Despite most New Year’s celebrations revolving around drinking, there are many activities and ways to celebrate with your children. And no matter your child’s age, there’s always going to be something fun and entertaining to do while you countdown to midnight!
Costume Party
Whether you are holding a party at your house or just spending the time with family, you can throw a party without having to go crazy. Having a costume party works for children of any age as well, especially if you have teens and younger children. You can have a Roaring 20s theme, or a fancy dress party. Or you can make it any kind of theme that your children may already have in mind, from animals to robots to suits and ties!
Dance Party
Of course, this can be tied into a costume party as well, but if there’s no costumes involved, that doesn’t mean you can’t also dance the night away! You can do karaoke or just have a play list on in the background, and make sure you boogie down often. Your kids can even help you create the play list and pick certain songs they love.
Games
What better New Year’s activity than a game night? The games can totally be up to you and what age-appropriate ones you have on hand for your kids. But a fun, quick game that can be for any age is the 5 Second Game. All you need is a timer and some paper and a pen for keeping track of points (if you want to keep score!). Assign one person as the time-keeper, and they will ask everyone to name three things in one subject, such as name 3 fruits. Everybody has 5 seconds to answer, and if they get it correct, they get one point. It’s a fast game that lots of people can play, and can easily begin and stop multiple times throughout the night while you gather snacks, dance, and watch the ball drop!
You can also have a trivia night that’s completely related to New Years. You can ask questions about fun facts around the New Year, or even some true or false questions related to resolutions that didn’t work out well for people. This game could be played all at once or you can also play the game off and on throughout the night.
Food & Drinks
You can also make some great hors d’oeuvres together with your children. They can help pick the recipes and what they feel like, and you can all work in the kitchen to prep everything. Drink wise, you can make mixed drinks typical of New Year’s but without the alcohol. Your whole family can eat, drink, and celebrate the New Year in style!
Katie Kyzivat