Birthday Treats at School

The policy at my son's preschool is no sugary treats for birthdays. They do one big birthday celebration at the end of each month, get one cake and all of the kids get one small piece for afternoon snack (maybe 1/4 size of an adult sized piece). Since they do lunch and snacks as one big group (50-70 students depending on the day) I'm really happy that he doesn't have cupcakes once a week throughout the year. Parents sign up to bring snacks each month, so when it is my son's birthday I sign up to bring in snack so that he can have something special. The snack rules are nothing sugary, so we will get his favorite fruit or last year I made cheese crackers in the shape of airplanes which went with the theme of his birthday party. I think eliminating the sugar all together would be great, even 12 times a year is more than enough considering we often go to birthday parties and family events with cake. How much cake does a child need? The point is to make them feel special, not load them all up with sugar.

The reason I'd like there to be no food treats allowed is due to allergies. My daughter is allergic to wheat, dairy, & vanilla. She feels/has felt left out of the fun.

Here it is suggested kids bring a book tp donate to the classroom instead of treats. Last longer than 15 minutes eating a cupcake. Less messy too ;-). Not only is sugar an issue, allergies are too.

I definitely think kids should be allowed to bring in treats and celebrate! They're only kids once, and one (or even two or three if there are that many birthdays in one week) cupcake per week isn't going to harm them at all. It's made so many of my young son's days when they have a birthday party, and he was so delighted when it was his turn. My youngest is the same way at his preschool. They all have the rule that it has to be sealed and from a store with the ingredient list on it.

I think today's children are treated like middle schoolers from day one with the idiotic homework requirements and packets sent home over breaks (which I REFUSE to make my son do -it's a FREAKING BREAK). Everyone freaks out over sugar -so don't feed it to your kid at home. We rarely do, and therefore these treats are really treats and we don't have obesity and health issues because of them. I guess I just believe in letting kids actually have a childhood. They need some treats and breaks and fun. The constant work, no more special treats and truly difficult subjects will come soon enough. If some mom at one of my sons' schools started in on trying to eliminate this practice, we would have big problems.

I don't have a problem w/ it and we just brought Rice Crispy treats in to her class just last week for my daughter's birthday. And for the record, I'm one of the real 'healthy food' moms out there, but I see no problem celebrating birthdays at school.

My son's school allows store bought cupcakes and I think it is great. I don't understand why a few people insist upon ruining something for everyone else. I understand that there may be food allergies....FINE, then send an approved snack list out so people can bring in items that are compliant. There are just SO many other things to get upset about in the school system...I just don't get this one. Let the children celebrate their classmate's birthday...

I think our school is in a good situation for it. The kids in our district go to all-day kindergarten, and because all the grades share a cafeteria, the kinders have lunch at 10:30. Since they don't get out until 2:30, the children rotate taking snacks to school. The stipulation is, that everyone HAS to bring a healthy snack - unless it is their birthday, and then they are allowed to bring a simple treat - 1 cupcake/child, or 1 cookie/child, or one brownie, etc.

The teachers each keep a box of cheerios in the classroom, for days when someone brings an unhealthy snack on their day, or forgets/can't afford it. The summer birthdays have been spaced out in August and May, so that every day in May doesn't become treat day. I like it - the kids enjoy having their snack time in the cafeteria (it's usually in the classroom, but not on birthday snack days, and the kids like singing to the birthday child - it's fun. But, our district has much smaller classroom sizes than yours, it seems - we top out at 20.

My daughter's preschool, on the other hand, didn't allow it at all. It was much simpler that way, I'll admit - no working around weekend/summer birthdays, no super-messy snack times, but the blanket policy of no sugar made things less fun for class parties (holidays, end-of-the-year).

I actually do like the birthday cupcakes, cookies, whatever.
I just bought the senior English class pizza for my daughter's birthday.
As long as it is cleared with the teacher. I think it's a great way to relax, life isnt' all about learning how to read and add. Sometimes we have to remember to enjoy each other and celebrate with each other.

At my child's school, the kids who are having a birthday make "birthday bread", a really basic, very yummy bread, that has no sugar, no egg, uses whole wheat flour. They have the choice of make this (which helps teach them to make bread) or bringing in treats. Almost all of the kids decide the bread. They love making it and it is a healthier alternative to treats.
I love it because then they still feel special and they are learning a skill.

