My birthday was yesterday! Anyone else have a February birthday? Any other fellow Aquarians?
I had a great celebration with gifts from my family, tacos and drinks with my brother, SIL, and niece, and then a day of record and used bookstore browsing. I did get the one record I was especially looking for!
I would say it was one of my better birthdays, and I’m believing that despite everything, this is going to be my Best Year Yet.
It got me thinking about how to celebrate birthdays—with family, with friends, with yourself. So I made a list of…
50 Birthday Celebration Ideas!
Now I remember last year, a friend of mine asked me,
“Can I celebrate my birthday a day late?”
As a true lover of birthdays and holidays (remember, I used to write greeting cards for a living!), I really don’t think it matters if you celebrate a little early or a little late. In fact, if for some reason you have a lousy birthday, it’s completely fine to declare a do-over.
And here’s the other thing about all these birthday celebration ideas:
You don’t need to wait for your birthday, or a holiday, or a vacation day, or even a Friday, to celebrate.
Some of these ideas are big and splashy, and some of them are modest. The more birthdays I celebrate, the more I realize that it’s often the little things you treasure and remember.
Okay, let’s get into it! And if you want to save this post for future reference, bookmark it or pin it to Pinterest!
How to Celebrate Your Birthday By Yourself
1. Find the perfect spot to watch the sun rise.
2. Get a manicure or pedicure.
3. Get a massage.
4. Get an awesome tattoo.
5. Take a hike in the woods or a walk in a park.
6. Some advance research will be required: go to a few places that give you something free on your birthday!
7. Volunteer somewhere, then go out to lunch.
8. Take a cooking class.
9. Bake cupcakes or cookies and take them to the neighbors.
10. Go to an animal shelter and adopt a pet!
Ways to Celebrate Birthdays With a Friend or Two or Three
11. Meet for a birthday breakfast.
12. Go bowling. (I’m the world’s worst bowler, but I think a lot of people find it fun!)
13. Go to a bar or arcade with old-school arcade games.
14. Reserve a karaoke room and sing your favorite songs!
15. Have a girl’s night in (if you’re girls, or just into that kind of thing): try home spa treatments, eat snacks, and gossip.
16. Go to the movies.
17. Have them over for a home movie night.
18. Go to a palm reader or Tarot card reader.
19. Go to a baseball, basketball, or hockey game.
20. Build a fire (in a safe place to build a fire, obviously) and roast hot dogs or marshmallows.
21. Tour a coffee roaster, brewery, or winery.
22. Go to an axe throwing bar.
23. Go to high tea.
24. Go to a wine or whiskey tasting.
25. Just invite people over for coffee and cake! Or coffee and pie. It seems like we don’t have people over to our homes as much as we used to, but it’s a great way to really feel connected to friends.
Best Ways to Celebrate Birthdays As a Family
26. Go mini golfing.
27. Have a board game night.
28. Have a Lego night.
29. Have a picnic in a park. Maybe rent a pavilion. Bring a cornhole game or a Frisbee.
30. Go to a kid-friendly museum.
31. Make a special meal together.
32. Get a professional family photo taken.
33. Go on an overnight camping trip.
34. Stay the night at an AirBnB in a fun nearby town.
35. If the timing is right, enjoy a seasonal activity, like a fireworks display, a visit to an apple orchard or a pumpkin patch, or a holiday lights display.
How to Celebrate a Birthday on Zoom
Sometimes health concerns or thousands of miles mean that a remote birthday celebration is in order. There are still ways to make it memorable!
36. Eat cake together (everyone brings their own) and have everyone answer 20 questions! You can get inspiration here and here. (I did this with my family for Thanksgiving in 2020.)
37. Watch a movie together and chat about it in the comments. (Directions here.)
38. Play virtual charades or virtual Pictionary.
39. Have everyone mail gifts to the birthday person so they can open them over Zoom.
40. Surprise the birthday person by having each attendee share a favorite story about them. Just tell everyone about it in advance. This is a great thing to do in person, too…and especially good for a milestone birthday.
Ideas to Celebrate a 50th Birthday, for Men
Or this could be a 40th, or 60th, or whatever! I’ve known a few guys who have celebrated milestone birthdays lately, so I wanted to include a few of these. Of course, it really depends on the guy.
41. Surprise him with tickets to something he loves.
42. Figure out something he feels too selfish or guilty to buy for himself.
43. Get him a toy that he liked as a kid (eBay is a great resource)…or a toy he likes now.
44. Arrange a day when he doesn’t have to do anything at all. Make sure there’s peace and quiet. Provide snacks.
45. Arrange the road trip of his dreams.
5 More Great Places to Celebrate Your Birthday…
46. a botanical garden
47. a hot tub
48. a wildlife preserve
49. a pub on trivia night
50. a boat tour…or a boat, period
I hope this list reminds you that you are worth celebrating…every single day!
Do you have other birthday celebration ideas, or other birthday traditions?
I’d love to hear about them, and I know everyone else would, too! Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
Here’s a challenge for you. Give me a few ideas on how to celebrate my 92nd birthday this year – either alone or with a few neighbours. I cannot walk far or climb even one step. But I would still like to party.
Anne! You deserve an amazing birthday, for sure. Let me think about this! My first thought is that you could order food or a cake to be delivered, and invite a few people over? Is there anyone who could help with the invitations?
My local library and my park district have a lot of events like movie screenings and craft workshops. I don’t know if there’s anything like that near you or if that’s feasible mobility-wise?
Eventbrite has a lot of fun online classes for cooking, meditation, and all kinds of things, which might be fun to do on a birthday: https://www.eventbrite.com/
God bless you Anne! Have an awesome birthday! And many more to come.
Happy Birthday Bryn!
Tom! Thank you so much! I hope everything’s going good with you!
Perfect timing! My birthday is today 😊. Let’s see how many of these I can squeeze in over the next 24 hours! 🥳 (and Happy Birthday +1 to you, Bryn!)
Oh my gosh! Happy Birthday, Kim! I hope it’s the beginning of an amazing year.
Happy belated birthday Bryn
Thank you so much, Edward!
Great ideas! Happy Birthday Month!
denise
😊 Thank you Denise!
This is great! I’m a new and very happy subscriber! Many thanks.
Hi Jane! Welcome! Thanks for subscribing. I hope you like it here! 😊
Happiest of Birthdays, Bryn. My dad’s birthday was yesterday. He would have been 115. I still sing Happy Birthday to him on every Ground Hog’s day. Hope you had a FABULOUS day. I continue to enjoy your posts. Keep them coming.
Thank you, Jan! Aww, your dad had a Groundhog Day birthday too? He must’ve been a cool guy to raise a daughter like you. 💙
Dear Bryn
I share a birthday with you! I was born on 2nd of the 2nd 55. So I turned 70. I had a lovely party with friends and family and some music and finger food. Happy birthday to you!
Lorraine! Oh yay, birthday twins! Happy 70th! It sounds like a lovely birthday. I hope this is your Best Year Yet!
Happy late birthday Bryn! So many wonderful ideas here, not only for myself, friends and family but also for writing prompts. Thank you so much!
💙 Oh, thank you, Cheryl! For the good wishes and the kind words both. I appreciate you!
Happy birthday!
Thank you, Christiane!