Have a Familiy New Year's
Blast!
by:
Norma Schmidt
Believe it or not, you CAN enjoy a New
Year’s Eve bash once you have kids – even if
you CAN’T get a sitter!
PRESCHOOLERS AND KIDS IN THE EARLY
ELEMENTARY GRADES LOVE GETTING INTO THE NEW
YEAR'S SPIRIT.
To build excitement, announce a day or two
ahead of time that you’re going to have a
night-time New Year’s party with pajamas on.
Then, when you go grocery shopping, you can
let your child pick out a party snack.
A trip to a party store for some
inexpensive noisemakers will add to the
excitement.
Or, create home-made noisemakers and
decorations together. Visit
familycrafts.about.com/od/newyears or
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/newyear/
for ideas.
On the afternoon or early evening of
December 31, sit down together with some
oversized construction paper, glue sticks,
markers, crayons and scissors and make party
hats.
Now, here’s the sweet part: Young children
don’t seem to mind at all if “midnight” comes
at 9 PM – or even earlier!
All you need to do is put on your party
hats, pick your time, count down from 10 and
yell “Happy New Year!” with lots of noise and
hugs and kisses. Then enjoy your party snack.
HAVE OLDER KIDS IN THE HOUSE?
You have even more fun choices as kids
mature. You can:
Print out the words to “Auld Lang Syne”
(“times long past”) from the Internet and
learn to sing it as a family. You can get the
words and hear the tune at
http://wilstar.com/xmas/auldlangsyne.htm
Put into a box all the ticket stubs,
souvenirs and photos you’ve saved from the
year that’s ending. Take turns pulling items
out of the box and sharing fond memories.
With adult supervision, let kids make
home-made party snacks.
Rent funny movies or old sitcoms to watch
together. Maybe Abott and Costello or “The
Honeymooners” will tickle your family’s funny
bone.
Invite everyone to write down on a strip
of toilet tissue events from the year that
they want to put behind them. Then
ceremoniously (or unceremoniously!) flush
away.
Play an old-fashioned game of charades.
You might want to print out the special
charades sign language from
http://www.answers.com/topic/charades-2
Invite family members to write down hopes
and intentions for the coming year on slips of
paper. Each person can seal their paper in an
envelope, to be opened the following New
Year’s Eve if desired.
After your celebration, consider saving
your noisemakers and decorations to use again.
Kids enjoy rediscovering their old favorites
from year to year.
As for you – Who knows? Maybe the kids will
take you to a whole new level of New Year’s
fun.
(c) Norma Schmidt, LLC
About The Author
Norma Schmidt, M.A., M.Div., helps busy parents create peaceful,
connected, spiritually well-fed families.
To get her free report, "55 Free and
Low-Cost Ways to Have the Best Holiday
Season Ever," click here or visit
www.ParentCafeOnline.com |
