Easy New Year's Eve Celebration Ideas for Teens

"What can I do for New Year's Eve?" is usually the chorus you will hear from teenagers. They want to celebrate New Year's Eve like everyone else, but obviously cannot go out all hours of the night amongst the holiday crowds and drunk drivers. Here are three ideas to help teens ring in the new year.

A Party At Home

This is the most obvious idea for teenagers who want to have a New Year's Eve get together. First, clear it with their parents, then allow your teenager to invite some of their friends over. Let them bring noise-makers and have non-alcoholic party drinks. Let them turn up the music louder than you would normally allow. If their parents are comfortable, you could even have a sleep-over so no one would have to drive home at a late hour.

Midnight Bowling

Many bowling alleys have midnight bowling. Some even have black light bowling, where the lights are turned low, a DJ plays music, and the pins and bowling balls glow. There is food, drink, and other people to hang out with. This may be a great option for teenagers on New Year's Eve. They would be able to have their December 31st fun, yet parents will feel comfortable knowing they aren't in an environment that may be too wild.

Church Youth Group Get-together

If you belong to a church, Temple, or other community group, why not organize a New Year's Eve get-together or dance for all the teenagers? You can have it in the group's meeting space, go all out with decorations, music, and have everyone's family bring a dish for food. Parents can hang out in another part of the building to let the teenagers think they are having their very own fun New Year's Eve celebration. This way parents are close at hand, but teens have a little bit of Independence they crave.

Whatever you decide on doing to help your teenager celebrate New Year's Eve, part of the fun is recreating the fun they believe everyone else is having that they are not yet old enough to participate in on New Year's Eve. That means incorporating fun music, decorations, fancy (non-alcoholic) drinks, friends and of course, staying up late to see the ball drop in Times Square. Whatever your teen decides to do to ring in the New Year in style, make sure they do it safely. Happy New Year!