This Half Birthday Calculator Will Help You Have Twice The Birthday Fun

One look at Pinterest is all it takes to see there’s a new birthday craze on the rise. More and more parents are choosing to celebrate not only their child’s official birthday but their half-birthday as well. Now, no one is going to argue over having more happy celebrations to look forward to (you definitely won’t hear a complaint out of us). Still, since half-birthdays involve math, they’re already more complicated than your average b-day blast. But don’t worry, a half-birthday calculator is all you need to start planning a whimsical party to mark the halfway point to you, your child, or even your parent’s next birthday.

While it may sound a bit excessive to throw two birthday parties for one person each year, there are actually quite a few reasons why you might want to consider taking part in this party trend. For parents, celebrating their child’s half-birthday can be a way to mark milestones between their big days or make holiday babies feel special. Let’s face it — kids born in November or December get a raw deal when it comes time to celebrate their big day.

If your child’s birthday is constantly overshadowed by holiday festivities, celebrating their half-birthday is a great way to put the spotlight firmly back on them. Additionally, if you have a summer baby, they may yearn to have a party at school with their friends like the other kids in their class. Planning a celebration centered on their half-turn around the sun is a fun and inventive excuse to bring cupcakes for the whole class.

Half-birthdays aren’t just for kids, though. If you or your party-loving best friend are looking for a reason to toast each other, a half-birthday party is as good of an excuse as any. But even more importantly, these half-year celebrations are also a great way to honor grandparents and shower them with love throughout the year.

If you’re ready to pop on your party hat and bake half a cake, read on to find out how to calculate your half-birthday, as well as ideas on how to commemorate the mid-year milestone in style.

How do you calculate your half-birthday?

There’s just no way around it: You have to do a bit of math to calculate your official half-birthday. Now there are a couple of ways to do this. The easiest way? Adding six months to the date of your birthday. So, if you happen to be a New Year’s baby, your half-birthday could be celebrated on July 1. However, this method is imprecise because it doesn’t take into account that some months have 31 days while others have 30 — and it also doesn’t address leap years, which bring their own set of problems.

If you want to find the precise date, the best method is to add the number of days in half a year, 182.5, to your birthdate. Adding that number to your birthday will give you your official half birthday date. Dealing with a leap year? Then just add 183 instead. Generally speaking, unless your birthday falls on the 31st of the month or on February 29, your half-birthday will almost always be celebrated in the month listed on the chart below.

Half-Birthdays Month By Month:

• January — July
• February — August
• March — September
• April — October
• May — November
• June — December
• July — January
• August — February
• September — March
• October — April
• November — May
• December — June

Will a leap year change the date of your half-birthday?

Every four years, leap years come around to temporarily confuse all of us, and they can affect your half birthday, too. Since a leap year adds an extra day to the year overall, it throws everything off a bit in terms of calculations. Thankfully, it’s not too hard to adjust your math to accommodate a leap year — just add 183 days to your birthdate to come up with your leap year half-birthday. And hey, if the math is boggling your mind too much, there are plenty of half-birthday calculators out there that’ll figure out the date for you.

How should you celebrate your half-birthday?

The best part of celebrating a half-birthday is that there are no rules. Unlike a traditional birthday, there’s no pressure to rent bounce houses and ball pits or invite over every kid your child has ever met. The whole point of a half-birthday is to make things fun and memorable. The day shouldn’t be about presents (especially if you’re inviting guests who already give your child presents on their actual birthday) or over-the-top parties. Instead, try making things whimsical. Here are a few ideas to get you started, but Pinterest is definitely your friend when it comes to half birthday party preparations:

• Decorate a cake to make it look like it’s only half of a cake.
• Make party bags full of half cookies. Take things a step further and break out the Oreos or any circular cookie. Dip half of it in fudge or melting chocolate. Then add some more razzle-dazzle with sprinkles.
• Celebrate by having breakfast for dinner or dessert for breakfast.
• Have a movie night party for a small group of friends.
• Order half-birthday party supplies online (or make your own!).
• Make a list of all the wonderful things your child has done or learned throughout the year so far.
• Let your child stay up half an hour past their bedtime.
• Serve the kids half of burgers, hot dogs, empanadas, and any other party bites you can think of.
• During the half birthday party, watch half of a movie. (If the kids begin to revolt, let them finish it after cake.)

Celebrating a half-birthday shouldn’t be stressful or as intense as a regular birthday. The goal is to have fun and celebrate your child, parent, grandparent, or even yourself with something a little bit out of the ordinary. So, keep things light and silly, and you can’t go wrong.

Half-Birthday Game Ideas

Half-birthday parties can be just as exciting as ordinary ones! Here are a few games you can put on the agenda to keep your party guests entertained.

• Allow your child to open a present every half hour of their half-birthday. Set a goofy timer that lets the kids know when to rush to the present table! The children will enjoy the back and forth.
• Make all the kids with long hair take their hair down. The first one to put their hair in a half-up hair-down hairstyle wins.
• Lay out child-sized paper people and cut each figure in half. It could be from the waist or sliced down the middle. After all the children have drawn on their part of their paper person, they must find another half they think goes best with their own. Encourage them to make goofy combinations. There are no right or wrong matches.