It's pre-school for my daughter, we're allowed to bring anything except nuts. I think it's usually cupcakes or donuts. And thats about 18 kids I think. So 18 times, minus the summer birthdays...
Thats pre-school, they seem pretty lax- except for the no-nut policy, they can't even have peanut butter in their own lunch because of the kids with allergies. I'm fine with that, at that age kids are too young to take the right pre-cautions on their own (reading wrappers, not sharing etc).

The last 2 years my daughter has a boy in her class with a bunch of food allergies- I don't even know what they are. They have special treats for him and the teachers work it out during snack time. I assume they give him that when it's a birthday treat. I've seen the parents matter-of-factly serve him up one of "his" treats when the b-day cake is going around at all the in-home birthday parties. They are pretty cool about, no ones ever asked us to cater to his needs when we do b-day treats, the parents take care of that themselves.

My daughter's pre-school has the parents bring something for all the children in an individual bag. The teachers' put this in their back packs for them to bring home. They do not eat them at school. We are instructed to bring small treats and they have a strict no nut policy. Last year I sent stickers and bouncy balls. This year my daughter wanted to do lolipops. This seems to keep the treats reasonably sized, and sometimes non-food related. At the least, I get to see what it is so I can regulate accordingly.

In class, they show pictures of the child on each of their birthdays (we send them in), sing happy birthday and give them a little birthday necklace made of string and paper.

I think no treats would be great -- for me! I wouldn't have to gather and assemble anything. Between Halloween, Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day, her birthday, brother's birthday, Dad and Grandma's birthday, my daughter really isn't deprived for sweets. :)

Currently at my daughter's school they can bring in sherbert(sp) etc for snack time. Has to be something healthy and not to much sugary. One kid Iknow has a chocolate. Its not a big happy birthday party. Its nice. At the public school it couldnt be sherbert it had to be pre wrapped stuff.

My daughter's preschool allows birthday treats, but it has to be relatively low-sugar. It cannot be cake, frosted cupcakes, candy, etc. It can be mini-miffins without any icing, fruit, finger sandwiches or other lower sugar snacks. The highest sugar they will allow is the two-bite cupcakes without icing.

I am in favor of birthday treats, and it makes perfect sense at her school. Each child is given a "Celebration of Life" when it's their birthday. This is a big deal, and the parents help provide information and photos for it to be prepared and celebrated. Some of the kids bring goodie bags of small toys for their classmates in addition to or instead of a food treat. They always have a mid-morning snack, and the bday treat is substituted for the usual snack.

At her previous school, birthdays were celebrated with treats that were typically cupcakes with lots of frosting or cookies. That's ok omce in awhile, but some of her classmates had the same bday or bdays a few days apart. That was a lot of sugar, usually served mid-morning, for preschoolers. I appreciate her new school's guidelines that allow celebration without a sugar rush.

My son this year was in a very small class and the 10 bday parties drove me nuts with the ideas of what other parents thought was okay - so I guess I am okay with the idea - no issues here. Now, I would suggest because you WILL find opposition that you request two parties held, one in the winter for the July-Dec kids and one in the spring for Jan-June kids.

ETA including my son 6 of the 10 were Oct bdays ... add in Haloween and October was a nightmare between the cupcakes, and goodiebags. I brought in the mini cupcakes, Oct 3rd, had I realized ahead of time what we were dealing with I would have refrained from doing anything or brought in a fruit tray instead. One parent took over the class day and made it a party - all were annoyed by it.

For Kinder, the parents take turns sending in a daily snack for the class. So the teachers arrange for the kids to have 'snack' duty on their birthday or the school day closest to it. For this I would send in frosted cookies and juice boxes.

For my older son, I would send in individually wrapped snack cakes (Little Debbie) or cookies so that the kids could eat them later if they wanted. This year I took in store bought mini cupcakes (the 2 bite ones).

All of our food items are suggested to be store bought due to food allergies which since my son is one of the ones with allergies, is fine with me.

