Can y’all believe we are heading into 2023 already? Ever since the twilight zone of 2020, time has been strange for me. Sometimes it flies and other times it drags, but it mostly flies! As New Years Eve approaches, my kids have been asking what we are going to do this year. I came up with a list of activities and I am letting them help plan the night.
All of these activities will work, whether your kiddos can hang until midnight or not. When my kids were younger, we would do an early countdown like this one. You can find lots of options online. Since young ones don’t really know the difference, you can do one of the activities on this list at 7pm and have your kids in bed by 8 or 9pm.
There are two on this list that I have never tried before but would like to incorporate this year. The Q&A reflection form and the time capsule. We have done all of the others over the years and my kids have enjoyed them.
BACKYARD BONFIRE
Last year my kids had a ball celebrating the New Year in the backyard around a fire. We drank hot chocolate, made smores, chatted and took fun photos. It was the first year that my kids made it to midnight. My 5yr old, just barely; he was begging to go to bed at 11:45pm but we did funny dances and entertained him for the next 15min to keep him awake. haha!!
DRIVE-THROUGH CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
You can google drive through Christmas Lights to find any that may be close to you. We did this back in 2019 and the entire family enjoyed it. Most of the places in my area are about $20 per vehicle. I think most people tend to do the light displays before Christmas but there is nothing wrong with waiting until New Years Eve. Bonus: there aren’t usually any lines on NYE because everyone did them in the week leading up to Christmas!
FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT
You can make some popcorn and have a movie night to ring in the new year. I’m all about keeping with the theme so I try to find NYE related movies. Some fun options for families are Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne and Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year.
FAMILY GAME NIGHT
Spend some time unplugged with your family on NYE and play some games. You can play board games like Monopoly or Candyland, or go even more old school and try Charades. Lately, my kids have been into question games like this or Would You Rather and Jenga. Whatever you choose, your family is sure to have fun spending some competitive quality time together.
START A TRADITION: FILL OUT THE SAME Q&A FORM EACH YEAR
I wish I would have thought of this sooner. It would be fun to look back comparing life before kids to life with kids. You can use this form or you can create your own. The point is to answer the same questions every year and save them. Fill the form out for the current year then take time as a family going over the forms from previous years. You can do individual forms or do a group form. Whatever works best for your family.
CREATE A FAMILY TIME CAPSULE
This activity involves saving memorable items from the year like ticket stubs, special trinkets, a photo or two etc. If you have a drawer or desk top where you keep special things from the year, grab them and put them in a mason jar. The problem in my house is that things tend to go missing for months at a time. Haha. It would probably be easier for us to create it during the year then examine the contents on NYE. Whatever works for your family. You can also write out memories from the year on colorful pieces of paper if you don’t have any souvenirs from the year. Here are detailed instructions with images on how this works.
HATS AND POPS AND NOISE, O MY!
I don’t remember many New Years Eve celebrations as a child but I do remember one in the early 1980’s (above circa 1983) when my sister and I were with my grandparents. We made hats to wear and had hot chocolate. Sometimes, the smallest things can make a memory. All you need is computer paper or construction paper, a stapler or tape and some scissors to make the hats. The POPS part requires balloons. You can blow up several balloons and pop one on the hour, every hour, as the New Year approaches. Lastly, the NOISE comes from homemade noise makers. There are many ways to make homemade noise makers but one of the easiest is to use an old water bottle or soda bottle. Just add rice or beans to the bottle and viola! You’ve got yourself a noise maker. For more “creative” noise makers, check out this video.
Whatever you and your family decide to do to ring in 2023, I hope you share many laughs, lots of hugs and make it memorable. Happy New Year!!
