How to Throw a New Year's Eve Party For Kids

Throwing a New Year's Eve party for kids is fun, and it will give some of your fellow parents a chance to get out and celebrate with the grown ups. You may start off the New Year with many new friends who will be happy to sit for you when you need them!

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• balloons
• craft supplies
• board games
• party favors
• TV
• CD player
• nutritious meal
• tasty junk food
• disposable cameras
• party invitations
• pre made cookie dough

1. Send out your Kid's New Year's Eve party invitations. You may wish to attach your invitation to a noisemaker or include some confetti in the invitation. Remind your guests to bring what they need to spend the night, and also ask that they bring a nutritious snack such as finger sandwiches, crackers and cheese or veggies and dip.
2. Decorate the area where the party will take place with balloons, streamers, and Happy New Year banners.
3. When each guest arrives, give them an inexpensive disposable camera to take their own photos with. Kids love taking pictures, and taking a picture usually causes giggling on both sides of the lens.
4. While the kids are waiting for everyone to arrive, have them create their own noisemakers out of plastic bottles and tin cans. They can put a few coins or pebbles inside of them and decorate the outside with construction paper, crayons, glitter and foam cut outs.
5. Assemble the nutritious snacks that the guests brought into a buffet. Serving the kids a meal that is good for them will reduce the amount of tasty junk food they will eat and help reduce meltdown behavior as the midnight hour approaches.
6. After dinner, assign an age appropriate cleanup task to each child and let the games begin!
7. Play more active games first. Charades, freeze dance, balloon pop, duck duck goose, pass the apple are a few games that will get everyone up and moving.
8. Take everyone into the kitchen and get out the pre made cookie dough to create some treats for later. Give everyone a pencil and paper to write down resolutions. Have the kids share the resolutions and discuss what they might do to achieve their goal for the New Year.
9. While the cookies are cooling, break out the board games. Assist the younger children to help keep the competition even. Encourage sportsmanlike conduct.
10. Around 10pm, put in a dvd, pop some popcorn and serve the cookies.
11. At 1130, distribute party hats, horns, bubbles, and pour the sparkling apple cider or lemon lime soda. Turn on the television to watch the ball drop in Times Square.
12. Distribute the celebration necessities. Countdown to the New Year with wild and giddy glee with your now exhausted and over the top junior New Year's Eve revellers! Dance, blow bubbles, pop balloons and party poppers.
13. Set up the sleeping bags and pillows, and start getting everyone settled down to sleep. They will eventually pass out, keep your cool.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep sugar to a minimum, some is good, too much will ruin the party
• Keep things structured and moving
• Involve the kids in the cleanup after each activity