Fun Ways to Celebrate New Year's Eve With Kids

Celebrating New Year’s Eve as a family can be one of the most wonderful and special ways to create new memories – and it doesn’t have to be boring!

The most meaningful celebrations are the simplest ones, spent with those we love the most. Below are some fun ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve, including some great ideas you can try to create wonderful New Year’s Eve memories with your family.

Make a piñata

You can’t have a New Year’s Eve celebration without watching a ball drop! Make a kid-friendly version by creating a piñata that takes after the New York City ball. To make it extra fun, have the little ones help with the decorations. Make use of sparkly beads, paint, and even glitter. At midnight, let the children smash it open to find trinkets and candy inside.

Celebrate a mock midnight

If you think that your little ones won’t be able to stay up until midnight, have a mock midnight and do your countdown earlier instead. This way, the children will be able to go to bed happy and content that they got to partake in the tradition, and the adults can stay up to celebrate if they wish. As an alternative, you can create a special tradition every January 1, like a New Year’s Day special breakfast for those kids who go to bed and wake up early.

Pop a balloon every hour

If your kids can stay up until midnight, you can choose to pop a balloon every hour until midnight. Or, you can start at noon, then after having dinner, do just a few, or do a dozen. One great thing about this activity is that you can tailor it to your family’s schedule, the bedtimes, and the kid’s ages. Before blowing up the balloons, stuff them with confetti, sequins or glitter. You may also put in a small piece of paper that has an activity of the hour written on it. Doing this will add a little more excitement and mystery throughout the day.

Give a toast

Yes, children cannot enjoy alcoholic drinks, but this doesn’t mean that they cannot enjoy a toast! Give them glasses of ginger ale, sparkling cider, or some other bubbly beverage or mocktail. Then, making sure everyone is included, have the family take turns toasting one another with kind words and compliments.

Dress up

If a pajama party isn’t your family’s style, have everyone dress in their fanciest clothes. You can make this extra fun by providing some dress-up attire for everyone to wear, like feather boas or crowns. Have a photoshoot once everyone is all dressed up so that everyone can show off their fancy look!

Scrapbook the memories of the year

Devote some time to your New Year’s party scrapbooking with your children. Collect photos of fond memories throughout the year, then offer every family member a blank page and some scrapbooking materials. They can fill the page with photos, resolutions for the upcoming year, and written accomplishments or goals that they have achieved from the year. Then, let everyone share their finished pages.

Happy New Year from your caring team at Physicians Premier!  Know that if you need us, your local emergency room in Corpus Christi – and all our facilities – are open 24/7, even during holidays.