On Tuesday, January 22, 122 children celebrated one of the biggest birthday parties in town. And in return, the children at Parkside Children’s Learning Center learned about celebrations while at the same time celebrating the one year mark for the Center.

“We wanted a creative way to celebrate our first anniversary with the children, so we decided to celebrate with a day-long birthday party,” explained Liz Leonard, Parkside’s director and founder. That birthday party also provided fertile teaching experiences for the children. “We really wanted to emphasize the idea of ‘celebrations’ with the children. The whole week was a chance to teach the kids about celebrations, how important they are, and what you do when you celebrate.”

The children, ranging in age from infants to preschoolers, spent a week baking cakes, making decorations, learning about traditions and sharing, and making crafts for the big day. According to Leonard, the children helped bake and decorate the birthday cakes and cupcakes which the children, their teachers, parents, and staff helped eat.

Even the infants took part in the celebration with specially designed “tiny T-shirts” that read “Parkside’s 1st birthday” and were personalized with the infant’s name.

On the big day, the children celebrated in their own rooms, but were also treated to a “creature feature” from the Maine Discovery Museum’s Tony Sohns and the comedic styling of a father named Zach who served as a clown, complete with balloon animals. Music teacher “Miss Jill” led the children in musical crafts and each room pitched in for a sing-along of “Happy Birthday.”

“We let each classroom decide how they wanted to celebrate,” Leonard said. “Many teachers have been here for a year so it’s a milestone for the teachers.”