Celebrating the New Year - with kids
Staying sane while trying to enjoy yourself as well
Photo by Jamie Street on Unsplash
Celebrating the New Year always feels exciting until you are trying to make plans. The anticipation for this cleansing of our calendar year often overwhelms a practical approach to have a fun night. Going out costs an arm and a leg, which makes it harder to plan things with friends. Crowds at popular places are often too much, and more often than not you end up with an evening out that cost too much and didn’t deliver.
Then, when you have kids, it’s a whole separate endeavor.
Kids want to celebrate too, but staying awake until midnight can be a tough game to play with the little ones. Tired kids are time bombs waiting to go off. I try to keep them busy and entertained as long as they can stay up, without the meltdown.
Here are the things I like to do as I stay in with my kids for the evening.
Netflix Family Friendly Countdowns
When you need a countdown to finish off your night, regardless of the time, Netflix comes to our rescue with their New Year’s Eve Countdowns. It’s always 2 minutes to midnight with a selection from a variety of family-friendly options.
Noon-Year’s-Eve Party
Many hands-on kid museums and suburban towns now offer a Noon-Year’s-Eve party dedicated to kids. You have a countdown at noon on New Year’s Eve and everyone gets to celebrate. A quick Google search will turn up results near you.
Appetizers For Dinner
Nothing says party like finger food. I typically stroll through Trader Joe’s frozen section and grab some easy tasty things that I can pop into the oven one after the next, and we nibble all night as we watch something on TV. The nice thing here is clean up is kept to a minimum (who wants to do dishes on NYE?), and I only make food until we are full. Plus, I get to try things we rarely buy so we can make it a special occasion.
Pick A Series To Watch
What a great time to watch a series of TV shows or movies. Last year, my oldest and I watched the entire Harry Potter collection over two nights. This year, I think we will do some Wes Anderson Movies (the ones geared more toward kids). I was even considering re-watching Anne with an “E” as the final season is our soon (January 3rd). Binge watch your night away.
Board Games
When was the last time you played a round of Parcheesi, Chinese Checkers, Mille Bornes? Raid your game closet and have a little fun around the dining room table.
Celebrate
What are you going to do at midnight? A little sparkling cider for the kids? Something bubbly for you too (you’ve probably earned it)? Why not try some traditions from around the world to make the evening more fun and a little worldly?
Make a pot of black-eyed peas for luck in the new year, break out the slow cooker.
Happy New Year!
Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.
Originally published on Adventuring.in on 31 December 2019