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Advance Preparation: Make cupcakes but do not decorate. Have frosting, sprinkles and candles
ready to decorate the cupcakes at the end of the lesson. Blow up at least one balloon per person. Gather 1-2
trash bags (to hold balloons), masking tape and 1-2 chairs for the activity. Gather 1 picture of each child’s day of
birth (or when they joined your family). Place them in a box and wrap it up. Or cut out the letters to the word
BIRTHDAY and place them in the box instead. Print the candles on yellow paper, cut out. Print and cut out cake.
Print and cut out illustrations for discussion and story. Hold up the corresponding picture when you get to each
underlined word.
Scripture: “And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.” (Luke 1:14)
Attention Getter: Show everyone the gift you prepared. Ask: “What does it make you think of?”
Choose a family helper to open the gift. Pass pictures around. Tell your family that you felt so much joy when
each member joined your family. Let them know how much you rejoiced. Share how important each member is.
(If you used the letters instead have a few family members unscrambled the word “BIRTHDAY”)
Discussion: Birthdays are exciting times. We often look forward to presents, blowing out candles on a
beautifully decorated cake, eating cake and ice cream, and celebrating with family and friends. It is fun to have
all the attention focused on us.
But there is something more to think about. Did you ever consider that your birthday is a celebration of
a righteous decision we made before we came here? It is a celebration of the decision to accept the plan of our
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ to come to this earth.
There are important reasons for us to be on this earth. One of these reasons is to gain a mortal body. In
the scriptures we are told that having a physical body is important for our happiness. It gives us a power that
other spirits who chose to follow Satan do not have. In fact, in Luke 8:33 we are told that the devils who have no
body would rather have a body of a swine than no body at all.
We need to serve and love one another and do the things necessary to glorify our Father in Heaven. We
need to perfect ourselves so that we can return to live a celestial existence.
On our birthday we can celebrate that we chose to follow the Lord, Jesus Christ, and that we chose not
to “sit on the fence,” unable and unwilling to make a commitment. On our birthday we can celebrate the
commitment we have made to be on the Lord’s side. We can rededicate ourselves to be obedient and choosing
the right things so we can achieve and enjoy the blessings promised to us.
I’m grateful for my life on this earth and that I made the decision to be on the Lord’s side. I’m glad that
you made that decision too!
(from Birthdays: A special Celebration by Stephen C. Duncombe)
To Play: On the call of “GO!” the first member in the line (or lines) grabs a balloon from the bag and carries it
over to their chair. Each player must sit on their balloon to pop it and then runs back to his/her line and “Hi-5’s”
the next player in line. The next player then grabs a balloon and continues the relay. When your team finishes,
you win!
Then, after school, her friends Carrie and Susie were coming home with her for dinner. They were going to have pizza and
cake and ice cream.
Her mother opened the bedroom door and held her arms out for a hug. “Happy Birthday, Jenny.”
“Mom, it’s going to be a fun day.” Jenny hugged her mother hard.
“I know, honey.” Mom straightened the bow in Jenny’s hair and turned to leave the room. “Everyone else is eating
breakfast. Hurry, or you’ll be late.”
Jenny grabbed her backpack and her jacket and carried them into the kitchen.
“Happy Birthday, Jenny,” shouted her sisters, Heather and Janie, and her brother, Joshua. Her father got up from the table
and pulled out a chair for her just like he did for Mom when they went to a nice restaurant.
When Jenny went to her classroom, she carefully set the box of cookies and her backpack on her desk and turned around to
look at the chalkboard. Written there was:
The smile left Jenny’s face. She had not known that it was Mary’s birthday, too. Mary had been in the class only a couple
of weeks. No one had tried to make friends with her. In fact, most of them whispered about her clothes, which always had
torn places and were never very clean. Her hair looked as though it were never combed. Because she never tried to talk to
anyone during recess and usually played by herself, everyone else felt that she was unfriendly and wanted to be left alone.
Jenny had felt uncomfortable about it, though, especially after last week’s family home evening lesson about trying to see
good in others. Still, she felt as if her special day had been spoiled.
Mary was the next student to enter the classroom. Her hair was a little neater than usual. She sat at her desk and didn’t even
look at the board.
Jenny could see that she didn’t have anything to share with the class for her birthday, so she asked, “Mary, didn’t anyone
tell you to bring something to share with the class? We always bring something on our birthdays.”
“I’d like that. My mother has been sick for a long time.” Mary’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I probably won’t even get a
birthday cake unless my dad buys one for me.”
Jenny couldn’t imagine a birthday party without a birthday cake. She suddenly had an idea. “Mary, you watch the cookies. I
have to find Mrs. Jordan.”
Hurrying out of the classroom, Jenny saw her teacher at the end of the hall and ran to tell her about her idea. Mrs. Jordan
gave her a note to go to the office to call her mother.
After explaining about it being Mary’s birthday, too, and about Mary’s sick mother, Jenny asked, “May I bring Mary home
and let her share my birthday?”
“I’ll go see Mary’s mother and find out if Mary can come to dinner. When I pick you and Susie and Carrie up after school,
I’ll let you know what her mother said. Now both of you have a nice day. And, honey—” Mom paused. “I love you.”
That evening four girls stuffed themselves with pizza, played games, and fixed each other’s hair. They giggled and told
stories. Jenny had been afraid that Carrie and Susie would be mad at her for inviting Mary to her party, but after Mary had
told them a story about her former school, Carrie leaned over toward Jenny. “She’s fun. I like her.”
On the table were two cakes ablaze with candles. Mary’s eyes opened wide. “I’ve never had a cake with icing flowers.”
Jenny looked at Mary. She no longer looked like the unhappy girl who had been an outsider in their class for the past two
weeks. Jenny hugged her mother and whispered in her ear, “Thank you for making both our birthdays special.”
The girls ate pieces of both cakes with big scoops of ice cream. Then Carrie and Susie begged Jenny to open the gifts they
had brought her. Mom slipped her a gift to give to Mary.
The party ended with more laughter and singing. Jenny’s mother left the room and came back with Mary’s sweater and a
cake box. “Mary, I promised your mother that I would have you home by seven o’clock. We don’t want her to worry.” She
handed the box to Mary. “You can share the rest of the cake with your family.”
Mary set the box on the table and hugged Mom. “Thank you. It was the best birthday I’ve ever had!” She turned to Jenny
and hugged her, too. “Jenny, thank you for sharing your birthday with me.” She paused a moment, then said in a soft voice,
“You’re nice.”
Jenny thought that that was her best birthday present of all.