New Year’s Activities for Kids (and their family)

The days of staying up all night New Year’s Eve and sleeping all day New Year’s day have passed for me. I honestly couldn’t be happier. I will always treasure those fun memories, but a night of family just sounds wonderful.

We still want it to be a special night so I’ve gone in search of new year’s activities for kids that will make our family new year’s a night to remember.

Family New Year's ideas!

New Year’s Activities for Kids (and their family)

Throw a Mini New Year’s Party

Just because the guest list is small doesn’t mean the party can’t be a HUGE amount of fun! Keep it a New Year’s theme and include lots of New Year’s activities for kids (and adults).

Make a Memory Box 

New Year’s is a combination of celebrating the year that’s passed and anticipating the year to come. Doesn’t an evening of  reminiscing that leaves you with a family keepsake sound like the prefect new year’s activity for kids?

  • Decorate a shoe box or plastic container big enough to fill with all of your goodies.
  • Fill your memory box with important family stuff (like a take out menu from your favorite restaurant). Here’s a huge list of ideas for your time capsule.
  • Don’t forget to make yourself a note to open it up next year!

Cook Together 

Hubby loves to make up recipes, I prefer to find recipes on Pinterest. However you like to play around in the kitchen, cooking as a family just might be a fun way to spend the evening together. This New Year’s activity for kids just might turn into a regular family event.

  • Find easy to prepare, kid friendly recipes.
  • Plan a lot of prep time. That way you’re not rushing. Having time to spare makes cooking way more fun.
  • Turn on some music and dance around the kitchen.
  • Make sure to take lots of pictures.

Enjoy a Movie Night (but make it an event!)

Family movie nights are a pretty common thing (at least around here) but for a special night like New Year’s, take it up a notch.

  • Make up family movie night tickets.
  • Pop some extra special popcorn. Movie theater candy popcorn looks especially yummy!
  • Get into comfy cozies, bring out the blankets and dim the lights.
  • Watch the movie (that means turn off your phone and in my case the computer) and be fully engaged in the movie.
  • Make it a special movie. Is there a movie everyone has been dying to see? How about an old favorite from when you were a kid?

Love these New Year's activities for kids (and us)... I think we might try #1

What New Year’s activities for kids do you have planned?

This post originally appeared on December 12, 2013.

12 Comments

  1. I love all your suggestions! I was planning my own New Year post with similar things next week, I’ll make sure to link to yours. Since our daughter is 7, we plan a board game afternoon and a movie night.

  2. We live in Chicago, and we always go to the Lincoln Park Zoo (free!) and see the zoolights display, followed by hot chocolate & ice skating at Millenium Park (free if you have skates!). Super fun and family friendly. And you still feel festive being downtown on NYE. 🙂

  3. I absolutely love the idea of a memory box or a time capsule. It’s crazy how much can change in just one year. Can’t wait to do this with my kids!

  4. We dress up in crazy costumes and have a dance party to the “celebration” station on pandora. I’m gonna add the fun theme food you suggested and some sparklers I bought to this year’s nye! Thanks for the fun post!

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