Kids’ New Year’s Eve Countdown

We are so excited to be having friends visit us from out of town this year for New Year’s Eve. I want the kids to have just as much fun celebrating as we will so I created a Kids’ New Year’s Eve Countdown just for them.

I tried to pick independent activities that the children could do together to give the adults time to talk or play a game and that were quick and easy for me to prepare.

Play Dough Creations

I made homemade, scented play dough and put it in individual containers with googly eyes, beads, pipe cleaners, gems, buttons, golf tees, etc. Each child will have their own dough and trinkets to get creative with. Add these free printable New Year’s Eve playdough mats to take things up a notch. 

Beaded Bracelets

I put a pipe cleaner and a handful of beads in a bag for each kid. Super simple to put together and I’m hoping they will have fun making and wearing their bracelets.

Box Snowmen

We’ve made a bigger box snowman before, but I thought it would be fun to do again on a smaller scale so I wrapped 3 small boxes with white paper for each child to decorate with markers, stickers, paper, etc. and turn into their very own indoor snowman. Think trash bag boxes, microwave popcorn boxes, poptart boxes, etc. Don’t worry if they aren’t perfectly square.

 

Fireworks Painting

Fold 4 pipe cleaners in half and start twisting them. Stop about half way down and bend the remaining pieces out to make the fireworks stamps. This idea is from Juggling with Kids. She has great step by step instructions and you can see how her paintings turned out.

Baking Soda and Vinegar Color Volcanoes

Put a spoonful of baking soda on a tray, add a drop of food coloring, and cover the food coloring with more baking soda. Make several, different colored baking soda mountains in each tray. Give each child vinegar to pour over the baking soda and watch the color explosion. You can use squeeze bottles, medicine droppers, spoons, or a turkey baster to put the vinegar on the baking soda. I bought a disposable aluminum tray for each child so we can just recycle it when we are finished to make clean up easier. This is a really popular activity with all age groups so I know they will spend quite awhile experimenting with the baking soda and vinegar.

Decorate Cookies

Sugar cookies (or vanilla wafers), frosting, and sprinkles are all you need to get this activity started. I know all of the kids will be excited to decorate and eat their own cookies!

 

Shredded Paper Snowman

Idea from Housing a Forest

 

I have paper plates, a bag of shredded paper, black circles, orange triangles, and a ton of glue ready to get the craft started.

Water Bottle Snowman Bowling

Idea and photo from Mom to 2 Posh Little Divas

I saved a water bottle for each child to stuff with cotton balls and decorate it as a snowman. Then we are going to use them as bowling pins for a game of Snowman Bowling like they did at Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.

 

I’m still debating on how and when to do the activities. Maybe we will do an activity each hour (until their bed time) or maybe I will just get one out whenever we need one. I’m going to number the activities and put numbers on sticks to draw from a cup or wrap the numbers in small boxes to pick from and open to make it more exciting. Either way I’m looking forward to having a great New Year’s Eve with the kids and our friends!

For older children, check out this New Year’s Eve Craft: