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"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;My daughter&amp;amp;#39;s school has instituted a &amp;amp;#34;no food&amp;amp;#34; policy for birthday and other classroom celebrations. This decision was not made because of &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/how-to-cope-with-food-allergies-617380&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;food allergies&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;. The new policy is part of a &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/school-based-childhood-obesity-prevention-1095119&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;healthy eating and exercise program&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; that the school district is implementing. It does, however, have the added benefit of making the school a safer place for children with food allergies.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Instead of snacks, students have their birthdays recognized by having their name read with the morning announcements and being given a card and a birthday ribbon to wear. Parents are encouraged to send in non-food treats or donate something to the school in honor of their child.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;If your school does not allow food in classroom celebrations, or if you would like to start this trend yourself, here are some ideas of non-food ways to celebrate a child&amp;amp;#39;s birthday at school.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;Ideas for Teachers&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Allow child to be &amp;amp;#34;queen&amp;amp;#34; or &amp;amp;#34;king&amp;amp;#34; for the day - give them the leadership role of line leader, calendar helper, feeder of the class fish, or keeper of the chalkboard.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Have a special birthday crown that the child can wear for the day. This can be a hat that stays in the classroom\u00A0or a simple paper crown that goes home with the child.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Host a special monthly birthday lunch club with the teacher.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Give the child a coupon redeemable for something fun in the classroom, like extra art time or a &amp;amp;#34;get out of homework free&amp;amp;#34; pass.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;Ideas for Parents&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Donate a book to the school library in honor of your child. (Just think how great our school libraries would be if every family did this every year!)&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Bring in stickers, pencils, fun erasers, or inexpensive toys such as stretchy frogs or plastic tops for the class.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Donate a plant to beautify the school grounds - flowers, bulbs, trees, or bushes.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Donate a board game to be used for indoor recess or a sturdy jump rope or ball for outdoor games.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Have a family member come to class to read a story or share a special talent or skill, or allow the child to share their talent with the class.&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ol&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.verywell.com/non-food-birthday-celebrations-at-school-3972244>