Culture Focus: Birthdays

For our culture focus this week, I thought I’d take a look at how American children typically celebrate birthdays. A child’s first birthday is considered a significant milestone, so many families mark this event with a relatively big celebration, although it is not as big a celebration as in Korean households. The first birthday is largely attended by family and perhaps a few close friends, who bring gifts for the child and enjoy birthday cake and ice cream.

As the children get older, the birthday celebration focuses more on a party for the birthday child and his friends, which is generally separate from any private celebration the family may have. The birthday child invites his friends over for a party, where the emphasis is on fun and games. In addition to opening presents and having birthday cake and ice cream, the children may play party games like the following:

1. Pin the Tail on the Donkey

In this game, a poster of a tailless donkey is put on the wall at the children’s height. Each child is given a paper tail, and they take turns trying to put the tail on the proper spot. To make things more difficult, the child stands several feet away, is blindfolded and spun around several times before he is released to walk towards the donkey to put the tail on. From the spinning, the child is usually disoriented, so the child might end up putting the tail on the donkey’s head, stomach, or other place. The winner is the one who gets the tail closest to its proper spot.

2. Musical Chairs

In this game, chairs are placed in a long row, with the chairs facing alternate directions. There is one less chair than there are children. Someone begins playing music, and the children march around the chairs in a circle. As soon as the music stops, every child must take a chair and sit down. The child who is slowest doesn’t get a chair, and is out of the game. Then one more chair is removed, and the game repeats, until there is only one child left – the winner.

3. Drop the Clothespins in a Bottle

In this game, children stand over a bottle that is placed on the floor. The bottle has a narrow opening, and the child tries to put the clothespins in the bottle by dropping them from chest height. If he gets a clothespin in the bottle, he can continue until he misses. The child who gets the most clothespins in the bottle wins.

Older children (teenagers) generally do not play these types of games, and the party becomes more of an opportunity for the teenager to enjoy the company of his friends, eating, talking, and doing teen-type activity. Many teens regard the 16th birthday as a milestone, since this is the age at which teens are allowing to get a driver’s license. The 18th birthday is also significant, since at age 18 the teen is no longer considered a minor child, but an adult.