Our New Year’s Eve experiences changes with children. The things that appealed to you when you were younger no longer seem fun. In fact, most of us would rather plan a fun family night in than brave the New Year’s Eve crowds.
Here are a few ideas of activities you and your family can do tonight!
Play Board games
Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, Life. These classic boardgames are entertaining for most kids (above the age of 6 or so) and adults.
If you’re feeling brave and crafty, you can also make your own board game! There are several websites that help you think of creative ideas for developing your own board game, and this is something that you and your kids can do together. It’ll be even more rewarding to play it once it’s done! Check out sites like this one for ideas.
Make Your Own Ball Drop
It’s fun to watch the ball drop in Times Square, but many kids can’t stay up that late (or we don’t want them to!). Instead, make your own ball drop earlier.
Earlier in the evening, have each member of your family decorate his or her own tennis ball with markers, glitter, and confetti. Decide on a time to celebrate the new year, and have everyone drop their ball at the countdown! Then, toast with sparkling apple cider.
Resolutions
What New Year’s Eve would be complete without resolutions? Kids are never too young to decide how they can make the next year even better. They can resolve to study harder in math, practice the piano more, or make new kids feel welcome by inviting them to play.
It’s also good for your kids to see you make resolutions. Let them know that you care about improving your lives by aiming for something even better.
Family Forgiveness
Riffing off of resolutions, Family Forgiveness is a great activity to get your family talking about why they love each other.
Each member of the family can apologize to another member for something they’ve done to hurt or upset each other the past year. Mom and dad should join this too! After each family member apologizes, we can take a moment to forgive each other. This way we’ll start the new year fresh!
What do you and your family do on New Year’s Eve? Share with us on Facebook!