Are you looking for things to do on New Year’s Eve with kids this year? These are 15 fun activities the whole family will enjoy!
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New Year’s Eve as parents, looks a lot different than it did before children, but it doesn’t have to be any less fun. Wheater you decide to keep your kids up until midnight to watch the ball drop, or they go to bed at 7pm, these activities will have everyone entertained all night!
I’ve collected 15 ideas for celebrating New Year’s Eve with kids at home: countdowns, food, crafts, games, and more. Cheers, and Enjoy!
This post is all about the best things to do on New Year’s Eve with kids
Things To Do On New Year’s Eve With Kids
1. Family Scavenger Hunt
A Scaventure Hunt around the house is a great activity for younger children. I’ve created a scavenger hunt for my kids that are three and five this year, so feel free to download below and try it at home.
>> CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE PRINTABLE <<
2. Make Party Hats
Crafting is always a fun activity for my kids and party hats are like a must-have at any new years eve celebration.
I’ve found the pretties party hats and free printable with instructions on Paging Supermom.
3. Countdown with Balloons
A Balloon Countdown Pop is so much fun and really easy to set up. All you need is 12 Balloons, a marker, and some tape.
Blow up all 12 Balloons and tape them to a wall in a circle. Write the numbers 1-12 on each balloon so it looks like a clock. Start your countdown at noon so your kids can pop the last balloon at midnight.
If you have small kids like me who won’t make it until midnight, start popping them a couple of hours earlier.
4. Prepare Festive Snacks
If you’re ringing in the new year at home with your kids, these festive and fun treats will be a huge hit:
- Kid-Friendly Milk Shots Recipe
- Pizza in the shape of the new year
- Sparkling Jell-O Push Pops
- Set up a Chocolate fountain with different fruits, graham crackers, and marshmallows to dip in.
5. Make a Fancy Mocktail
Have special fancy drinks for the small ones, like sparkling grape juice. You can add Sprite to any juice and get a Sparkling Something, or try the ones below:
- Sparkling Cotton Candy Drink
- Gummy Bear Mocktail – Add Gummi Bears or different kinds of candy and Sparkling Juice into a plastic champagne flute, and voila a fancy Mocktail is made!
6. Have a dance party
Put a fun playlist together with your kids’ favorite songs, crank up the music, and have a dance party with the whole family.
7. Make a Video
Use your phone or camera and ask your child a few things from this year, in an interview-like style:
A few ideas: Who is their favorite friend or person, what’s their favorite toy, food, TV show, or thing to do. What was their favorite event/day/memory of this year?
8. Games
Playing games on New Year’s Eve is a must in my house. We play board games, such as HeadbanZ, Jenga, and card games like UNO. Here are some more of our family’s favorite games:
9. Puzzle Challenge
Set up different puzzles for each kid and make sure it’s age-appropriate. Then see who can finish it first. Ready, set, go!
If you don’t want it to be a competition, try making a puzzle together as a family.
10. Science Experiences
Science Experiences are always a fun activity for kids. If your city blasts off fireworks to ring in the new year, you might want to try this simple science activity to create a much quieter blast of color with these fireworks in a jar.
My Preschooler and Kindergartener love Slime! And I have to admit, I kind of like playing with it too lol. This year, we are making this gold and silver New year Slime.
11. Have a Photo Booth
Photo booths are a fun way to have pictures of New years eve. You can either buy some props or print them out and cut them out. We usually just use a table cloth as a backdrop and decorate it a bit. Our kids absolutely love posing and coming up with fun and silly photo ideas.
12. Set Family Goals
New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to sit down as a family and write down all the things you want to do together in the upcoming year. Write down the places you want to see, activities you want to do, and new things you want to try.
You can download my free printable family goals sheet below and fill it out as a family. You could also use a big piece of paper and have everyone add their goals.
When you are finished, hang it somewhere where the whole family can see it, and once you’ve completed one of the goals you can mark it off.
>> CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FREE PRINTABLE <<
13. Try a New Years Tradition from another country
There are so many different New Years’ traditions from around the globe that you can try. Just google and pick a favorite.
Since we are an American-German household, we’ll be making Marzipan pigs this New Year’s Eve and I found an English recipe here. In Germany pigs, four-leaved clovers, horseshoes, toadstool, and a chimney sweep are all signs of good luck and they are given out to friends and family. This will for sure be a fun activity with the kids and they can gift them afterward to their friends.
14. Look at pictures from the past year
Look through old photo albums, pictures, or videos of special events throughout the year.
15. Make confetti poppers to use at midnight
Confetti poppers are easy and quick to make and they make a great New Year’s Eve craft activity for kids. Get the how-to from Little Bins for Little Hands.
I hope this gave you fun ideas for your New Years’ Eve celebrations with children. Use these New Years’ Eve family activities to enjoy time as a family and reflect on the past year.
If you are looking for more Activities to do with your kids, check out the following Blog Posts:
{ Fun Indoor Activity for toddlers (and Preschoolers) that they’ll love }
{ Winter Sensory Bin – DIY Fake Snow }
This post was all about Family Activities for New Years Eve
