5 New Year’s Eve Party Activities for Kids

Quite honestly, New Year’s Eve is not all that kid friendly. The ringing in of the New Year happens way too late for many children—and grown up festivities, champagne, and fancy appetizers are generally not suitable for many kids either. Whether you are hosting a New Year’s Eve party including children or are simply entertaining your own kids as your family rings in the New Year, there are a few New Year’s Eve activities that are both family friendly and fun.

Create a New Year's Eve time capsule with the kids. While the kids may not understand the “coolness” factor of creating a time capsule now—they will love opening it years down the road. Make it fun! Allow the kids to decorate an old coffee can or a box and contribute something to his or her future self. Include, perhaps, a letter detailing all of a child’s favorite things, or a favorite photo, a memento or a handmade craft. Make sure that the grown ups participate too—it’s just as fun for mom and dad to see how much they’ve “grown” over time as well! While burying the time capsule is pretty cool--storing it away in a deep, dark corner of the attic or basement until a pre-determined date works well also--especially if you may be moving or simply do not have a burial-grade storage container!  We’ll be making a 2018 New Year’s time capsule this year at A Mama’s Corner of the World—so we’ll be sure to post a few pictures.

Arts and crafts are always fun. There are so many fun ways that little can craft something for the New Year. We love water bottle noisemakers (they are potentially a lot less messy than paper plate or paper cup noisemakers).  We have also been known to make party hats, New Year’s crowns or murals created from long overlapping strips of white art paper and art supplies.  Be creative!

Turn food into fun. Kid friendly food is a must for a New Year’s Eve Party for kids. Finger foods and bite sized appetizers are perfect for kids and should be planned into the menu. As an activity, however, consider setting up a sugar cookie decorating station or a make your-own-mini pizza or quesadilla stations and you accomplish two party planning tasks in one—you feed the picky partiers on your guest list and you entertain them--if you can brave the mess!

 New Year’s Eve party games for kids. Don’t go overboard in themed, over-the-top New Year’s Eve party games for the children—they may not even play them! Bring out a variety of board games and age appropriate toys, a Wii game system, or even a karaoke machine--and let the kids be kids. If you are determined to create New Year’s themed games, try a Bubble Wrap Stomp, a themed treasure hunt or some of the other New Year's Eve party game ideas from Family Fun magazine.

Set up a late night movie screening room. As the evening winds down, offer the kids a place to zone out and watch a movie (or two). Decorate the room, encourage guests (or parents) to bring along some sleeping bags and pillows—or a SnuggieTails Blankets and a Pillow Pet —and show a pre-selected G rated movie (or stronger depending on the crowd.) This lets the kids feel involved in the party—even if they know they are ready for bed! This “zone out” space often really helps reduce the late-night little one meltdowns!

Two of the three A Mama’s Corner of the World girls have New Year’s Eve plans this year—so we’ll be entertaining only one little one this year after 6 p.m.! Luckily she loves to try new foods and is still willing to hang out with the parents!