New Year's Eve with Kids

New Year’s Eve is an exciting time for everyone – the end of the old year and the start of the new is always a cause for celebration. However, if you have young children at home, it can be a challenge to find activities to do when a champagne toast at midnight isn’t an option. There are plenty of options to make New Year’s Eve fun even with young children – here are just a few ideas to help get you started:

1.     Make your own balloon drop: This is an easy and fun way to celebrate New Year’s Eve – create your own “ball drop” right in your living room. Get a drawstring garbage bag, fill it up with pretty balloons and hang it upside down. W

hen the clock strikes midnight (or earlier if you have REALLY young children) pull the draw string and let the balloons drop.

2.     Old movies: Pop some popcorn and cuddle up on the couch with your favorite movies from the past year.

3.     Have your own dance party: Dress up in your Sunday best, decorate the living room and dance the night – and the year – away in style!

4.     Make a time capsule: Pick some of your favorite things from the past year – photos, movies, books, toys – anything that reminds you of something fun or special – and put it in a container. Tuck them away some place where you’ll remember where they are and open them next New Year’s Eve.

5.     Bake a cake: The Greeks have a tradition of baking a “good luck cake” by putting lucky coin or other trinket right into the cake mix to bake it. The person who gets the lucky coin in their piece of cake is said to have good luck the next year.

6.     Celebrate midnight in another country: This is an especially good idea if you have younger children who won’t make it to midnight in your area. For example, if you’re on the east coast, you can celebrate at 6:00 pm  - it’s midnight in Paris.

So there you have it  - a few ideas of celebrating this fun holiday with young children. Use these ideas for your family’s celebration or come up with your own!