Ring in 2017 with Family Fun for New Year’s Eve

December 29, 2016

While New Year’s Eve is usually a party for adults (at least those who can still stay up until midnight), it can also be a fun celebration for the whole family. New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate the old and welcome the new, and just about everyone can appreciate that, even children.

We usually like to have some friends and family over to celebrate the old year and cheer in the new one. During the course of the evening we take a moment to go around the room and recount happy and positive things that have happened throughout the year, as well as what our expectations are for the New Year.

We like to serve festive social foods like fondue, and open a bottle or two of sparkling apple cider like Martinelli's, and some bubbly for the grownups, of course. A festive champagne flute of sparkling cider is fun to sip and welcome by children and adults who aren’t drinking alike.

If the kids aren’t going to make it to midnight, then celebrate the New Year by tuning into another celebration on TV in a different time zone. Remember, 2017 starts in the Pacific Islands first and works its way across the globe, so there are plenty of fireworks displays and celebrations to watch; one per hour, in fact. Ringing in the New Year on East Coast Time means everyone can be in bed shortly after 9 pm!

New Year's Eve

Of course you need to make sure the children stay busy throughout the evening, even if they’re not staying up until midnight. I like to get the kids involved by letting them create fun crafts for the New Year’s Eve celebration:

Make New Year’s crowns out of construction paper and decorate them with markers, crayons, paint, and glitter. The kids usually make them both for themselves and for the grownups to wear, too.
Noisemakers are also fun to make, and are a New Year’s Eve necessity. Make some out of two paper plates stapled together and filled with dry beans. Decorate the plates as above.
Go green and make shakers out of recycled plastic water bottles. Pour in some dried beans or rice (make sure the inside of the bottle is dry), cap it, and then decorate with tissue paper, glue, and glitter.