How to have a family friendly New Year's celebration
When you have kids, a traditional New Year’s celebration may be harder to throw. Babies need to sleep, toddlers get whiny, and tweens are sassier as the night wears on. And, let’s face it, Mom and Dad are having trouble making it past 10 pm these days.
Instead of abandoning the idea of a New Year’s party at your house, check out some of the fun things we have done here in our house to carry on the tradition of counting down and ringing in the new year.
Plan Games
We love to play games — especially board games. Miss Sassy Pants has recently found that she loves the game, Life. Sitting together as a family is not only a great way to chat and bond but to also teach good lessons about losing politely or taking turns. If you don’t like board games, you can always play a game of cards or charades. And if your family loves to draw, you can play your own version of Pictionary!
On Pinterest, there are really fun ideas about having activities to do as each hour passes. Check out this idea from Craftibilities for activities inside balloons.
Fun Foods
The best parties have the best food, right? What are your family’s favorites? We like to have popcorn and those little weenies in a crescent roll for treats. We plan our menu and take time during the day on New Year’s Eve to make our favorite treat foods for the “late night” celebration. As much as I aim to keep us eating as clean as possible, this is one day of the year that we just have fun.
Party Decor
You’re celebrating the new year, so you need to have decorations! Use streamers and balloons (easy enough to clean up!) to make the place a little more festive. You can find easy decorations at the dollar stores in your area. I’m not generally fond of having confetti all over my house (the baby thinks everything is edible), but confetti and New Year’s tend to go hand-in-hand. You can make your own confetti easily. Real Simple has a super easy DIY plan that would be fun for the kids, too.
Party Attire
Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you can’t dress up a little. If you were out at a New Year’s party that was adults-only, would you be wearing your yoga pants? (Ok, maybe if you were hanging out with my friends you would.) Go ahead and get gussied up. The kids will think it’s really fun to get all dressed up and attend their own fun party.
Miss Sassy Pants is especially fond of swirly, twirly skirts and anything with shiny embellishments. This year, I plan to wear my very fancy, ruffled flower shirt for the celebration.
Countdown!
If you’re like me, you aren’t going to let your kids stay up until midnight (I, for one, probably won’t be up until midnight either). For the past few years, we have used a really awesome website called Time and Date that includes a New Year countdown. You can choose a country who will usher in their new year at a time that coincides with a good time for your family. If you choose to have your festivities end at 9 pm, and you’re on the East Coast, why not celebrate with Rio de Janeiro in Brazil?
Celebrate!
When the hour strikes (whichever you’ve chosen), make sure to use your noisemakers or throw the confetti around. At our house, we toast the new year with sparkling cider in fancy glasses. Miss Sassy Pants always feels so grown up using the adult champagne flutes.
No matter what you choose to do in order to celebrate the new year, including your children in on the fun makes lots of great memories and traditions.
What sorts of fun activities do you and your family use to ring in the New Year?