At our school treats, including homemade ones, are still allowed. The only exception is if there is an allergy in a specific classroom. In that case the teacher makes it clear what is acceptable to bring for sharing. It's not a big deal, the kids get their treat on their way out to recess so there's no distraction or lost learning time. And a lot of parents bring in non food treats instead of food (pencils, stickers, etc.) so it's not like it's happening 30 times a year :)

My daughter's school eliminated birthday treats and I am happy about it! We can throw her a party with cake at home or otherwise, she doesn't need another one in school. The teacher's still do something small but special for the "birthday kid" for the day, like wearing a special hat/crown and getting a pencil with their name on it.

Reasons I'm against it - money spent on purchased treats because home baked are not allowed, sugar, time wasted in school, competition among parents to bring the "best" treats.

My son's changes each year. Sometimes it depends on the teacher. One year one of them asked that we didn't send cupcakes but like fruit snacks cause someone had a food allergy. Which I totally respect. But I know for the kids its fun. I don't have to do it anymore cause my oldest is in middle school and my youngest's birthday is in summer.

My girls are in high school, so the new nutrition laws went into effect after the elementary school b-days. I always HATED the idea. Both my daughters had some dietary issues. I wanted to be the one to give them the type of treats that I thought they should have. Also, I send my child to school to learn, not to have parties and eat junk.

This varies by the grade in our school (each grade is "team taught" so the team of teachers for that grade decides these things, I think). Our fifth grade teaching team does not allow birthday treats to be brought in this year, and that's fine with me. I think it eliminates a lot of unnecessary calories and sugaring up the kids, not to mention that it's distracting and takes up class time that is very tight in our school day. I think some teachers also appreciate a lack of treats being available -- because the kids always take treats to other teachers, the librarian, the "specials" teachers, and I know some of them say they hate to say no to a kid offering a birthday treat, but the teachers don't really want the extra calories for themselves!

Here's one reason not to do treats: Does your cafeteria have a strict no-food-sharing policy? Ours does -- kids quickly get cracked down on (made to sit solo at the silent table) if they share any food from their lunches or take food from another kid's lunch. This is done to prevent any possible allergic reactions, complaints from parents, trades of food that turn into issues, etc. Well, if the school bans any food sharing at lunch or regular snack time, then it should be consistent and ban it for birthday treats as well, for the same reasons.

Of course, as I type this, my daughter has asked me to bring in treats (not birthday, just because she can) for the school TV station crew next week....which the faculty adviser allows for the TV crew at times! So it's never perfectly consistent. But I'd rather my kid have a little access to treats for the few weeks she's on the TV crew than treats coming at her 32 different times each school year in the classroom.

By the way, we do not eliminate ALL outside food. Class parties still have food that the room parents and other parents coordinate and provide potluck style (pizza with carrots and grapes, or healthy sandwiches and fruit etc.). But it has to be for a coordinated party like the holiday party or the spring party. And the adults choose it and bring it in. And we all endeavor to have the sweets limited.

The rules for birthday party treats vary from year to year in each of my children's schools. I have only sent in homemade treats the first year my eldest was in class and certain years I've had to make certain snacks are peanut, gluten, or casein free. I hope it's still allowed but I understand in some schools why it is not.

There's a list of "approved" treats that are not as healthy as I'd like but at least no more cupcakes. And a lot of kids bring in fun things like cool erasers, pencils etc. Donating a book to the library is also encouraged. I would love to just eliminate the whole thing. None of this was done when I was a kid... I think eliminating it would cut down on unnecessary calories and/or waste. Some of the little giveaways are cute but cute for 5 min and then it's more plastic in garbage dumps. It doesn't seem to be the case in our school but I'm sure the cost could become a competitive issue or hard for some families to cover when it's their turn.

Yes treats should be allowed at school! Kids really enjoy this as a part of a celebration, ESPECIALLY if it's their bday! It's a special day just for them that they can share with their school friends that they otherwise wouldn't be able to. I think if you think of it from the child's perspective, I think you would see it differently than just 30x. You may perceive it as such, but the child doesn't. I know the school where my kids attend, don't allow class time to be used so they have their little treat at break.I think if you don't like it than you shouldn't have it for your child. You shouldn't impose your beliefs on everyone else's child.

Unless you are against celebrating birthday's what is the harm? They get to celebrate with all of their classmates (which they can't invite to a real party due to size constraints.) The class is always soo excited to know they have a treat later that day, the child's birthday may not always fall during the week and they are only kids once. You can bring mini items, or healthy items. I once brought tiny donut holes and a fruit tray.