   
Games, Party Ideas,
Crafts for a Kid Friendly New Year's Eve Party
New Year's
Eve is a time for celebration. Some parents enjoy getting a babysitter
for the kids and heading out to enjoy the festivities. We have always
opted to have or go to a party with adults and children. We found it to
be a great way to celebrate the new year.
If you are having children at your party then you should be prepared by
having some games and crafts available to keep them busy. Be sure to
have plenty of prizes on hand for the winner of the games.

GREAT NEW YEAR'S EVE GAMES FOR KIDS
New Year's Resolution Game
Geared
toward older children and adults. Each guest writes 2 or 3 New
Year's resolutions on a separate piece of paper and puts them in
the hat. A resolution is drawn from the hat and read out loud.
It is the job of the guests to try and determine the owner of
the resolution.
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New Year's Freeze Dance
This is the
traditional freeze dance that all kids love with a twist. Give
each child a New Year's Eve noisemaker then put on some kid
friendly music. The kids can dance and make music with their
noisemakers while the music is playing. Once the music stops
the children must freeze and yell "Happy New Year." |
Homemade Fireworks
Tape sheets
of bubble wrap (use large bubbles for best results) to a hard
surface. After the New Year's countdown have the kids stomp on
the bubble wrap to make their own fireworks.
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Hide The Clock
Prior to the
party make some clocks out of cardboard and set the time to
12:00. Hide the clocks throughout the house. Send the kids on
a clock hunt. Who ever can find a clock gets to trade it in for
a surprise. |
New Year's Relay
1 Ping pong
ball for each team (painted
with
the New Year on it)
1 spoon for each team
Divide children into teams. Give the first child on each team a
spoon and a ping pong ball. Set up the course to where they have
to carry the "New
Year"
ball on the spoon to the end of the course and
come back. Hand off to the next child and continue until all
children have played on the team. First team done wins.
Karaoke
You will find
that everyone loves to sing! Include popular songs from the
ending year as well as old favorites.
Know Your Guests
Every
thirty minutes, call out a question that pertains to guests at
the party. Give a prize to the person who guesses the answer
first. Questions could include: "Name the person who owns a
Corvette?", "Who is the tallest person at the party?", "Who
came with the most children?", "Who is the oldest person at the
party?", "Who had the last party at their house?", "Who talks
the most?", "Who is the comedian in the crowd?"
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Balloon Bust
Divide the
group into two teams. Blow up gold or silver balloons and tie
one to everyone's ankles. Say "go" and watch the teams trying to
burst the other team's balloons first. The team with the last
balloon wins. As your balloon is burst you withdraw from the
game. |
Create a Word
Write the
word New Year's Resolution on paper and see how many words the
kids can make out of it in 5 minutes. |
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New Year's Eve Kids Crafts
What is a New Year's Eve party without noise makers and hats. Why not
keep the kids busy for a while by having them make their own. They can
use their imagination to create unique items to use for the dropping of
the ball. Be sure to start craft projects early in the night so that it
will have time to dry before midnight arrives.
Noise makers:
You will need plastic container or drink bottles with lids in all sizes
and shapes. Have the kids fill their container about half way with
beans, rice, marbles or anything else that you may find around the house
that would make noise. Use permanent markers, scraps of construction
paper, pom poms etc.. to decorate the outside of the container. Write
each child's name on the bottom when the project is complete.
Tiara's
for girls:
Purchase white foam tiaras or visors at your local craft shop. Prior to
the party using glitter glue put the year on each tiara. The night of
the party have the girls decorate it with craft gems, feathers and
markers.
New Years Hat's for boys:
Purchase plain party hats or if the size works top hats at your local
craft shop or retail store. . Prior to the party using glitter glue put
the year on each tiara. The night of the party have the boys decorate
it with shiny silver and gold scraps of paper, markers, stickers and
feathers.
Old Year -- New Year:
You will need two adult volunteers, a male and a female. Dress up the
women as the old year and the man as the new year and have them come out
dressed just after 12:00. To make it fun use items around the house for
their costumes. For example, you can use cotton balls to make a beard
on old years face and white sheets to make a toga. New year should be a
baby. A white tablecloth would make a great diaper on a man without a
shirt. Don't forget a bottle, bib or pacifier.
Every New's Years Eve Party needs everyone to sing Auld Lang Syne at
least one time so have old year and new year lead the song.
Auld Lang
Syne
Should auld
acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We'll tak' a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and the days of auld lang syne?
And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie's a hand o'thine
We'll tak' a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

