15 New Year’s Eve Ideas for kids!

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… Happy New Year!  
These 15 New Year’s Eve ideas for kids will have you ringing in the new year with a smile on everyone’s faces!

Whether you keep your kids up until midnight or they go to bed at 7:00, these activities will keep them having a blast all night!  Have fun & have a happy New Year!  
Tip: If they go to bed early, you can still “watch the ball drop” on Netflix (they have a fake ball-drop for the new year so younger children can go to bed on time.) 

You can grab this New Year’s Eve Countdown Packet (where it’s all planned for you) right here.

Here are 15 Games for Families to do together on New Year’s Eve!

1-  A NEW ACTIVITY FOR EVERY HOUR LEADING UP TO THE NEW YEAR…  (print this hourly map!)

2. HAVE A FAMILY SCAVENGER HUNT  (print it here)

3. WRITE ABOUT YOUR “YEAR IN REVIEW” (print it here)

4. COUNT DOWN THE HOURS WITH BALLOONS FILLED WITH AN ACTIVITY 
Have a new activity ready to go, in each balloon, for every hour.  
A few examples: 6:00- bake cookies, 7:00- paint with shaving cream, 8:00- make a card for someone.
(If you don’t let your kids stay up until midnight, do these every 20 minutes and end at your normal bedtime)

5. TOAST THE NEW YEAR! 
You can make these Candy Cane shot glasses and fill them with this ‘Mocktail’.  Or you can buy sparkling water (flavored or not).

6. YUMMY FESTIVE SNACKS
Your kids will love these fun party foods on New Year’s Eve.  Make them saltine toffee (it is so easy!)

7.- MAKE RESOLUTIONS TOGETHER
It is time to talk about changing our lives for the better.   Did you know that one out of every three Americans makes a New Year’s Resolution, but only 8% keep them?!  Wow!  
Last year we made New Year’s Resolutions, and this year, on New Year’s Eve, we will make them again.  (You can print the New Years Resolutions sheet here)

8. HAVE A PHOTO BOOTH! 
It can be really fun to have a photo booth!  We just did this at our son’s Christmas party, and the kids loved it.  Have some fun photo booth props (just Google them), print them off & cut them out.  Attach them to a popsicle stick or straw.   (In our son’s class, we made a backdrop using a white sheet with a strand of Christmas lights hung up behind it.) 

9. CREATE A FAMILY TIME CAPSULE
Just grab a mason jar or small container and begin to fill it.  
Add a recent family picture, any movie ticket stubs, one special thing from each child (for our kids, this would be a rock, a drawing, or something similar), a current postage stamp, a current toy (maybe a happy meal toy), your business card and your husband’s business card, a hospital band, a mini-school picture, and a few other things.  Then – either bury it, stash it away to open it in a few years, or keep it on display in the house so everyone can see it all year round.

10.  FAMILY DANCE PARTY.
Kids love singing and dancing!   Find some fun songs on YouTube and have a fun dance party!

11. RECORD A VIDEO (SAVE A MEMORY)
Grab your phone or camera and ask your child a few things from this year in an interview-like style:
A few ideas:  What is their favorite friend, toy, food, TV show, or song?  Record them talking about, eating, singing, or sharing it!  Be sure to let them pick out their favorite outfit for the video, too, so you can show them their fashion choices when they look at this video in a few years. 🙂 

12.  HAVE A “BALL DROP” RACE
Watch the ball drop on TV and then head off to have your own ball-drop game with balloons.  
HOW TO PLAY:
Two people, each holding a balloon, stand up on a chair or couch or something similar and let your balloon drop to see whose balloon drops faster.  
Ps- Put things into the balloons before you blow them up.  Then you can turn your balloon drop into a science lesson (what drops faster- the balloon with a penny in it or the balloon with a piece of rice in it?)

13. SET UP A S’MORES BAR
The kids will love this, and it’s a fun snack before they go to bed.  We loved this s’mores bar. 
Or make “S’Mores Nachos” as we did here!

14 FIND YOUR NEW HOBBY!
This is such a fun little activity- everyone calls out the first word that you see & that is the hobby (or project) you should add to your new year!

15. MAKE YOUR OWN “FORTUNE TELLER” (Print it here)

Enjoy being together! 💕💕
Print out this 30-day calendar for a month of one-on-one time ideas.  This is a great way to start the new year!