What are your plans for New Year's Eve? And will you celebrate with your little ones? Here are a few ideas for a New Year's Eve celebration at home with the family.
Decorate a New Year Tree. Remove and put away all the Christmas ornaments from your tree. Replace them with shiny silvery balls, mardi gras beads, tinsel, party poppers, noisemakers, and New Year decorations from the party section of your local store.
Balloon Pop Countdown. Blow up six balloons and put a piece of paper with instructions inside each one. It can be something silly like "Do the Hokey Pokey" or "Eat four crackers and then try to whistle" to something meaningful like "Share a family hug" or "Share your favorite memory from last year." Pop one balloon six hours before you will celebrate the countdown (see the Celebrate Early section below), follow the instructions, and then set a timer to go off at the next hour. A similar option is to ring in the New Year one bag at a time.
Get Glitzy. New Year's Eve sparkles and shines. Deck out your house with things that glitter. Get the kids some fun, glitzy pajamas. Put revolving disco balls all around for moving lights and pass out beaded necklaces, party horns, confetti poppers, and hand clappers at the start of the night. Fill balloons with gold and silver confetti and pop them at midnight. Everyone will be in a festive mood when the clock strikes twelve.
Year-End Interviews. What was your favorite memory from last year? What is your favorite food? Who is our best friend? What is the best thing about school/work? The worst thing? What do you look forward to next year? Ask each member of your family a few questions about themselves, the past year, and their hopes and dreams for the coming year, and record it all on video for posterity. Ask similar questions every New Year's Eve and see how everyone changes over time.
Set New Year Plans. Talk about some things you want to accomplish in the New Year. These can be individual goals like trying a new sport or hobby (read our article: Goal-Setting at an Early Age and New Year's Goals for Kids) or family plans, like exercising together (refer to our Family Fitness tips) or planning a vacation. Or create a vision board together using pictures from magazines of places you want to visit, games you want to play, and activities you want to share.
Review the Year's Highlights. Talk about the experiences you've shared together and reminisce about the great memories made this year. An easy way to remember all that's happened is by looking through pictures from the year or by keeping a memory jar through the year documenting the year's highlights.
Celebrate Early. One of the toughest challenges of New Year's Eve with children is keeping them up way past their bedtime. So, why not celebrate early? You can even theme the day to the city that you are celebrating. For example, celebrate as Big Ben strikes midnight (at 7:00 PM EST) in London. Serve fish and chips on newspaper for dinner and a trifle or shortbread cookies for dessert. Whichever time zone you are celebrating, it will be just as exciting for your children as long as you ring in the New Year with style!
No matter what you do to celebrate, your children will be so happy to spend New Year's Eve with you, it will be memorable and fun! You can even continue celebrating by watching the Rose Parade on New Year's Morning, or spend the day eating chili and Hoppin' John or one of these kid-friendly New Year's Day dishes while watching all the Bowl games!
Best wishes to you and yours for a Happy New Year. Make it an extraordinary adventure filled with family fun!
