Looking for a New Year’s Party that ends before bedtime? We’ve got your invitation right here.
New Year’s Eve is an exciting day to celebrate with the countdown, looking forward to the year ahead with New Year’s resolutions, and looking at the year past with fond memories. Traditionally all the festive fun has been reserved for grown-ups. But we want little ones to get in on the good times, too! So here are our Super Simple tips to throwing a kid-friendly New Year’s Eve party… that’s all wrapped up well before midnight.
It’s Party (Hat) Time!
Party time means party hats! With our easy printable template, you can DIY your own party hats for the big night. Decorating them can be a fun activity at the party, or you can have them ready to go when your guests arrive.
What’s New Year’s Eve Without A Little Confetti?
This Confetti Popper craft is one of our favorites for any celebration, but it really is perfect for New Year’s Eve. It’s super simple to make with items you probably already have at home – cardboard tubes and balloons! Make them with your guests and pop them all together when the clock strikes “midnight!” Don’t forget to take the protective paper covering off before you pop so the confetti flies!
Snack Hacks
It’s the last night of the year, let’s make our food extra fun! We suggest taking anything you’d ordinarily serve at a party and dressing it up to become food art! For example, pretzels and grapes can become an edible tree with pretzels for branches and grapes for leaves! Fruits and vegetables can become beautiful scenes of butterflies and flowers. And sandwiches can be cut into animal shapes! Check out our Food Fun blog post for lots of inspiration!
We are also big fans of make-ahead meals and snacks. These easy Spinach Feta Phyllo Cups can be made ahead of time, and are a super yummy bite-size party food that kids and grown-ups will eat up!
New Year’s Eve only comes around once a year, so why not have some special only-once-a-year foods? Like…cookie dough! We took this favorite treat and turned it into a healthy (but still very exciting) treat that everyone can indulge in. It’s made with chickpeas instead of flour and eggs, but little ones may never even notice!
Need more party food inspiration? Bumble Nums to the rescue! The Bumble Nums have made many tasty recipes over the years, like their yummy mac and cheese wheels! You can recreate their recipe at home! They are hand-held too, so you can skip the cutlery which is always welcomed with a party crowd.
Family Games & Activities That Are New Year’s Eve Worthy
Everyone is having a great time at the party, eating their snacks with their party hats on and confetti poppers ready to go… it’s time for some party games!
Make your own snakes and ladders game ahead of time for your guests to play! Making the game yourself is a super fun option because you can move the ladders and snakes each time you play so the game board is always changing! It makes it more fun for little ones to play over and over again. And counting the numbers on the game board is great practice for the soon-to-be countdown!
Another fun game fit for the season is our Milk & Cookies Tic-Tac-Toe game. Print out the game board and cut out the pieces for a great two-player game the littlest of party goers can enjoy.
If you’ve got a crowd of high-energy party people, it might be time to turn up the music and get everybody dancing! Try some songs that have the movements in the lyrics so everyone can easily follow along. Songs like Follow Me, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes, Here We Go Looby Loo, and Walking Walking are perfect! Dance Freeze is another super fun game everyone can play. Play the song Red Light, Green Light to get everyone warmed up, then play any song you like and press pause when you want everyone to freeze, and press play to get everyone moving again!
Time To Make A Few New Year’s Resolutions
A time-honored tradition of ringing in the new year is making New Year’s resolutions. A resolution is a promise you can make with yourself for the new year, and it can be anything you like! For example, Caitie once made a resolution to do something nice for someone every day. You can draw and write your resolution on our My New Year’s Resolution printable! Be sure to place it somewhere where you’ll see it in the New Year so you don’t forget!
Family Reflection On The Year Past
Another great way to celebrate the New Year is looking back on the wonderful memories you made in the past year. You and your party guests can put together a time capsule with some favorite things and memories from the year! We have some tips for putting together a time capsule, as well as a printable you can use to write down your memories!
If you’re running short on time at your party, an easier way to reflect on the past year can be to watch the video for the song The Months Chant, and to talk together about your favorite moments from the months of the past year. Each month has some visual cues to remind little ones of what might have happened throughout the past year.
The Countdown Moment We’ve Been Waiting For…
Then finally, it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for… ringing in the New Year! But this party isn’t actually happening at midnight, so instead of watching the ball drop on television, it’s time to put on the episode, New Year’s Eve Countdown With Caitie & Tobee! In this episode, Caitie and Tobee countdown to the start of the New Year with all the excitement of the real thing, so your countdown to the new year with little ones can be anytime you like! Explain to the kiddos that once the countdown is over, it’s almost time for bed. Caitie and Tobee get pretty sleepy after the countdown in the episode, so it leads in nicely with the end of the party.
A Final Toast Before Bed
Once you’re counted down and popped your confetti poppers, the party will be winding down. Before everyone heads home and into bed, let’s have a final toast. We were inspired by The Bumble Nums yet again and plan to have a Gooshing Green Grape Juice toast to end off the party. Everyone can partake in this toast to the New Year, raising a glass to exciting things ahead and to a wonderful New Year’s Eve party the whole family enjoyed.
We hope you’ll feel inspired and confident to throw a wonderful New Year’s Eve party for your little ones with these fun ideas. This is one New Year’s Eve party everyone in the family can RSVP to! Happy New Year to you and yours!
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