Alternative to birthday candles for a 4 year old?

[ringydinghy]

Hi all. DS has his 4th birthday coming up in the next two weeks and we will be having a small celebration at home. We have ideas for his presents, special party games to play at home but I'm in a little dilemma when it comes to cake. Since the COVID pandemic, we have decided as a family to stop blowing out candles on birthday cakes, as I'm sure many other families have as well. The idea of dripping wax and spitting on a cake to be shared has always made me feel a bit uncomfortable. So we threw out all the birthday candles in the house. But I am now unsure what to do now when it comes to the cake and singing happy birthday part.

I have seen people suggest putting the candles on a cupcake, or on the birthday boy/girl's slice of cake, but I'd rather just do away with the candles thing altogether and let DS see his big special cake while we sing to him.

I was thinking sparklers but I was unsure whether they'd scare DS..and besides I think giving him a little special something to do after the happy birthday song would be nice (if he was older we'd let him cut his own cake). Any other suggestions? Or should we just sing happy birthday and go straight to cake cutting and eating

And let him help you cut the cake!

I stopped with birthday candles years ago after watching a friends child spit alll over the cake. We buy those ice fountains, like mini fireworks to go into the cake. They go out all by themselves and are more fun for kids to watch than a few candles.

We just had a single candle on the cake. Whipped it out after everyone had sung happy birthday and she blew it out facing away from the cake. Job done.
Though singing is probably bad too, thinking about it.
Happy birthday to your DS!

Sorry OP it would never have occurred to me to take the candles off a child’s birthday cake.

And I can’t see it changing in the future - maybe for fire safety reasons but not hygiene reasons. Once you’ve had 20 kids at a party together a bit of breathed on cake is a drop in the ocean of germ sharing.

@minipie I was beginning to think I was the only one. I just can’t see birthday candles on a kids cake becoming a thing of the last because of covid.

I bought a Grimm’s celebration ‘thing’ and all the numbers.

Annoyingly they seem to have changed the style so I have some old and some new, but it seems to work well. We balanced it on top of a flat cake last week, and just removed it for the blow out.

@BestZebbie

In Germany people don’t have their candles on the cake itself, they have a wooden “birthday ring” which either goes around the cake or on the table as a decoration. You can buy them on,one, there are a range of designs from classy natural wood ones to bright coloured rings that come in quarter circle sections so you can add to them as the child grows and have wooden charms and numbers etc to fill up the blank holes while you are waiting.

My numbers must be one of those! Grimm’s is (are?) a German company.

My little boy turns 4 in April. I suspect it'll just be us on his birthday so he can blow candles out to his heart's content. In the past when we've done parties we've made cupcakes for the party bags and taken the cake I made home (cupcakes a similar design to birthday cake- usually just sprinkles on both or something equally easy).

Found another photo. I lent them to FIL last week!

Cling film the cake. Then unwrap and throw it away and enjoy the cake.

He’s your child?! Pretty sure any ‘germs’ will be passed despite avoiding candles. What a depressing idea.

let the poor boy blow out his candle.

I don't think this will be something people stop doing in their own household in the future. Maybe, just maybe people will be slightly reluctant to eat a piece of cake if a random 4 year old blows them out at a party; but in your own house, with your own kids? Why would people stop that?

Children get very excited at birthday parties, shouting, singing, laughing. There's spit everywhere.

Perhaps we should have silent ones, will this be the "modern way" too

A variety of cupcakes and candle for birthday cupcake. Sorted.

Here's a bit of MN-informed advice for you:

Put him behind a perspex screen, give him a slice and throw the cake away. You don't need cake anyway - carbs are disgusting and you shouldn't eat them. Unless you're a fat heifer of course and I'm sure you aren't because you'd probably already be dead from covid.

tbh children are germ magnets. I've wrapped mine in clingfilm

@Clymene

If you're going to sing you may as well use candles!

You could always have cupcakes instead of a big cake and he could blow out a candle from the one cupcake.

@BestZebbie that is a brilliant idea, never heard of it before and just found this fab example www.myriadonline.co.uk/product/grimms-12-hole-birthday-celebration-ring-natural/

Use a candle but provide a pair of bellows to generate the puff?

Or a fire extinguisher?

My birthday was last march and I blew out some candles on cake at work. It was very thoughtful of them but at the time it felt very wrong! Luckily there were no cases as a result bit I think it's a bit minging now.

Now. I’ve. Heard. Everything.

Who is coming to this birthday party, OP? You’ve not answered that.

If it’s just you and the people you live with, this shouldn’t be an issue as presumably you’re generally covered in four year old bodily effluents most of the time (I know I am).

We went to a small party when limited gatherings were still allowed and the candles on the cake were extinguished by the birthday child using a little hand crank fan. It was really fun, the kids all thought it was cool. I personally think as a PP said that if small kids are in a room together they’ll already be making a soup of their germs in the vicinity so a bit of breathed on cake is neither here nor there, but for the concerned this would maybe be a solution?

Is this a thing? We’re not supposed to blow out birthday candles now even with our own family?

Make a present playdoh cake and out the candles in that? Get those sparkler things that just burn out?

Jesus Christ. You are crazy. Do you not hug or kiss your 4 year old? Do you seriously think that you're not going to pass on covid any other way than this?