Tweens like to celebrate the New Year just as much as adults. Ringing in the new year at a New Year's Eve party is exciting, especially at the prospect of being able to stay up so late. How can parents make a long evening of waiting for midnight to arrive fun for kids? Here are some ideas for party games, fun and easy crafts to make, and food ideas that tweens can make together.
New Year's Eve Games
Race the Clock. Waiting for the new year is all about watching the clock and anticipating how much longer until midnight arrives. In this fun game, kids will race the clock to win cool prizes. Have two prizes for each tween to win. Also have a 60-second timer. Give each child a chance to win two prizes by guessing the price of each prize to the exact amount (rounded off to the nearest whole dollar amount). If a tween only guesses one prize within the 60 seconds, he wins that one prize. If he guesses both prices, he wins both prizes.
Charades with a Twist. Make cards for this classic party game by choosing only movie titles, popular kids' book titles, events, and people famous for the current year to give the game a twist. Playing an active game like this will help kids keep moving while the clock winds down to a new year.
New Year's Eve Crafts
Homemade Party Hats. Use colored cardstock paper to make a cone-shaped hat. Staple the hat together to hold its shape. Punch two small holes on each side of the hat, thread elastic string through each hole, and staple the elastic in place. Now give tweens sequins, letter/number sticker foam shapes to spell out "Happy New Year" and the year, and other decorative items to make a party hat.
Current Events Collage. At least a week before the big party, have each tween list 10 things they liked about the current year and ask parents to gather some pictures related to these events to bring to the party. Some kids may say it was a vacation, a birthday party, a particular school event, etc. If parents do not have pictures of certain events, find a related picture in a magazine or on the Internet. Let tweens make a collage of these memories on New Year's Eve to take home.
New Year's Eve Food Ideas
"Big Apple" New Year's Ball. Choose the biggest apples you can find at a grocery store or local produce market. Buy boxes of candy apple coating or make your own with a recipe found at Cooks.com. As soon as the candy apples cool for about 5 minutes, have kids add colored hard candies to the apple to make a sparkly countdown ball that looks just like the one at Times Square in New York. As the apples harden, the candies will stick very nicely.
Colorful Punch Slushies. With this drink recipe each tween can decide what color he wants his slushie to be for a colorful arrangement of sweet beverages. Start with a packet of unsweetened Kool-Aid (have different flavors/colors available to choose from), anywhere from 6-8 ice cubes, 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, and 2 cups of water. Blend together in a blender and serve.
Hopefully, the ideas presented here will come in handy. There are many other ideas for making a New Year's Eve party fun for kids right here on Suite101. As long as the kids are entertained and make it to midnight, the efforts to do these activities will be well worth it.
Denise Oliveri - Denise has been writing for Suite101 for many years, and enjoys sharing her experiences and knowledge with readers. Her main occupation at ...
