birthday
Everybody has a birthday Many children in other countries celebrate their birthdays like children in United states They have a birthday cake gifts and sometimes a birthday party for friends and family gather around a table with a birthday cake on it They sing Happy Birthday to you Two American sisters wrote this song in 1893 but people still sing this song today The birthday cake usually has lighted candles on it one candle for each year life The birthday child makes a wish and then blows out all the candles if the child blows out the candles in one breath the wish will come true other countries have different customs
In Norway Denmark and Sweden people fly the country flag outside their home to tell everyone that someone in the family is having a birthday In Denmark a parent puts gifts around a child bed when the child is sleeping at night When the child wakes up in the morning the gifts will be the first thing the child sees In Sweden and also in Finland the birthday child gets breakfast in bed
In some countries some years more important than others In Holland these are 5 10 15 20 and 21 They call them crown years On a crown birthday the birthday child gets a much more important gift The family also decorates the child chair at the dining table with flowers paper and balloons the special years in japan are 3 5 and 7 These are the lucky years On November 15 every year there is a festival called Seven five three when the children and their families go to a religious place Then the family gives a party for the child and gives the child gifts Because of religious reasons Hindu children only get to celebrate their birthdays until the age of sixteen
Birthday cakes around the world come in different sizes and flavors There are even ice cream birthday cakes today In china there is no birthday cake Friends and family go out to lunch and to wish the birthday child a long life they eat noodles