Ideas for Celebrating the Nativity of Mary (Mary's Birthday!)

Happy Birthday, Mary! Well...almost. Mary's birthday is celebrated on September 8. You can read more about the Nativity of Mary here. So here's the question: How do you celebrate the Nativity of Mary? What do you do at a birthday party for Mary? Well, I have a few ideas to share with you. :-)

Make a Craft!

You knew I was going to say that, right? I think crafting some simple rosaries would be a great craft idea for Mary's birthday!

We crafted some slices of cake for Mary's birthday. I found a cake slice template here, and printed several on card stock.

First, cut out your cake slice template. Next, go ahead and fold the creases on the lines, and unfold to make it flat again. Then color with markers, and paint on the "icing" with homemade puffy paint (recipe below). Microwave it dry, and assemble the slice of cake with glue.

Recipe for Homemade Puffy Microwave Paint:

1 tablespoon self-rising flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of water (give or take)
a few drops of food coloring

Make a paste out of the flour, salt, and water. Color with food coloring. Paint on with a paint brush or a q-tip. When you're finished, microwave it for about 30 seconds, until puffy and dry. This was so much fun to do!

What To Do With Your Cake Slice Craft:

We are using our cake slice boxes to put our rosaries in and take to Mary's birthday party. You could make 5 of these cake boxes, set them out on a cake plate, and number them 1-5. In each box there will be a rosary, and a piece of paper telling with a mystery of the rosary. At Mary's birthday party, ask for volunteers to lead a decade of the rosary. At the beginning of each decade, the leader can come forward, take a rosary from the box, read the slip of paper with the mystery for that rosary, and lead the decade.

Make a Birthday Card for Mary

Make Mary a card for her birthday! We went ahead and used the same puffy microwave paint with a monogrammed "M" for Mary, a crown, and a birthday cake with a candle. Inside I wrote a prayer for the nativity of Mary (that I found here). At the birthday party, everyone can sign the card with promises of prayers as presents (aka a spiritual bouquet.)

Mary's Birthday Cake

Any cake would be a great cake for Mary's birthday! I would suggest icing your cake in white (to symbolize purity) and blue (Mary's color). If you're getting together with friends for a Marian celebration, consider making a cupcake rosary! You can have 3 families sign up to bring about 20 cupcakes each, iced white, and one family to bring the "Our Father" cupcakes iced in blue. You can use a real crucifix for the bottom, or assemble with a cake, cupcakes, or chocolate.

If you're only one family and 50-something cupcakes is WAY too many for you, you could make a "one decade" cupcake rosary, or assemble rosaries out of something smaller such as marshmallows and candy. Find some pictures and ideas for making edible rosaries here.

Put 10 candles on the cake. Pray one decade of the rosary, lighting one candle for each Hail Mary. When you're finished, sing "Happy Birthday" to Mary, and blow out the candles!

Decorate for the Party

You can decorate with anything blue! Be sure to bring out a Mary statue (or several) if you have some. Think party hats and streamers- it is a birthday party after all! ;-)

Sing some Mary Songs!

I love singing Mary songs! You can find lyrics and guitar chords for Haily Holy Queen here. I really need to find the time to post some more lyrics and guitar chords for Marian songs! Some other songs you could sing are the Hail Mary, Immaculate Mary, or Ave Maria.

 

Play a Game

If you're looking for a simple activity for celebrating with your family, check out this Hail Mary game from The Catholic Toolbox. (It's free to print!)

More Posts to Check Out:
Nativity of Mary
Cupcake Rosaries
Food Ideas for Marian Feast Days
Free Mary Printables for Kids


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