Simple New Year’s Eve Celebration with Kids

How can you have a simple New Year’s Eve celebration with kids? Gotta be honest, I will be limping to midnight this year, but my kids are convinced they want to make it all the way to a New Year’s Eve party. Here are some fun activities and creative ideas we planned to have New Year’s Eve celebrations as long we can. We will see if we can make it to seeing that ball drop.

Make a Kid Friendly Charcuterie Board for a Simple New Year’s Eve with Kids

My kids LOVE a charcuterie board, and it’s a fun way to celebrate with special treats and easy snacks! For some reason, when I add anything to a board, they will eat it up. Here’s a list of our favorite items to put on the board. You can find all of these items at your local grocery store.

• strawberries
• blueberries
• pretzels
• variety of crackers
• Goldfish
• cheese slices (cheddar, mozzarella, pepperjack, Havarti)
• pepperoni
• variety of nuts (walnuts, almonds, peanuts)
• hummus
• baby carrots
• celery sticks
• red, orange, and green pepper slices
• hard boiled eggs, sliced with pepper and salt
• sparkling grape juice

Popcorn Bar for a Simple New Year’s Eve with Kids

Another easy option is a popcorn bar in the living room. Turn on some Netflix shows or a movie and add a popcorn bar to make the night even more entertaining as you wait for midnight. We set up popcorn, chocolate candies, Twizzlers, and Skittles and let the kids fix their own. (Of course, be careful with popcorn if you have babies and toddlers around. You could make a Goldfish bar for them.) It’s also fun to enjoy some popcorn with fun board games or a dance party while the kids are covered in glow sticks – you got to last until midnight!!

Fun Punch for Kids for a Simple New Year’s Eve

Kids deserve a fun drink on New Year’s Eve too! Our favorite is this one from Lilly Childers and it is perfect for a simple New Year’s Eve celebration with kids. Older kids will love helping prep this fun drink.

Dance Party

One of our favorite simple activities on New Year’s Eve is just to turn on our favorite songs and have a dance party. Turn on your Christmas decorations and lights, celebrate your winter break time, and spend some quality time on the dance floor. You can even offer some small prizes for the most creative moves, best rhythm, most talented singer, and so on.

Craft It on New Year’s Eve

I am all about simple crafts with kids. This year, we have a bazillion Amazon boxes in our garage, so we are holding back a few. We are cutting off the sides and letting the kids go to town. I have some great holiday craft paper from my scrapbooking days. My plan is to write out 2021 in large block letters and let them create a paper collage on the cardboard. Then, boom! You have a craft and a photo prop!

Our kids also love to create a scavenger hunt for each other. We help them write some simple clues and they have fun exploring around the house. They come up with so many creative ideas on their own!

Interview Your Kids on New Year’s Eve

I love to interview the kids on New Year’s Eve and video their responses. It’s a great keepsake and they enjoy watching it year to year. You can interview all of your family members. Here are some of my favorite questions.

• How old are you and what grade are you in?
• What have you loved this year?
• What has been hard this year?
• Who are your friends?
• Name one of your favorite memories from this year.
• What do you want to be when you grow up?
• Describe what you are looking forward to next year.
• What is your favorite thing to do at school?
• What is your favorite thing to do at home?
• List some of your favorite books.
• List your favorite movies and shows.
• Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

Make Some Cake Pops to Celebrate the New Year with your Kids

My kids absolutely love making cake pops. We have a little cake pop maker, so we just mix up a basic cake mix and pop them in the maker. The kids pull them out with the cake pop sticks, dip them in meltable chocolate and cover them with sprinkles. One box of cake mix makes plenty of cake pops. Grab some fun New Year’s Eve party supplies and have an awesome party! Kids of all ages will love these.

Sparklers!

Last, but not least, I picked up a few packs of sparklers on my last grocery run. We assign the kids different spots on the driveway, light them for them, and let them have a blast. There’s just something about a sparkler, no matter how old you are!

I hope our favorite New Year’s Eve ideas help you celebrate the last year and the year ahead as we end the holiday season. Happy New Year and may all of your resolutions come true! (And, remember, if one of your resolutions is meal planning, hop on over to this post and sign up for my emails, including meal planning and recipes!)