25 New Year’s Eve Activities for Kids

It’s almost time to ring in the new year – how will your family celebrate? Do your kids stay up until midnight? Do you have lots of fun New Year’s Eve activities for kids scheduled throughout the day?

We always have a lot of fun and try new activities throughout the day to make it special. I’ve pulled together some of my favorites, and one I’m looking forward to trying out. I hope you’ll be inspired to share New Year’s Eve activities for kids with your family, and to enjoy creating and exploring together with them.

Activities

I love how customizable these countdown clocks are from Buggy and Buddy. My kids have distinct personalities, and I know each one would make their clocks look completely different.

Once you have the materials for the clocks, you could easily use the same items in a completely different way to make these paper plate noisemakers for your kids to shake at the stroke of twelve.

Might as well make a bit more noise, right? Here’s a mildly noisy craft that will still delight your littlest party-goers – noise-maker bell bracelets.

Just in case you still need a few more ideas for making the quintessential New Year’s Eve party noisemaker for kids, Crafts Ideas for Kids has a collection of ideas for you.

Party Hats

Need a hat? This is an adorable and metallic-y DIY that I am in love with… I might need to make these for me to wear.

Here’s another simple DIY party hat with a traditional look. These look like they’d be easy to pull together with things around the house.

Fun! How about one of these hats in this paper plate hats post from Alphamom? You’re bound to find one your little one will love.

Fireworks

Fireworks are a traditional part of celebrating the new year around the world. This cute printable lets kids color the fireworks every hour throughout the night in a creative countdown activity.

In between the coloring, the kids might want to make their own yummy fireworks to eat. Check out these creative fireworks cookies.

Or, if you don’t mind messes, try this cool fireworks painting craft. It’s a clever use of ordinary materials to make something unique. Your kids will love it.

I think this may be my favorite fireworks craft ever! I just know my girls and their cousins will love making these festive fireworks rings this year.

How about sneaking in a little science this New Year’s Eve? Demonstrate liquid density with the fireworks in a jar activity. The kids will love the cool color mixing.

Fun Food

I can’t wait to make these amazing confetti filled clock cookies to celebrate the New Year with the kids. They’re going to be amazed when they bite in and find a hidden pouch of edible confetti.

Here’s another edible party horn recipe. This one takes a tiny bit more work than the other, but it looks like they’d be worth it.

Memory Makers

When we ring out the old year and look towards the new, my husband and I like to take time to reflect with the kids about what was great about their year. I love this idea for creating a blessing jar to collect these thoughts throughout the year and then read on the following New Year’s Eve.

This wishing tree craft is similar, but is a chance for your kids to make wishes for others. I love the idea of turning their focus to others during this time.

Making a time capsule would be a fun activity if you took the time to do some prep before  the big evening. I bet the kids would love to look back on this in a year.

Do you and your kids make New Year’s Resolutions? Here’s a free printable that’s adorable and kid-friendly.

Maybe you have time this week before New Year’s Eve, and want to pull together these wonderful photo memory cards to play with your kids. I love how personal this idea is, and how it can be customized to help your kids reflect on all the great things they got to do this past year.

Do you have more ideas to share? I’d love to know what you’re going to do with your kids this New Year’s Eve. Share your thoughts in the comments.

For more great ideas for the New Year check out:

Celebrating the New Year with Kid Friendly Fun – Enjoy some great New Year’s books, then grab your video camera to interview your children’s thoughts about the New Year.

Six Tools for Organizing Your Homeschool Space – Need some homeschool room organizing ideas for the New Year? Find them here along with a daily challenge to refresh your room for New Years.

Healthier Lunch Ideas for January – 31 healthy and delicious lunch ideas to see you through January, to create some healthier lunch time habits that will hopefully last throughout the year