Activities to Celebrate the New Year’s Eve With Kids

How is it that the New Year is almost here? If it snuck up on you too, you may be looking for New Year’s Eve activities do to with the kids. The New Year is not just a time for adults to celebrate! There are plenty of family-friendly activities that kids can participate in. Since this might be the last hoorah before heading back to school after a fun winter break, make it meaningful!

Try these ideas to get your kiddos talking about the New Year!

Time Machine

What were you doing on New Year’s Eve 5 years ago? Tell stories to your child about when they were younger or even about New Year’s traditions you had as a kid. Then flash forward! Jump ahead 10 years and let your child imagine where they will be and what they will be doing. What about in 20 years? This is a great opportunity to let your child use their imagination and dream big.

Explain what a tradition is using some examples from your family and ask your child what some of their favorites are! Find out their favorites and the ones they hope to continue forever. Use this as an opportunity to work on communication skills in describing what they like about certain traditions and listening to what other family members like.

Memory Jar

Start a memory jar with your family. Starting at the New Year, begin recording big moments, funny stories, accomplishments, and other special memories. As they happen throughout the year, write them down on a slip of paper with your child and put them into the memory jar. Then on New Year’s Eve, you can read all of them together as a family and look back at a year’s worth of memories.

Brainstorm for the Following Year

Help your child brainstorm their goals and things they hope to do in the coming year. Then pick the top twelve fun treats or outings that your and child thought of, one to do each month. These can be rainy/snowy day activities or just a special treat. Don’t forget to pick out some gross motor activities to keep moving when you’re stuck inside because of the weather! Since your child helped participate in picking the activities, they will always be excited about picking one out for the special day.

New Year’s Around the World

Talk about what your child associates with New Years Eve. Maybe fireworks? Confetti? The ball dropping in Times Square? These are all things they might think about. Talk about some traditions in cultures different from your own and how for some people the New Year is celebrated at a different time than you. After learning about different traditions, like how in Spain quickly eating twelve grapes at midnight is meant to bring good luck, you could pick a new custom is incorporate into your New Year’s Eve celebration each year.

No matter how you celebrate with your kids on New Year’s Eve there are always memories to look back on and exciting things to look forward to in the next year.