With the end of the year approaching, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what to do for New Years Eve. This year is going to be a little different than last year specifically because of covid.
My fiancé and I have never been the ones to throw or attend extravagant parties for New Year’s Eve. But we have had a couple game nights with friends and family. However, we are trying to limit exposure so this year we’re thinking of staying home and hanging out with our two year old.
I’m actually all for this idea! But of course we don’t want to just sit around all night. So I decided to take this opportunity to come up with fun family traditions that hopefully we can carry on over the years!
Here’s a list of what I came up with!
How To Celebrate New Year’s Eve With Little Kids:
Dress Up
Have the whole family dress up in festive attire with party hats and necklaces. Then take family photos to remember the night. You could also have everyone stick to their favorite pj’s instead. Whatever you want!
Cook Dinner Together
I don’t know about you, but my two year old is PICKY! Unless he skipped lunch, or ran a marathon around the house, he doesn’t do too well at dinner time. So for New Year’s Eve I figured we’d skip the argument and make him something he’ll actually eat.
I’ve heard from several other moms that toddlers are more likely to eat food they help prepare. But with my schedule and his schedule, it’s not often that I have time to let him help me.
So for New Years Eve I’m planning to make either pizza or pigs in a blanket and have Emmett help. Meals similar to these are easy for kids to prepare and they’ll probably have a lot of fun doing so.
If your kids eat whatever you put in front of them, let me in on your secret!! But seriously, if you want to stick to tradition, you can have your kiddos help prepare the traditional southern New Year’s meal. Pork as a sign of prosperity, black eyed peas to symbolize wealth, cornbread to represent gold and collard greens to symbolize good fortune.
Games & Crafts
This is a fun way to engage with your kids and keep the night going before the ball drops! Pull out some board games such as candy land, monopoly junior, uno, matching games, etc. You could even take this time to play with new toys your kiddos may have received for Christmas!
In our house, especially around the holidays, we love arts and crafts! Finger painting and playdoh are our favorites! You could even make New Year’s Eve keepsakes! Here are some great ideas I’ve gathered for you!
Share Favorite Memories
Growing up, when we celebrated Thanksgiving, we would all hold hands to bless our meal and go around the table sharing one thing we were grateful for. For New Year’s Eve I thought it might be fun to go around and share one of our favorite memories from that year.
Although my two year old can’t join in on this quite yet, it’s a tradition that his dad and I can start for him that hopefully he’ll grow to love.
I know 2020 hasn’t been the best year for most, but we definitely have had some good times and I think it’s healthy to acknowledge those memories and end the year on a good note.
Toast With Sparkling Juice or Cider
I think this is kind of a given with little kids haha! I know my mom let me have a sip of champagne on New Year’s Eve when I was 16, but that’s your call! For all the mamas with littles, I know I’m sticking with Welch’s sparkling juice😅
Signifying The New Year
Not all kids can stay up until midnight. I totally get it! My son probably will because he doesn’t know what sleep is. But for all you mamas who have your baby on a schedule, you’re not a bad mom for sticking to it! It’s so hard and not worth messing up.
However, earlier in the night it might be fun for them to do something that signifies the new year! If they’re old enough for juice, let them toast earlier! Play a fake countdown, throw confetti, pop balloons, anything you can think of that they would enjoy that helps them feel included!
On New Year’s morning, you could make a point to wake your little ones with smiles and maybe noise makers and party hats to brighten their day! Then make breakfast and get them to help! We are all about pancakes over here!
New Year’s Resolutions
A fun little twist on having your kiddos make a New Year’s resolution, is to create a booklet full of all of their resolutions over the years!
Every New Year’s Eve the family can sit down and read all of their previous resolutions and see if they stuck to them! But remember, this isn’t a time for disappointment, laugh about it and move on. I bet some of you are going to have to write down some pretty funny resolutions from your five year olds!
Donate A Toy
Last but not least, donating toys. Christmas is so much fun for kids. But sometimes it can be hard to teach them humility when they just received a buttload of toys. And let’s be honest, after getting gifts from grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, whoever it might be, they don’t really need anything else.
Let’s say your kids received a toy for Christmas that they may have already had or didn’t particularly care for, or have a toy box full of toys from last year that they never play with. You could take this opportunity to talk to them about possibly donating to a child in need. Don’t force them or make them feel like they have to donate something they love, but rather give someone something out of the kindness of their heart on New Year’s Eve. Gather everything they WANT to donate and together the both of you can take them to a donation drop off on New Year’s Day.
I know not all families will be able to do this but that’s exactly why I want to teach my son at an early age, the importance of humility and kindness.
Conclusion
And that’s how to celebrate New Year’s Eve with little kids! Pretty fun right?! And I actually had a lot of fun writing this post! I think it’s so important to have family traditions, especially around the holidays, and coming up with these ideas only made me want to implement them more.
2020 has been a whirlwind, but it was another year that I was able to spend with my family and friends and that’s enough to make it significant to me!
Don’t forget to take a look at my related posts and comment what you thought of this one! How do you celebrate New Year’s Eve with your family?
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