Community Corner

5 Things to Entertain Kids on New Year's Eve

While some parents are too exhausted to even think about staying up until midnight, others are ready to celebrate on New Year's Eve.

While some communities offer family friendly New Year's Eve events, it's just not practical for some people to hit the town with kids in tow. Patch offers the following suggestions for making the most of your celebration at home.

Hire an Activity Director

Invite other families with kids over and ask a local student home from college (or the responsible teen in the neighborhood) to be your activity director for the evening. Put this person in charge of leading games, crafts and snacks. Family Fun magazine has some great party suggestions. This scenario works well if you have a basement or rec room where the kids can have their own "party" for the evening
while the adults gather somewhere else in the house.

Dress Up

Kids of all ages love to dress up in crazy outfits. Choose a theme for the evening or offer another opportunity to wear those old Halloween costumes. Just because you're a parent doesn't mean you have to trade your formalwear for pajamas on New Year's Eve. It's fun for kids to see their parents get dressed up too. Incorporate crafts for the kids such as decorating crowns and party hats with glitter and plastic jewels from the local art supply store.

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Host a Movie-thon

Whether you choose to watch all three Toy Story movies or the entire Star Wars saga, be prepared to make a lot of popcorn. Create a movie-theater atmosphere by setting up a snack bar where kids can get juice boxes, refill their popcorn or choose from other favorite snacks. To keep things interesting, ask movie trivia questions and award small prizes after showing each flick.

Create a Time Capsule

Spend the evening going through photos, artwork and other items (movie ticket stubs, coins, stamps, report cards, etc.) from this year. Ask children questions and record their likes and dislikes. Burn a CD of everyone's current favorite songs. Older children can draw a self portrait or write about their goals for the upcoming year. Put all the items in a box to be stored away or actually buried in the backyard to be discovered sometime in the future.

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Watch the Ball Drop

Stay home (and warm) while still feeling part of the action in Times Square in New York City by watching the televised broadcast. Since some of the musical entertainment and antics leading up to the ball dropping can be boring for kids to watch, offer themed snacks (cheese balls) and make crafts (sequined balls that can double as ornaments or glittery balls made from paper plates). Disney Channel also has their own New Year's Eve programming that kids could watch up until the ball drops. Build up excitement for the countdown to midnight, then throw confetti or blow homemade horns.

Note that leaving the kids with a family member or babysitter isn't the only option if you want an adults-only evening. Camp Letts in Edgewater is offering an overnight children's . The cost is $85 per child, with a $5 discount for siblings. 


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