A Family-Friendly New Year's Eve
Instead of braving the cold weather and crowds on the 31st, and paying a sitter a premium rate to spend the evening with your kids, why not host a family-friendly New Year’s Eve party for the ones you love the most! These simple suggestions practically guarantee your New Year’s Eve turns into a fantastically fun, family-friendly event of the year.
Let’s Get This Party Started
While the guests arrive have a space in the center of the room cleared for a dance party. Play up-tempo, danceable G-rated songs and encourage guests to take a turn showing their moves. Create a dance contest and give out silly awards.
Photo-ops
A fun activity for kids and adults alike is a photo booth. Set up a corner of the room with a colorful plastic shower curtain tacked up to the wall (maybe have the kids decorate it with washable paint!) and use these adorable photo props to get some fun photo-ops.
Toast the New Year
It’s tradition to begin the new year with a toast. The kids don’t need to miss out on the fun! Let them toast to the new year with one these great kid-friendly mocktails. Serve in plastic champagne flutes or wine glasses so the kids feel fancy.
Party Provisions
Serve kid-friendly food like mini-pizzas, (you could even have a make your own pizza station), cheese and crackers, mini-corn dogs, sliders, chili, chips, pretzels, and make sure you keep everything well stocked. Everyone tends to eat more at a party!
Entertainment for Everyone
Set up a craft station for guests to make noisemakers. Provide recycled water bottles and add dry beans, rice, or small jingle bells inside, seal the lid with tape and then have ribbons, colorful duct tape, construction paper, or even recycled magazines available to decorate the outside. Don’t forget the safety scissors and non-toxic glue.
A game station is a great way to keep kids of all ages entertained before midnight. Set up a table with board games, electronic games, card games, and puzzles. Make sure you have assorted age-appropriate games so no one feels left out.
Pick up a ball-shaped piñata (or create one and let the kids decorate it) and drop the ball at “midnight” for the kids to smack open. Don’t forget treat bags for everyone to store their goodies.
The Final Countdown
A great way for your children to be a part of the celebration without staying up until midnight is to hold a mock countdown. Simply play a countdown video from YouTube earlier in the evening or choose a live broadcast in an earlier time zone. Give your kids party hats, confetti, and noisemakers to celebrate the “New Year” and then send them off to bed.
Whether you just want to host family members and a few close friends or invite the whole neighborhood to your party, these family-friendly suggestions will make this New Year’s Eve celebration a party your kids will never forget.
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