In all of my years, I have never been one to go out on New Year's Eve. Even as a child, I stayed in and rang in the new year with my parents and sister. We'd play board games and watch movies. From time to time we hosted family and friends. It was always laid back and just a nice relaxing evening with those closest to us. Midnight would strike, the ball would drop, and one by one we would clink our glasses filled with the beverage of choice, then a kiss and a goodnight and the night was done.
I think back to those days and often wondered how my mom kept it cool and calm, because I find it pretty difficult some years letting my boys stay up. Some kids just don't take kindly to staying up late. And no matter how many times you tell them, that it's perfectly ok to go to bed, they refuse.
This year I am hoping to combat the grumpy pants in the group and keep everyone entertained all day and all night. I have a 5 year old who loves a party and party food. He's already asking everyday when the party is. So I came up with a little treat for the boys and the adults as well!
I took lunch bags and wrote times (1:00 PM to 11:00 PM) and cut off about 2 inches from the top. Inside the bag I placed a fun activity (I'll share a list here), folded it over, popped two holes in it to keep it closed, tied some yarn and ta da, a fun little time pack. I then hung them up on twine with clothes pins.
I'm really hoping this will work! And I am pretty excited about the things I have for us to do.
Activities you might want to add to your bags:
- Color a picture. I found this Happy New Year one and printed it out.
- Clean up your toys or clean the bathroom. A chore is a nice twist to get them to straighten up before guests start to arrive, or to just get some things looking better.
- Dance Party
- Play a board game
- A round of indoor hopscotch with masking or painter's tape
- Eat a cupcake
- Balloon Ping Pong
- Snowball toss
- T.P. Snowman race
- Make a sock puppet
- Put on a puppet show
- Create a noise maker
- Do 20 jumping jacks
- Do a Lego challenge
- Create your favorite food out of play dough
- Wish launch (place a wish or three in a helium balloon and let it set sail)
One of my envelopes has some minute to win it games that even kids can play.
- Defying Gravity - you must keep two balloons in the air for 60 seconds only using your mouth.
- Tissue Toss - Using both hands, empty an entire tissue box.
- Tweeze Me - using tweezers relocate 5 tic tacs from one bowl to another
- M&M Race - Using a straw transfer M&Ms from one plate to another
- This Blows - using a straw and a plastic cup blow till your cup falls off the opposite side of the table.
- Face the Cookie - place cookie on forehead and only using facial muscles you must try to get the cookie in your mouth. No hands!
- Unicorn - stack 7 ding dongs (we are using Oreos) on your forehead.
So there you have it. Some ideas and maybe a little inspiration. Many items can be picked up for this fun day at your local dollar store. Celebrating with your family this New Year's Eve is priceless! Have fun and stay safe.
Here's another idea for you. 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? Host a NOON Year's Eve Party complete with mimosas for the moms and a bubble stomp for the kiddos!
You can even theme the day to the city that you are celebrating. For example, you can serve "Big Apple Pie" while ringing in the New Year in New York City and play Broadway tunes throughout the evening. You can watch the ball drop live online at 9:00 pm.
Or celebrate as Big Ben strikes midnight (at 4:00 pm) 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!
