I confess… I don’t do a lot on New Year’s Eve. I’ve never had a big party or gone to a big gala event. New Year celebrating for me usually involves eating, watching movies, and turning on the TV about 5 minutes before the ball drops in New York City. The truth is, I barely make it to midnight, and now that I have a child it’s even worse! But when I started looking up fun New Year’s Eve ideas to do with my kids, I decided that this year we WILL be celebrating New Year’s Eve and 2013 will go out with a bang, pop, fizz, and a jingle!
Whether you’re keeping your kids up in a sugar-high delirium or putting them to bed at their normal times so you can have a little midnight kissing, there are ideas out there aplenty for a fun and fabulous New Year’s celebration for the whole family!
Here are just my top 5 favorite activities, but visit our Pinterest board for about 365 other great ideas!
#1. Dress Up All Day Long!
The gal at Magical Childhood has some fabulous ideas for making New Year’s Eve a celebration of life. One of my favorite ideas is to dress up all day. I never have an occasion to dress fancy and if I do, it only last a couple hours. But what fun for the whole family to dress to the nine’s for a full day of celebrating! You could possibly find fancy-ish dresses at a thrift shop. Your child could wear their favorite princess gown or superhero costume all day (although they might already do that). And whatever you do… make sure you leave the house like that at least once and wish every one you see a Happy New Year!
#2. Make a Time Capsule
Several sites suggest creating a time capsule filled with memories of the year. I love time capsules! I had one “buried” in my basement forever and would get it out often to reminisce. New Year’s Eve would be a great day to do one for your family! Fill it with memories of events from the year. Have your children write or color letters to themselves. Include an SD card or a thumbdrive with pictures from the year. Then choose a great place to “bury” it together! This post from Dollar Store Crafts has a great guide for how to create and hide a pretty elaborate time capsule that will be cherished for years to come!
#3. Crafts! Crafts! Crafts!
If you know me, you know I LOVE crafts! And what better time of year to whip out all of those noise-maker crafts than on New Year’s Eve. Blog world is full of fabulous ideas for creative, noisy fun that kids can create to help ring in the New Year. Even if they aren’t staying up all night, there’s no reason they can’t make noisemakers for the party that you are attending (or hosting) while they are snoozing away. Our Pinterest Board has just a few ideas to get you started using stuff you have around the house- rice, jingle bells, beans, balloons, plastic bottles, Pringles cans and BUBBLE WRAP!
#4. Countdown Activities!
If you are keeping your kids up until the big moment, I love the idea of hourly countdown activities! You can fill bags with a fun activity to do every hour until midnight. Write the time on balloons and pop one every hour. Or try one of these other great ideas from Mommy and Four Peas in a Pod! And what party is complete without amazing snacks? Have your kids help you make fun snacks that they get to eat throughout the night- like countdown pizzas, New Year’s Eve POP Corn, or sprinkle milk shots!
#5. Make it Count!
I’m a teacher by trade, so naturally any activity that can be sensory or educational is appealing to me. There’s no reason that a New Year’s Eve celebration can’t contain some secret learning fun! I mean, we’re counting down. We’re starting a New Year. We’re recalling memories and moments from the past year. Fill your day with clocks. Numbers. Writing activities. History lessons (even if it’s just a year of history). Adopt a time-zone and celebrate by getting to know a new country and culture. And for toddlers, there’s nothing more fun than adding a little sparkle to your playdough or fizz to your kool-aid! Best of all, they’ll never know they are learning right into the new year.
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So there you go! Five great ideas to help you ring in the New Year (and a Pinterest board with even MORE!). This year, perhaps even my New Year’s Eve will be eventful…
Ok… so maybe I did go to Times Square once, but I probably won’t do it again. Watching the ball drop on TV is much warmer, you have a better view, you can do all of these fun family activities, and you are allowed to go to the bathroom without losing your spot on the couch.
Wishing you a memorable New Year’s Eve and a fabulous 2014 from the Knoxville Moms Blog!
These are such great ideas Jenny! A great way to get the little ones involved!