NYE Children's Party

For the past few years we have had a mini party at home for New Years Eve. We decorate the house, cook party food and have a chocolate fondue for pudding. We play some games, have a dance and celebrate New Year just before bedtime instead of midnight!

Last year I picked up some party supplies in Tesco. Afterwards, I found that Poundland has a great range at a fraction of the price which I wish I had known earlier! I bought some garlands to decorate the room with, party hats to decorate with stickers and write the year on and some party poppers to pop at 'midnight'.

We always celebrate 'midnight' just before bedtime. After we countdown, we dance to Auld Lang Syne and watch some NYE fireworks clips from the previous year on YouTube. We play games throughout the afternoon/evening as we countdown to midnight. Here are some of the games we have played:

Beat the clock

You will need:

• 12 paper cups labelled 1-12

• a pair of tights

• a soft ball/beanbag

Arrange the cups on the floor to create a clock. Put an object such as a soft ball in the end of the tights then put them on your head. Try to knock down all of the cups by swinging the tights. Start at 1 o'clock and see if you can make it all the way around to 12 o'clock in one minute!

Make the date

You will need:

• cardboard

Create a game board for each player with the new year written on it. Cut up some cardboard and write numbers on each piece. Make sure there are enough numbers to make the date for each player plus some extra numbers.

Turn all of the number cards so they are face down. Each player takes it in turns to turn over a number. If they need it for their date they keep it and if they don’t need it they put it back. The first person to find all of the numbers to make the new year is the winner.

You can also play this game using a dice - you will need to choose one of the numbers to count as 0. Each player needs a game board with the year and 4 coins. If you roll one of the numbers on your board cover it with a coin. The first person to cover all 4 numbers wins everyone else's coins. You can roll two dice if any of the digits in the year are more than 6.

Party Blower Race

You will need:

• Party blowers

• Paper cups or pom poms

Place one paper cup upside down/a pom pom on the table for each player. Use the party blowers to move the party cup/pom pom to the other side of the table. Who can make theirs fall off the table first?

Top tip - If you push the piece of plastic down under the other piece it will stop the party blowers from making a noise when blown! If you don't have party blowers, you can just blow with your mouth.

Glow Stick Ring Toss

You will need:

• A bottle

• Glow sticks

Use glow sticks to make hoops. Try to throw them over the neck of a bottle. Who can score the most points? This is fun to play with the lights dimmed or just a lamp on. You could use an empty bottle and place a glow stick inside to make the target easy to see.

Alternatively, cut hoops out of cardboard and try to throw them over the bottle.

The Doughnut Game

You will need:

• a hanger

• doughnuts

• ribbon or string

Tie the string or ribbon to the bottom of the hanger. Put a doughnut on the hook and have an adult hold it. You want it to just be in reach of the person's mouth when they are kneeling. They should put their hands behind their back and try to bite the doughnut. If they get it they can eat it. It's trickier than it sounds and is really funny to watch.

DIY Party Poppers

This activity is from the Handwriting Club and is a great way to develop your child's pencil grip.

You will need:

• Balloon

• Toilet roll tube

• Scissors

• Cellotape

• Pom Poms/balls of scrunched-up paper

Tie a knot in an uninflated balloon then cut the top off. Tape the balloon to the end of a toilet roll tube. Your child could decorate the tube using stickers, washi tape or felt tip pens

Put pom poms or scrunched-up pieces of paper into the tube. Pull the balloon back and let go. You could use these at midnight or earlier in the evening. Use a bowl as a target and see who can get the most pom-poms into the bowl.

As it gets closer to bedtime we celebrate the New Year. One year I tied a muslin blanket to the ceiling and filled it with balloons. We counted down and released the balloons when we got to 0. Another year we popped confetti balloons which was fun but messy! This year I have bought some plastic wine glasses which I am going to use to toast the New Year with milk and cookies.

So that's how we spend our NYE now we have children :)

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Click the photo below for a link to NYE party decorations.