How to Celebrate New Year’s Eve, it isn’t quite the same once you’ve had kids. Those all-night parties, drunken resolutions and three-day hangovers aren’t as fun when you’re in charge of small children. However, that doesn’t mean your life is over; far from it, you’re just entering a new phase of seeing in the New Year.
Getting a babysitter on New Year’s can be notoriously difficult, not to mention expensive. So, instead of forking out a small fortune on sitters, why not celebrate New Year’s as a family this year?
Your kids will love the excitement of staying up late and seeing in the New Year with you. Keep reading for some fantastic New Year’s Eve party ideas for guaranteed family fun:
#1. Have a family New Year’s Eve party
You don’t have to invite guests over to call it a party. If you’re unsure how your kids will react to staying up late or if you can’t be bothered with the expense and organization involved in hosting, throw a household New Year’s Eve party.
Party hats, a finger buffet and a kitchen disco, dancing to all your favorite tunes, will be fun for all the family. Get dressed up in sparkly clothes, play games and make some memories as a family. New Year’s Eve doesn’t have to be hard work; low-key celebrations can be just as fun.
If you’re spending quality time with your family, your kids will have a fantastic New Year’s Eve. Leave your phone out of reach, to make sure you’re fully present with your kids this New Year’s Eve, and stay away from social media, so you don’t end up with FOMO (fear of missing out).
Top tip: Buy some fun photo props and create a makeshift photo booth. The kids will love taking funny photos, and you’ll end up with some gorgeous keepsakes of the night.
#2. Invite your loved ones to join you
Why not invite some friends and family to celebrate the New Year with you? Inviting your mom friends and their families is a great way to keep the kids entertained for the evening.
New Year’s Eve with friends is bound to be fun, with plenty of laughter and silliness. You can set out games and movies for the kids and play some family-friendly party games with your guests.
Your kids will love entertaining but be sure to hide away any fragile new toys your kids might not be ready to share just yet. Get your kids involved in the prep; what do they think will entertain their friends?
Have some New Year’s Eve craft activities set up and a coloring table for when kids need some quiet time. Why not have the kids decorate party hats for themselves and their parents?
Top tip: Set a quiet space in one of the bedrooms in case anyone needs a nap (probably one of the dads, to be honest).
#3. Change the clocks and see in midnight early
If the idea of having kids awake (and hyper) until midnight sounds like hell, you can have an early new year’s celebration instead. All you need to do is change the clocks so you can celebrate New Year’s Eve at a more reasonable hour.
An early New Year’s Eve celebration is the ideal way to celebrate with kids. You can have a New Years Eve party without exhausting your kids (and yourselves).
There are many on-demand TV countdowns to choose from, so you can fool your kids into believing they stayed up late for the real deal. That way, you’ll get all the fun of a family celebration without any of the over-tired monster tantrums to deal with.
Why not get some party poppers or confetti for when the clock strikes (fake) midnight? Let your kids go wild and pretend they’ve stayed up way past their bedtime. Then you can tuck them into bed in time for you and your partner to enjoy a midnight kiss in private.
Top tip: If you have smart kids with smart technology, you might need to be mindful of the number of clocks in the house.
#4. Throw a New Year’s Eve sleepover
If you want to be the most popular parent in town, why not throw a New Year’s Eve party sleepover? Give the other parents the night off and host a sleepover at yours.
Children stay up late at sleepovers anyway, so New Year’s Eve is a great time to host one. Have some New Year’s Eve activities set up to keep them occupied, along with a TV to watch movies on, and you should have a hassle-free New Year’s Eve.
Be mindful of who you invite. Some kids work each other up the wrong way and you might end up playing referee all night.
A smaller sleepover might work best; pick your child’s ultimate best friends, especially if you know they’re easy to look after. Older children will probably entertain themselves when it comes to New Year’s Eve fun, and you’ll get to look like the cool parent for hosting a New Year’s Eve sleepover.
Top tip: All the kids will be exhausted after a late night, so be sure to insist on an early pick-up the next morning; otherwise, you’ll spend the day caring for a bunch of overtired kids.
#5. Have a family meal
Why not set up a fancy restaurant in your home and treat your family to a nice meal? Get your kids involved in the preparations, from the decorations to the menu. What foods will everybody enjoy?
Can your child make a gorgeous centerpiece for the table? Older children might enjoy writing the menu and helping in the kitchen. They might want to play servers, too, or be waited on by the parents.
Make sure everybody dresses the part and don’t forget to be silly and have fun. After dinner, make space for some after-dinner dancing so your kids can enjoy a New Year’s Eve to remember.
Top tip: If you and your partner are playing servers, draw inspiration from Fawlty Towers. Be as silly as possible. Get their orders wrong, drop things and squeeze in as many jokes as possible. Your kids will find it hilarious and you’ll probably have fun yourself.
#6. Reflect on the closing year
We celebrate the New Year to welcome the fresh beginnings of the year ahead. It’s also a way of saying goodbye to the closing year and accepting the changes the new year will bring.
It’s worth spending time as a family to mark the passage of time. You could spend some time on New Year’s Eve reflecting on the past year.
Go around the room and ask what everybody’s favorite things were this year. What memories have been made, and what fun has been had? Be sure to film or write down everyone’s answers so you can look back on them in the future.
You could create scrapbooks of the year, with photos of the things you’ve done and the places you’ve been. Older kids will enjoy making these themselves and it’s a fantastic way to pass some time on New Year’s Eve while you’re waiting for midnight.
Top Tip: If you’re not ‘crafty’, you could have an annual photo book professionally printed instead.
#7. Look forward to the year ahead
It’s also important to look forward to the following year. What are you looking forward to as a family over the next year?
Do you have holidays or trips planned? Are there people you’d like to spend more time with or new hobbies you’d like to dedicate time to?
If you have any New Year’s resolutions planned, you could share these with your kids and ask whether they have any changes planned for the New Year. Then, you could work together as a family to help everybody realize their goals.
Try to break the goals into manageable chunks, so they don’t feel overwhelming. Be sure to focus on congratulating everyone for their efforts rather than highlighting any potential failures.
It can be fun to make predictions for the year ahead, too. Come up with some ideas for what you all think will happen over the next 12 months.
Write down your answers, and then you can look back next New Year’s Eve to see whether you got any right. This could become a fun annual tradition.
Top tip: It’s not easy being put on the spot, so have some ideas up your sleeve before you start this activity. What do you have planned for the year ahead? Think of the things you enjoyed this year and how you can carry those experiences forward.
Family activities for New Year’s Day
If you let the kids stay up till midnight, you might pay for it the next day, so be sure to plan a low-key New Year’s Day celebration, just in case. Why not head out on a country walk to blow away the cobwebs before heading home to a lovely family meal?
Alternatively, stay home in your pajamas all day; it’s totally up to you. Finally, if you have any New Year’s resolutions planned, start the year as you mean to go on. New Year’s Day is the last day of the Christmas break for many families, so make the most of this family time before real life starts again.
If you want some ideas for games to play on New Year’s, look at 10 Classic Kids Party Games.
