walk is a meaningful way to remember my babies’ first year on Earth.
The Montessori birthday walk is traditionally done in Montessori children’s house classrooms (3-6) though other age classes do it as well. Not every Montessori classroom does it but it is beloved in many. The idea is to add a concrete understanding of what a year passing means. We discuss each month of the year and what happened that month and discuss what a year means (one rotation of the Earth around the Sun). As babies become toddlers and preschoolers this gives a concrete understanding of a very abstract concept. Montessori is all about moving from concrete to abstract in the early years and I love how this does that for birthdays.
We have always done two birthday celebrations: a tiny family birthday on the actual birthday and a party on Sunday. We love doing the birthday walk on the actual birthday to keep it quiet and intimate.
I created the sun we use in the middle for our birthday walk when my son was about to turn one. It is simply felt and hot glue. I am not a big DIYer but all the premade options were pretty pricey. Cutting and hot-gluing the sun was very simple. It is nothing fancy and it somehow got coffee spilled on it during one birthday but it is still something I now cherish. We put a flameless candle in the middle. Both of my babies have found this flameless candle so interesting during their birthday walk and I have similar photos of both of them with it. This time I also added the around-the-year playsilk from Sarah’s Silks (code OnTheWay10 gives a discount there). I love how this gives more of a visual of the seasons and creates a beautiful backdrop for the Sun. My only complaint is we always did counterclockwise in the past since the Earth rotates counterclockwise. This play silk has the seasons clockwise. It is still beautiful though and a nice addition to our tradition.
We put a photo from each month of the year around the twelve rays of the sun. Before the walk we talk about each month and something notable that happened then. For example, we discussed when we went on a big trip this summer. For a first birthday, we keep this part very short! For my son’s second birthday, he was a lot more interested in discussing what happened each month. I let my babies hold and explore the photos as we talk.
Then comes the walk. The birthday child walks around the Sun holding our plush Earth as we sing “The Earth goes round the Sun.” The song goes:
The Earth goes round the Sun
The Earth goes round the Sun
The Earth goes round one time and now [NAME] is one
We repeat that as many times as how old they are turning and sing it to the tune of the farmer in the Dell. For my babies’ first birthdays, we have held them since neither could walk on their first birthday. I actually love this though because it feels representative of how they experienced their first year, in our arms.
After they finish their rotations around the Sun we all celebrate by cheering and going to have cake.
That’s it, that’s how we do the Montessori birthday walk in our home! This has become a favorite tradition birthday tradition and one we are sure to do for years to come! I love how it adds meaning to the birthday celebration.
