Well, since we received a few emails from Moms asking for New Year’s Eve advice on how to include the under 5 crowd, we thought we’d share how it goes down at our house.
Trading in parties, champagne and midnight celebrations for home made pizza, kazoos and warm chocolate with marshmallows; it’s just as fun and we get to celebrate twice if Mom and Dad can stay awake for round two!
The Count Down
We celebrate a bit early so there is plenty of time to wind down after the excitement and get into bedtime mode. So we decided to have New Year’s in Paris. Six hours earlier makes it a perfect time to get in all the festivities and get the little ones off to bed before cranky sets in. If your tv has internet access, you can watch the countdown live at the Eiffel Tower and enjoy the amazing fireworks as well.
The Feast
There’s just nothing quite like home made pizza with the kids: easy, tasty and FUN! A couple of bags of pre-made pizza dough – we enjoy Trader Joe’s – a ton of cheese and a few choice toppings and we’re ready to roll. The kids love making their own pies – Dinner and entertainment in one – thirty minutes and it’s done.
Kazoos
A New Year’s celebration just isn’t complete without noisemakers and our personal favorite would be home made kazoos. Super easy to make with cardboard toilet or paper towel tubes, some wax paper and a rubber band. Give the kids a glue stick, paint, glitter, whatever you’re comfortable with; nurture their creativity! Of course, all the traditional noisemakers apply, it’s your call. We do, however, enjoy the less ear splitting sound of the kazoo…
Party Hats
Honestly, we just take the easy route on this one. Our daughter is all about ‘fancy’ and it’s just easier to let her pick out the perfect hat for celebrating. A quick trip to the craft store and we’re good to go.
The Toast
Mock tails are popular and a fun way for kids to join in the celebratory toast, but we prefer a nice mug of cocoa with a bunch of mini marshmallows and a left over candy cane as a stirrer. Just make sure it’s cooled down enough to avoid unhappy lips and tongues!
I’m sure in years to come, we’ll push the celebrating back and eventually make it to midnight, but for now, this is just about perfect. We hope you enjoyed reading some of the ways we ring in the New Year and we’ll see ya in Paris!
About Christa Donohue