Birthday artists

BIRTHDAY, AGE 7: A group of happy children are tucked away in the back row of Burger King. Wearing an ill-fitting corporate-issue mask, our table cleaner appears as the clown. Everyone is crowned in advertising gold, and favors are solemnly dispersed. In the crowded eatery we guardedly party among a sea of annoyed glances. A disappointed child talks about how much fun her next birthday will be.

A CELEBRATION, AGE 8: We have the party room this year, a bunker without windows under the bleachers of the roller-skating rink. The converted dressing room is decorated with partially inflated balloons. We are number nine on the birthday list of 22 celebrants whose names are listed on the decorated chalkboard. Soon our cake enters, dressed in the Skate Center's advertisements, with matching plates. The server reminds us not to take food out of the bunker and to leave on schedule. The next anxious celebrants are already banging on the door. Our guests eat and quickly meld into the circle of skaters. A painless birthday for busy parents.

PARTYING, AGE 9: The "Party Palace" at the Ice Center was under construction. The fading birthday sign outside the room lost its glow among announcements for skating lessons and the latest skate-shop bargains. We are on our own, the final party of an evidently busy day. Mom brought the party pack: plates, cups, tablecloth and matching favors from the latest Disney release. Gifts were torn open. as my wife took down vital information for each thank-you note. Next, we had planned creative games, but the kids wanted to go back to skate. My daughter Ana's printed "birthday award" from the Ice Center read, "Tell your friends about the fun of an ice-skating party."

BIRTHDAY REVELATION, AGE 10: For her birthday, Ana wanted to have her party in my art room. Children wore cool slippers to the birthday party. The party took place in several inflatable play pools, where party guests were imaginarily transported on decorated floats they built on their rubber flip-flops. The birthday party on the water had every sea creature humming. Party decorators designed festive water canvases, detailed by fall leaves, Silly String drawings, magic sand sculptures, and floating building-block towers.

On the magic canvas of water, an inflatable cake bobbed and gifts on foam trays were pulled by tugboats. The birthday party in the art room became the talk of her school. Ana's wish changed birthday celebrations in her life. It is also the story of how birthday-party designs ended up as part of my art-class repertoire.

We play birthdays in the art room regularly, fantastic birthdays that seldom occur in children's lives. Have the art class birthday experiences had an impact on the fast-food and roller-rink birthday industry? I hope so, because more children in our schools are asking for creative events held at home, which involve the creative dreams of parents and children.

Despite the sad diary above, when we recently looked at our photo albums of birthdays, our kids remember them as happy occasions. After all, their parties were identical to their friends, and it was the parties they went to and asked for. In designing our family birthday album, I saved and used the most unusual cards, fun shopping bags, illustrated plates and gift wrapping from each event. I looked for signs of beauty within the party-mold circuit. After each birthday party, our kids planned and fantasized about the next. I took notes on their great ideas and included them in the birthday book. Their party visions were always a cut above the event just completed.

ART-CLASS BIRTHDAYS It's Livia's birthday, and Mom and Dad came to class. Dad sits on the floor narrating his PowerPoint presentation of the birthday girl growing up, and Mom brought the family album to share.

Classmates become presents, acting out who they are, and giving themselves to Livia. "I am a toy that keeps on giving," says one gift. "I am a basket filled with kittens," says another. Our birthday girl is presented with a crown to which everyone added a sticker jewel. Every child would like to sit next to her on this day. Livia is the star of our art class. Parents invited to art-room birthdays make creative contributions to a memorable event.

We also invite other guests: A big, furry blue monster with a red nose celebrates his birthday, and sitting high and proud on phonebooks are children's teddy bears getting dressed for the party. The students eagerly sift through the art-room fabric trunks, and hats, jewelry, cool sunglasses and stylish suspenders are created for this special occasion. Children are dress-up artists who, all year round, celebrate a Halloween spirit in the art room.

We celebrate a horse's birthday and extend invitations to My Little Ponies. We design extra-long, intricate straws to funnel colorful party drinks into festively decorated stalls. Students decorate pink spoons from the ice-cream parlor with pony patterns. As part of the birthday celebration, we fill ice-cream cones with painted ping-pong balls and embellished cotton toppings. Students roll newspapers and shape them in the form of presents, and everyone is asked to guess what could be inside these improvised sculptures.