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How to Throw a Rockin’ New Year’s Eve Party for Kids

We can’t believe it’s already time to ring in the new year! Seriously, where did the year go? We’re so excited for all the adventures that come with a fresh, new year and are firm believers in celebrating it right. Although spending the evening with kids might not mean a sparkly new dress or a fancy dinner out, we promise it can be just as fun! We’ve got some festive ideas for a New Year’s Eve party for kids—we promise this is one party the whole family will love!

If you’re planning to host family and friends for a New Year’s Eve celebration, we suggest spreading the word with an online invitation. With all of December’s craziness, an online invite is the way to go. Plus, there are so many adorable, free options available! We loved this New Year’s Eve party invitation from Minted, which set the stage for our party’s gold, peach and pink color scheme.

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

How cute is this gold bar cart? We decided to use it as our party centerpiece and decorate it with all kinds of kid-friendly New Year’s Eve celebration must-haves. We started with a mini balloon garland in the party’s color scheme and draped it across the back and down the sides of the cart. In front, we layered a sparkly star garland over a tissue tassel garland and added a giant, clear balloon with white polka dots.

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

We stocked the top shelf with all of our New Year’s Eve toast essentials, including milk, donuts and paper goods. The bottom shelf is full of everything kids will love, like pink shimmery gumballs, “Midnight” Hershey’s Kisses, gold confetti throwers, and of course, it isn’t a real party without party blowers!

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

Let’s talk about how to keep everyone entertained all evening. Kids ALWAYS love a good scavenger hunt, so why not do one for New Year’s Eve? First, determine how many hours you want your countdown to span. For younger children, we recommend starting the evening earlier, like at 5:00pm, and ringing in the New Year with the Times Square Ball Drop at 9:00pm along with the east coast (if you’re out west like us).

Set an activity for each hour or half hour to help move the night along and keep the kids busy. We had fun wrapping little presents that each contained a clue about the activity to take place for the hour of the evening. Come up with clever clues, and hide the presents in silly places, like the bathtub or the freezer. Kids will love finding and unwrapping them. Here’s an idea for how your night could unfold.

Clue #1 (5:00-6:00pm)—Dinner
Make this fun and interactive! Try setting up a pizza bar and letting the kids make their own pizza creations.

Clue #2 (6:00-7:00pm)—Games
Games are always a good idea. Our favorites are Pictionary and BINGO. Don’t forget the prizes!

Clue #3 (7:00-8:00pm)—Dessert
Make this interactive as well with an activity like a build-your-own ice cream sundae bar.

Clue #4 (8:00-9:00pm)—Crafts
Set up a few craft activities to keep your kiddos busy through the home stretch of the evening. We love the idea of making and decorating party hats to wear while you’re ringing in the new year!

Clue #5 (9:00pm)—Toast & Bedtime (Yay!)
Happy New Year! Celebrate the year with a milk and donut toast, confetti throwing and party horn blowing. Go around and ask each child what they’re excited for in the coming year.

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

New Year's Eve Party for Kids

We wish you a safe and happy New Year!

Photography by Tammy Hughes Photography

Cate

Monday 3rd of January 2022

Thank you for the amazing idea! This was AWESOME! We got all dressed up in pretty dresses, had a quick dance party and then started our scavenger hunt night. I made little clues to find the wrapped boxes ("Where do the brooms hide?") - and then my six and 2 year ran to the broom closet and found a box that they had to open with another clue inside ("It is round and YUMMY and covered in cheese - where would you find it?") - so they ran to the kitchen for us to make pizzas! We had four in all (Make pizzas, Play board games, Make sundaes, and Toast in the New Year (with a special kids mocktail)). This was so easy to do and was really super magical for my kids (especially during the terrible COVID outbreak). Thank you for this post!! Oh, and we didn't do any prizes, only in the last clue I gave my daughter a little book to write down all of her special ideas for 2022.

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