family Preparation
- Make homemade party hats.
- Grab a bunch of glow sticks. You can buy kits with necklaces, bracelets, etc.
- Decorate with christmas lights and lots go shiny decorations.
Party Food Ideas
- Taco Dip
- Slow Cooker Meatballs
- Fruit Salsa
- 3 Ingredient Pizza Rolls
- M&M Chocolate Pretzel Twists
- Check out these amazing New Years Cupcakes.
Kids Mocktails and Fun Drinks
- If you can, use those plastic flutes. Kids LOVE those cups. Everything is better in those!
- Make multi-colored ice cubes using juices. Example: Make orange cubes out of orange juice or red out of cranberry juice. Then serve them inside cups of sprite.
- You can also use sparkling juice or sprite to make mocktails with gummy bears or rock candy pops. The rock candy pops look so cool. Check them out HERE.
games and Activities
- Create a photo booth. Use a sheet as a background and use hats, sunglasses and dress-ups as props.
- Have a family movie night. Here are some great movie ideas.
- Play a family version of “Minute to Win It.” Ideas can be found HERE.
- New Years Bingo. Find Free printables HERE.
- Print these New Years Resolution pages. These make a great keepsake for years to come.
- Make homemade noise makers.
Fun Countdown Activities
- Write a time on the balloon and pop one to countdown each hour or half an hour. For small kids you can set a timer they can hear. You can also set the time for every 15 minutes if you want an earlier night (they can't tell time so they won't know!).
- Paper treat bags marked down for every hour. Include small actives, toys, and treats. This is great for toddlers and preschoolers. Find ideas HERE.
- Along the same lines, you can make a paper activity chain HERE.
Ball “Drop” Ideas
- Make your own countdown “Ball Drop” with a paper plate, paper, and some colorful stickers. It looks pretty cool. Find this idea HERE.
- At 8 or 9pm (whatever time you choose), find a New Years Celebration in another time zone during that time and air it Live or record it for the kids to watch. Example: If you live on the east coast, try Paris. If you live on the west coast, show them the NYC ball drop.
- Make a balloon net with crepe paper and collapse the net when the clock strikes “twelve.”
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Naomi Erlich says
Great post! I love the mocktails. I think kids really enjoy it. Thanks for sharing!