Ideas for a Kid-Friendly New Year's Eve Party

If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's that kids should not be excluded from New Year's fun. A lot of people get caught up in the glamour or the drinking (or both) aspects of this holiday and forget that it's supposed to be about new beginnings and being with the people you love. My parents live in a tiny neighborhood, and each year, the neighbors on their street (families with kids of all ages) get together and have a huge New Year's party. Everyone takes turn hosting the party, there are different themes and different activities for both young and old. This year, my parents are hosting the party, and I'm jumping in headfirst to help!

Theme:

Our theme this year is Zombie Prom. I suggested the theme and I'm very happy that everyone agreed with it. I knew it'd be fun for both young and old. I've put myself in charge of all of the activities for the kids (ages about 14 and under) but there will be activities for attendees of all ages.

Dress Code:

Our dress code is obviously prom wear, but we've made the rule that all attire worn must either be already owned or must come from the salvation army. This way we'll be sure to get some vintage wear. For the kids, we are accepting girls in any dresses (Halloween costumes will do) and the boys have been instructed to find black pants and the tuxedo t-shirts! We don't want them to use anything too expensive because they'll be all zombied out by the end of the night!

Decorations:

The decorations are going to be fun because we get to mix prom decorations with Halloween decorations with New Years decorations! We've chosen our prom colors which are black, silver and blue (periwinkle-ish in nature) So we will have streamers and balloons in those colors and then New Years and Halloween decorations intermixed.

Food:

We'll have a huge banquet style table that will have all of the food displayed. We're going to have Zombie Punch (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and some of the treats will be deformed cut out cookies, bloody fingers (mozz sticks and marinara), intestines (pasta salad), boogers on a stick (cheese whiz dyed green on pretzel sticks), simple pimples (hollowed out cherry tomatoes filled with cream cheese), and more.

Activities:

For the kids we're going to have a slew of things for them to do. When they first arrive they'll go straight into make up where we will zombie them out. Using Halloween make up we'll paint them green and then add blood and other effects to make them look like the un-dead. After that they will accessorize themselves. We'll have all kinds of decorative accessories and each child will make their own headwear. The boys will have to decorate a top hat and the girls will have to decorate a tiara.

Once their outfits are complete, we will couple or group them up and take prom pictures, complete with a faux prom back drop. After that it'll be time to party! The kids will join the adults and we'll eat and dance and have a great time! Throughout the night we will have a few contests such as the mummy wrap (the toilet paper game) and a ghost scavenger hunt which involves wrapping candy treats in white bags and then devising clues for the kids to follow in order to find the prize.

The Ball Drop:

When the ball drops at midnight, we will have our champagne/sparkling grape juice toast and then announce the prom king and queen and prince and princess.

All in all I think its going to be a great time. Having a unique New Years Eve experience makes it all the more fun to celebrate! So grab your kids this New Years Eve and do something fun and unique with them. It's a great way to bring in the New Year!