New Year’s Eve At Home Family Activities

Ring in the new year with your kids, without having to fight your way through the crowds, or keeping your little tots up way past their bedtime. Here are some creative ideas to get your children involved in the celebrations from the warmth and comfort of your own homes. 

Happy New Year from the Kidzapp family to yours!

Balloon Pop Countdown

This easy project is one you can make with your kids and will have a BIG impact on everyone! The New Year’s Eve Balloon Clock makes a fun decoration, photo background and take home gift for the kids! (Make sure you have a few spare balloons because you know all the kids are going to want to have their own!)

Have your little ones  help you in creating this craft and then moving the hands of the clock to add to their sense of excitement and anticipation!

Source: The Subrban Mom

Materials:

• 12 gold balloons
• Helium or the air from your lungs
• Black tape or large number stickers
• Black curling ribbon (or any color of your choice)
• Clear tape
• Black card-stock paper for the clock's hands
• Painter’s tape

Steps:

1. Blow up the balloons
2. Tie curling ribbons to the ends of the balloons for decorative purposes
3. Cut out the numbers 1-12
4. Tape the balloons to the wall with clear tape (they will move!)
5. Cut out the clocks' hands & tape them to the wall (optional- reposition them every hour)

 Read More Here

Family Time Capsule

Keep the exciting New Year vibes going throughout 2020 by creating a family time capsule full of all your favorite memories!

Commemorate the past year by filling a large jar with special family photos, event tickets, seashells from your favorite trip and seal the jar with a family photo. Another great idea is to have each member of your family write his/her favorite memories so you can re-live them when you re-open the jar at the end of 2020.

Instead of hiding the jar somewhere in a closet, keep it out on display so that you'll remember to drop things in throughout the year. Come next New Year's, it should be filled with tokens you'll love to pore over.

Kidzapp tip: make this a craft-activity too and have your little ones decorate it with as much glitter and glue as they like! 

Source: Mom Blogger Kelli Crowe

Materials:

• Large glass jar
• 1 special family photo
• Any craft items for decorating

Steps:

1. Decorate a glass jar
2. Tape/glue on a family photo
3. Insert some of your favorite memories of 2019
4. Make it an on-going thing, and gradually add fun mementos of 2020 throughout the year.

Read More Here

Watch Family Friendly Movies on Netflix

End the year on a high-note with a warm and cozy movie night from the comfort of your very own living room. Browse through Netflix for an endless range of age-appropriate movies.

Go for something festive, or fall back on some of your favorite classics like Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, or The Smurfs.

What You Need:

• Netflix
• Couch

Festive Options:

1. Shrek The Halls
2. Klaus (7+)
3. Super Monsters Save Christmas
4. The Polar Express (7+)
5. Trolls Holiday Special
6. Kung Fu Panda Holiday
7. Christmas Chronicles 

New Year's Countdown Bags

Help your kids pass the time as they wait for the highly-anticipated midnight hour with a variety of things they can look forward to.

Every hour until midnight allow your kids to open a bag and celebrate what is inside!  

Source: Happy Home Fairy

Materials:

• 6 paper bags
• BAG FILLER EXAMPLES:
• Their favorite candy
• Printables: Print out a few activity sheets from HERE and have fun decorating your house with the completed projects!
• Popcorn: to go along with a movie you can all watch together
• Puzzles: put together some simple puzzles as a family
• Noisemakers and Confetti: we highly recommend you leave the noisemakers and mess for that 11:55 pm bag!

Steps:

1. Fill the each of the bags with something different
2. Let your kids open the bag according to the hour and enjoy!

Read More Here

New Year's Eve Photo Booth Props

This activity combines your kids' love for crafts (coloring, cutting out and glue-ing) and being the stars in front of the camera. 

Print out these free printables (links below), have your kids color them and decorate them with as much pizazz as they want, and have them pose for some memorable family photos.

Source: Cupcakes & Cutlery

Materials:

• Printable Props printed out
• Wooden Skewers
• Scotch Tape
• Variety of items to embellish (glitter, pom poms, etc.)
• Glue (if necessary)
• Printer
• Scissors
• 2020 Printables
• Mouths Printables
• Hats Printables 

Steps:

1. Print out the printable numbers and hats, etc. (links above)
2. Use the scissors to cut out around the shapes.
3. Use tape to secure the wooden skewer to the back of each prop.
4. Embellish the front, if desired.

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New Year's Resolutions Sheet

Reflect on 2019 with your kids and think about how you'd like 2020 to be. This is great in helping children set their priorities and goals to work towards. Have them fill out the sheet on their own, or brainstorm together to make this a fun, bonding activity.

Source: The Best Ideas for Kids

Materials:

Download the New Year’s Resolution Worksheet printable HERE.

Tips:

1. Fill out the “try, do more, do less, priorities” lines first. This is the reflection part of the activity.
2. Once you’ve filled out the lines. Reflect a bit on what’s the #1 thing they'd like to work on for the new year?
3. Decide on your New Year’s Resolution and fill it in the box to display or share with the rest of your family members!

NYE Noise Maker Craft

Make some noise- literally- for the new year with this fun noise maker craft. 

This craft uses very accessible items that are found at home for a fun-filled night for your little ones (it's also suitable for even your youngest toddlers). Not only will your kids create and design the noise maker, but they'll also get to play with it to ring in the new year. 

Source: Mom Unleashed

Materials:

• Empty Toilet Paper Rolls
• Gold and Silver Sparkly Duct Tape (or sparkly paper instead)
• Uncooked Beans
• Colored Jewels
• Gold and Silver Ribbon
• Glue

Steps:

1. Seal one of the ends of the toilet paper roll shut with the shiny duct tape or colored paper
2. Once sealed, fill your tube about 1/3 of the way full with beans.
3. Then set your tube on the sealed end and repeat the process to create a seal for the top of the tube, trapping the bean inside.
4. Cover the entire roll with shiny tape/paper, making sure all sides are covered and secure
5. Make it pretty: Glue jewels into place in any pattern you like to add some sparkle.
6. Cut pieces of your ribbon, curl them and glue them to the bottom of your tube for added decorations
7. Allow all of your glue to dry and your noise maker is done!

Read More Here