It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That may be a Christmas song, but it is true for New Year’s Eve and New Year too. This blog post talks about ways to make this holiday season with your kids extra special.
Keep the mood festive and fun by planning a countdown for New Year’s Eve. You can buy or make party hats, noisemakers like horns, and noisemakers that pop confetti, streamers, and more to celebrate the arrival of each new year. If you’re hosting, make sure to have enough champagne and sparkling cider for each guest (even the kids) as well as a few snacks.
If you have adults in your life who would love to ring in the new year with their kids, consider hosting a New Year’s Eve party with carnival games. You can send out invitations or just talk about it at an existing family get-together. The sky is the limit on what kind of themed parties you want!
Have everyone dress up for a costume party, or put on some disco music and twinkle lights to set the atmosphere at your house. You can even have everyone bring their favorite board games so you don’t need an entertainment budget!
Spend the day before New Year’s Eve outside, packing snow into different shapes to make your very own fireworks display. You can even have kids build an ice castle or pyramid for them to break apart when they are done!
It will feel like you’re in a dream if it snows on this night! If not, just bundle up and have a snowball fight!
Instead of buying fireworks, go outside with your kids and light sparklers on the ground. You can make designs or just have everyone write their names.
Then, when the clock strikes midnight and the fireworks go off all over your city, you’ll feel like a celebrity!
Have everyone at the party write down a New Year’s resolution. It can be as simple as “I resolve to take better care of my stuffed animals” or “I resolve not to eat so many desserts.” You can have each person read their resolutions out loud or share them with just those around you, depending on what is most comfortable for your guests.
Then, after the clock strikes midnight and you’re all toasting with champagne (or sparkling cider) everyone can see how many resolutions were kept!
Bake some goodies to give as New Year’s gifts. If you’re feeling ambitious, make baked goods that match the theme of your party!
For instance, if you’re having a disco dance party, bake cupcakes with pink or blue frosting and decorate them like records or tiaras. Or cut out sugar cookie dough into different shapes and bake them before your guests arrive. You can even decorate gingerbread men with icing to match the theme of your party!
This is a great activity for kids, but it’s also a cheap way to give out New Year’s gifts that you made yourself.
Little kids will love decorating their New Year’s gift bags. You can make them yourself or buy some small paper ones to use instead (just be sure to get enough for everyone at your party!)
You can either give each child an envelope with one of the treats inside, like a chocolate kiss or toy ring, or you could even let them create their own!
They can help you cut out the bags and decorate them with glitter, stickers, markers, or even dress up like a superhero while they work. Then, let each child fill it with candy and small toys before handing it over to someone else at your party.
You and your little ones can set up a scavenger hunt that ends with each person finding their own special New Year’s surprise. To make the game even more fun, you’ll want to go somewhere that is open on January first (if it isn’t already closed for the holiday). A dollar store or toy shop will work perfectly here!
Each child can find a small trinket to bring home with them, like a new toy or game. This is especially fun if you go out in the morning instead of at night when everyone might be tired!
If your family lives nearby, this will also give you an excuse to visit extended relatives that live nearby and may not have seen the kids in a while!
You can also put together your scavenger hunt list. For example, if you are celebrating near Times Square or another big New Year’s Eve party spot, have each kid pick out an interesting-looking stranger to take a picture with at midnight. Then ask them to bring back some sort of token from that person, like a piece of fabric or hat. This will make the game more personalized and give each child something to remember their New Year’s Eve by!
One of the best parts about New Year’s is that it brings people together to celebrate, laugh and make memories. This can be a perfect time for your photo booth!
You can set up a simple background with streamers or balloons, get some fun props like hats and sunglasses and let each kid take home their favorite picture from the night afterward.
The pictures you print out don’t have to just stay at home either: you can also use them in scrapbooks or on social media after the holiday has ended! It will give everyone something new to look back on when they need cheering up later this year. A great place to do this would be your local dollar store so you won’t break the bank buying all these supplies.
Just because New Year’s is a party holiday doesn’t mean it can’t also be a time for physical fitness!
You and your kids can set up an obstacle course in the backyard or living room with balloons, chairs, and other things you have lying around. You could even go outside if there’s snow on the ground to make it that much more festive!
This activity will get everyone laughing while they burn off some of those extra calories from all the treats they’ve been enjoying lately. Plus, this will give them another memory from their big night out at midnight! Or maybe something to talk about over dinner when they’re back home again. Consider adding prizes like candy or small toys as incentives for completing challenges first (or faster than others).
11. Watch movies about New Years’ celebrations from around the world together as a family
You can watch movies from just about any country showing their New Year’s traditions.
This will give everyone a chance to learn something new as well as enjoy some great entertainment, all at the same time! You could even turn this into a family project and have each person pick out one movie to research before you settle in on your comfy couch for a night of watching television together.
12. Create a bucket list
Make a list of things you’d like to accomplish during the next year before the year is out.
This might be anything from going on a family vacation or seeing real-life dolphins in person for your daughter’s dream trip to Disney World with her best friend! Maybe it will just be something smaller that each member of your family can work towards together, such as running fifty miles this summer or reading five new books every month. Either way, making these plans now will give everyone something concrete to look forward to when they get discouraged later in life (or during those busy school years).
Let them know that even if everything doesn’t go according to plan there are still plenty of fun memories ahead!
What better way to celebrate the New Year than with your kids! Here are some great activities you can do together. We hope these help make this year a little more memorable and fun for both of you! Worry no more! You have to check out this helpful idea we got for you because we care for you. Happy Celebrating!