Activities for Families on New Years

New Year's is about celebrating a fresh start with those you love. Parties are often thrown on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Children may not be able to stay awake until midnight, but families can still get together and participate in a few New Year's activities. These activities can be done earlier in the evening on New Year's Eve or in the afternoon on New Year's Day.

Noisemakers

Give each family member a plastic soda bottle. If you don't have one, a plastic butter tub or something similar will do. Fill the bottles one-third of the way with corn kernels, rice, beans or fake beads. When you shake the bottle it will make a loud noise. It might be an interesting experiment to have each family member use a different product inside the soda bottle to compare the sounds each one makes. Now the family can decorate the outside of their noisemakers. Write "Happy New Year" on the bottle or wrap it with wrapping paper. Decorate it with glitter or tie several gold and silver ribbons to the end of it.

Family Time Capsule

Take out a shoebox to use as your time capsule. You can decorate the box, but make sure it has the year written on it. This is especially important if you create a time capsule each New Year's Eve. Have each family member contribute an item to the time capsule. It can be a school paper, photo from that year, list of accomplishments for the year, favorite toy or video of the family reminiscing about the year. Tape the box closed with the items inside it. Store until you are ready to take a trip down memory lane.

Party Poppers

Instruct each family member to fill a toilet paper roll with tiny prizes or pieces of candy. The toilet paper roll must then be wrapped with wrapping paper. The ends can be secured with ribbons. Each family member should then hide the party popper somewhere in the house or yard. When all the party poppers have been hidden, the hunt begins. Someone says "Go" and all the family members search for the party popper. Each family member must stop when they find a popper so that everyone ends up with one popper made by someone else. Open together after all of the party poppers have been found.

New Year's Tree Party

Gather all the family together and remove the decorations from the Christmas tree. Create new ornaments for the tree that represent New Year's Day, or the celebration of the New Year. For example, tie mini noise crackers or party poppers to the tree. Add gold and silver balls, and make some homemade ornaments that read "Happy New Year." Cut the year out of cardboard, decorate it with glue and glitter and use it as the tree topper.

References:
Family Fun: New Year's Fun and Games
Amazing Moms: New Years Eve Party for Kids