Decorating for New Year's Eve
-
You want everything to look shiny, glittery and new. Your color
scheme should be white, silver, gold and black.
-
Light up your house with strings of tiny white Christmas tree
lights. The more you drape around the house the better.
- Add
lots of balloons to your decor. Balloons are fairly inexpensive but
are a great way to decorate for a party. You can get some Mylar
balloons that say "Happy New Year" and then go with regular,
balloons in white, silver, gold and a few black.
-
Be sure to include a "Happy New Year's" banner.
-
Purchase some
great hats and noisemakers. Hand a hat and noisemaker to each guest
about 11 minutes before 12:00pm.
-
Use streamers and long pieces of curly ribbon to decorate from the
ceiling and along the dinner table.
-
Purchase napkins, forks and plates in silver or gold.
-
Decorate your table to look pretty with a white, silver or gold
cloth tablecloth. Create a center piece using flowers in clear
vases or our fortune bubbles below. You can use just one large vase
or a cluster of small vases. Be sure to add a few baloons to give a
festive feel.
Fortune Bubbles
compliments of bhg.com
Required
items:
Note:
Each bubble
(ornament)
contains one fortune.
Display in clear glass vases.
-
See-through plastic ornaments to use as bubbles (available at
crafts stores)
-
Calligraphy pen or colored marker
-
8-1/2 x 11 sheets of art paper (amount needed will vary
depending on how many fortunes you are making)
-
Scissors
-
Fortunes or inspirational quotes
-
Curling ribbon
Instructions:
-
Cut
strips of paper 1-2 inches long (or as needed to fit in
ornaments) and 8-1/2 inches wide.
-
Write a fortune or quote on each strip of paper.
-
Roll each fortune into a small scroll and tie with curling
ribbon, leaving ends of ribbon long.
-
Place 1 fortune into each ornament. Allow excess curling ribbon
to trail out of ornament.
-
Pile the bubbles in a basket or glass bowl.
-
Let
each guest choose a bubble and read their fortune aloud to the
group

Food Ideas
Since New Years Eve is always a late night I like to have substantial
food served buffet style so that guests can help themselves throughout
the night. If you plan on starting the party late then you can go with
appetizers and cocktails. Be sure to include some kid friendly food
with either option. Chicken nuggets, and fruit kebobs are always a hit.
Desserts are also always a hit.
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Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Pretzel Rods
3 or more bags of melting chocolate
(depends on the number of kids)
Halloween Sprinkles
Wax Paper
Melt chocolate in crock pot on high stirring
occasionally. Once chocolate is melted have kids dip the pretzel
into the chocolate and then into the sprinkles. Give them a piece
of wax paper to put it on to dry.
New Year's Eve Potion
Drink boxes, bottles or cans.
Create labels out of silver and gold paper
to fit your drink. Decorate each label with stickers and/or glitter and
add a slogan.
For example New Year Juice, Heart Warming Syrup, Warning -
Extra Strength. Celebration Cider
New Year's Pineapple Colada Smoothie
1/3
cup crushed pineapple, slightly drained
1 cup nonfat vanilla frozen
yogurt
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 Cup ice cubes
Place pineapple, vanilla and coconut
extract in blender. Blend several seconds add ice and continue to blend
until desired consistency.
Holiday Pretzel Treats
Heat oven to 170 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Fill
cookie sheet with bite-sized waffle-shaped pretzels in a single layer.
Top each pretzel with an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss or Hershey's Hug. For
a nice, colorful variety use both. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes or until he
chocolate feels soft when touched with a spoon. Remove tray from oven
and quickly press an M&M's candy into the center of each melted Kiss.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and then refrigerate about 10 minutes to
set.
New
Year's Fondue
Select a variety of fruits such
as strawberries, kiwi, grapes. bananas, apples, pineapples or oranges
and some sweets like marshmallows, pretzels, pound cake squares. Display
the goodies on a gold or silver platter.
Recipe
12 ounces sweet
German chocolate, or semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 cup light cream or half and half
Add small pieces of chocolate into a saucepan on low heat. Add the cream
and stir until the chocolate is all melted. Add the vanilla extract and
stir. Transfer the chocolate sauce to a fondue pot. Using the fondue
forks or small wooden skewers, spear the goodies and dip into the
chocolate. |
Candy Necklace

I have made this many times will all age children.
Younger children will need a bit of help but kids all love it!
I would recommend that you make a sample so that
you can judge how much candy and ribbon you will need to purchase.
That is the most difficult part of this project if you are making it for
a group. Also, you can vary it for different holidays by changing
the color ribbon and candy used.
Supplies
Plastic wrap (Saran wrap)
Individually wrapped candy.
Silver and gold curling ribbon cut into 6 inch strips
Instructions
Lay out three feet of plastic wrap, cutting it in
half lengthwise. Place a few pieces of candy every three inches.
The exact number will vary based on the size of the candy. You
want each section to look full.
Roll the plastic over the candy to cover
completely and seal the candy in the middle.
Tie ribbon (knotted) between each section of
candy.
Tie the two ends of plastic wrap together and
cover the knot with another ribbon.
Finished product will be a great hit!
Create
Your Own New Year's Cookies
Ingredients
One round sugar cookie for each child
White cake frosting
Cake decorator
gels in a variety of colors
Mini M&M's
Have each child create their own special New Year's Eve Cookie.
Spread each cookie with white frosting and using cake decorator gels and
M&M's create a masterpiece.

Enjoy Your Party! |