Fun Ways of Celebrating New Year's Eve with Children

Do you have young kids and want to celebrate New Year's Eve in a manner that can be enjoyed by everyone? I have a host of ideas to help you plan the celebration with activities, food and favors. The first part of the plan is to invite a few other families with you children as well. I have a 5 year old daughter and a 10 year old son, so I start by having each of them select one friend that they would like to invite. It is basically a play date with New Year's Eve the theme. I extend the invitation to the parents and any siblings as well; this is a great way to get to know your children's friends and their families.

Activities - Each person writes a New Year's resolution on a small piece of paper, the paper is then rolled up into a little cylinder and stuck into a balloon and then blown and used as decorations. As the countdown begins, everyone takes a balloon and sits on it to pop it and release the resolution. A few minutes are used to read the resolutions out loud. Load up your MP3 player with fun music and have everyone enjoy a few dances before the clock turns 12. Face painting is always fun and easy, children love it!! Theme the New Year's celebration as a pajama party so parents may simplify the process of bringing children home and getting them into bed.

Favors - Use your digital camera to take pictures of each family, and friend shots, print them out and place them in simple inexpensive picture frames. This is a great way to enjoy the memory for years to come. For added fun, have everyone where their hats and hold their noise makers. Send each child home with a goodie bag that they may enjoy, items to include may be a journal for the following year, a time capsule that they may use to fill with their most prided possessions.

Food Ideas - Mini finger sandwiches arranged on a platter, fruit trays with a chocolate fondue pot, make mini pizza bagels, have apple juice or sparkling cider in fluted glasses for the children and some champagne for the adults. Create a dessert bar with ice cream and toppings which can include, cookie or brownie pieces, candies, sprinkles and whip cream. A tip is to make sure children or parents do not have specific food allergies. Feel free to have each child bring a snack they would like to share.

New Year's Eve can be hard to celebrate when you have young children, but I believe that it is best enjoyed as a family holiday, kids get very excited when they get involved with all aspects of planning a party.

Cheers!!