We’ve gathered a few family-friendly New Year’s Eve ideas for you to enjoy. These tips will give you the time you need with the littles while leaving you with plenty of time to ring in the New Year with your spouse or next-door neighbor. There is no need to spend hours on Pinterest when we’ve collected them for you below.
Best kept secret
It’s a busy night, so we’ll start with our favorite secret: Parent, you control the countdown. If you have toddlers or young children, you can still get them to bed at a decent hour and they will never know the difference.
First, you are going to want to claim all the tech from your youngsters. Next, cover all the clocks in the house except one. Every ten minutes starting at 8 p.m. (or the time you prefer) move the clock forward thirty minutes. You’ll be screaming Happy New Year by 9 p.m., leaving you another three hours for a mini-at-home-date with your spouse!
Let’s party
You’ll probably want to kick off the celebration early on to fit more of these fun New Year Eve ideas into the schedule. Family game nights are always fun but December 31 adds excitement to your regular activities.
For a full-on celebration add in some decorations, snacks and a photo-op.
New Year’s Eve decoration ideas
Streamers, balloons and confetti are always fun. You can cut up the used Christmas wrapping to create your own streamers and confetti. If we figure out how to make your own balloons, we’ll let you know, but for now, just grab a pack at the dollar store.
Get the kids involved in setting the food table with things they loved from the year before. Then fill the living room with pictures of what they are dreaming about for the new year. It’s a great way to hear from your children and start setting goals together. Guide the conversation toward relationships and more family time. Listen to their wants but try to steer the conversation away from material things and drive it towards ways the family can love well.
Family-friendly festive snacks
If you are looking for fun snacks for kids and adults of all ages, head to this post by Food Network. You’ll find milk and cookie toasts, cupcakes complete with sparklers, and a make-your-own-pizza assembly setup.
Family photo-op contest for the new year
Make a fun list of moments that you want captured on camera from candid shots around the game table to posed family pictures, snapshots of decorations and snacks and capturing dad mid-bite. Then, hand out a disposable camera to each kid to capture the moments. It will make for a fun scrapbook where you get to see the night from your child’s eyes.
A family-friendly New Year’s Eve is the perfect opportunity to kick off the New Year’s Resolution to be more present, to love big, and to focus on the people God has placed in your life to love.
If you are wondering what it means to authentically follow Jesus, join us on Unfiltered Radio as we investigate who He claimed to be and how He taught us to interact with one another.