9+ Fun New Year's Eve Ideas for Families (with Free Scavenger Hunt)

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Looking for the perfect New Years Eve ideas for families? These fantastic activities are sure to help you enjoy a fun celebration with your kids while creating unforgettable memories with your loved ones.

Whether you're planning an early celebration or staying up until midnight, you'll discover a variety of ways to make this time special and memorable. These New Year's Eve ideas for families are packed with joy, laughter, and excitement - perfect for welcoming the new year together!

Oh, and here's something extra special - you'll also find a FREE printable New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt to add to your list of cool things to do as you wait to ring in the new year!

RELATED: Get this free printable New Year bingo game for more fun with kids!

Easily Make This New Year's Eve Special with Your Kids

Who doesn’t love the anticipation and excitement of a New Year’s Eve bash?

While a night on the town may be the more traditional approach to ring in a new year, a family-friendly affair at home is just as fun. Actually, I absolutely love a New Year’s Eve celebration with my 5 boys much more!

It takes a bit of planning to make a New Year’s Eve party fun for all ages. But, the key is to keep it simple and relaxed.

To get your party planning juices going, here are 9+ amazing ideas for you to consider for your family. You'll find an ideal party activity for each age and stage in your household to happily celebrate the new year.

Related: Free printable New Year's Eve color by number pages

Fantastic New Year's Eve Ideas for Families

⭐️ Get Dressed Up

Create the ambiance and fun of an exclusive New Year's Eve party simply by dressing up! Staying home doesn't mean you have to go without a bit of glitz and glitter. In fact, being at home means you can be as fancy or as silly as you want - no judgment!

For easy and simple dress-up ideas, pick up some sparkly accessories from the dollar store, such as party hats, tiaras, or wacky new year glasses. It's amazing to see what everyone chooses!

Oh, and don't forget some special party decor and photo props! These will come in handy for making memories throughout the night. We love setting up a simple photo area with a blank wall and some sparkly decorations - the pictures from these moments are priceless!

⭐️ New Year’s Eve Countdown Activities

Countdown activities are perfect for keeping kids and guests busy while waiting for the arrival of midnight.

Provide kids (and adults!) with something new every hour to keep everyone full of good cheer and entertained all evening. We've found that mixing up different types of activities helps maintain excitement throughout the night. Try including:

• New Year's Eve printable activities that get everyone thinking
• A new minute-to-win-it game every hour (these are always a huge hit!)
• Cookie decorating sessions that double as snack time

⭐️ New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt (scroll down to get your FREE printable!)

Scavenger hunts are perfect activities that keep everyone involved and excited. They're especially great for New Year's Eve because they get people moving and laughing together.

When guests arrive, hand them this adorable New Year’s Eve scavenger hunt and let the fun begin!

To make the game more fun, have prizes that encourage everyone to find their inner sleuth. Examples of how prizes can be awarded include:

• First to finish
• Last to complete
• First one to find a specific item 
• Most creative interpretation of an item
• Best teamwork during the hunt
  

Consider adding some small prizes for an even more fun New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt. Dollar store items, special privileges (like choosing the next activity), or even homemade certificates can make great rewards!

⭐️ Become a Family of Time Travelers

When you're brainstorming New Year's Eve ideas for families, remember that younger children who can't stay up until midnight don't have to miss out on the joy of welcoming a new year. It's totally okay if you miss the live event of seeing the ball drop in Times Square!

Get everyone involved (and maintain a decent bedtime) by pretending to be time travelers for an evening and ring in the new year at an earlier time.

Netflix has kid-friendly “Happy New Year’s” videos that can create the illusion the clock strikes midnight when it’s most convenient for your family. You'll find other movies with New Year's Eve themes also on Netflix.

⭐️ Add Some Creative Activities to Your Celebration

When planning family-friendly New Year's Eve activities, it's smart to add a few quiet activities to your list. Sometimes, the excitement can start to overflow, and you might need a breather 😉

Coloring pages can be fun for all. Grab this free set of New Year's eve color by number activities and New Year's Eve Fun for kids set. Just add crayons and you'll have a simple yet fun way to relax.

Want more creative New Year's Eve ideas for families? Try these engaging activities:

• Spaceships & Laser Beams shares a great list of family-friendly crafts with New Year's Eve themes.
• This New Year's Eve Wand Craft from Projects for Kids is totally awesome for DIY fun!
• Add some cool New Year's books for kids.
• Make a family time capsule (or your kids can make individual time capsules like these cool ones!).

For hands-on fun, get out some playdough and create New Year's Eve themed sculptures. You can make party hats, fireworks, or even try to sculpt the numbers of the new year.

If your kids really love sensory activities, make this New Year's Eve slime that Little Bins for Little Hands shares - just be prepared for some gloriously messy fun!

And one of our favorite things to do is grab a cardboard box and decorate it with crayons, markers, stickers, and stamps. Such a frugal yet fun way to keep busy! You can create a "celebration box" to hold all your New Year's Eve party supplies or even make a pretend time machine for your early countdown celebrations.

⭐️ Host A Board Game Night

If your family loves board games, try turning your New Year’s Eve party into a festive family games night.

Choose games that everyone will want to try. For ideas that are better suited for younger kids, consider simple games that can be tweaked, like bingo or Twister (not exactly "board" game but still lots of fun!).

You can even add New Year's Eve themes to classic games - like adding special cards to Uno or creating New Year's themed trivia questions for family game shows.

⭐️ Enjoy Activities with New Year's Eve Themes

Keep the festive spirit going with themed games that add an extra special touch to your family New Year's Eve celebration. These activities can be spread throughout the evening or saved for when you need to change things up.

You'll have a blast with:

• New Year's Eve Alphabet Game - try to think of celebration-related words for each letter
• New Year's Eve Word Search - perfect for a quiet moment
• New Year's Eve Word Scramble
• New Year's Eve Bingo Game

⭐️ Make Fizzy Drinks

No list of New Year's Eve ideas for families would be complete without special beverages! Bubbling beverages are a classic sign of a festive New Year's celebration.

For non-alcoholic and kid-friendly options, consider adding these exciting drinks to your all-ages soiree:

• Shirley Temple mocktail
• Sparkling water with berries
• New Year Sunrise Mocktail

Make it extra special by letting your older kids write out toasts that are thoughtful, funny, or even musical! We love hearing what each family member is grateful for from the past year and what they're looking forward to in the new year.

⭐️ Try Some Tasty Treats with New Year's Eve Themes

Every family-friendly New Year's Eve celebration needs some special snacks! Pick a few of these kid-friendly New Year's eve treats shared by Kids Activities Blog.

And you just can't go wrong with pizza with some special toppings as a yummy snack! We love creating a "build-your-own" pizza bar where everyone can add their favorite toppings - it's a fun activity and dinner all in one!

Get Your FREE Printable New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt

Ready to add some extra excitement to your family New Year's Eve celebration?

This FREE printable fun scavenger hunt has New Year's Eve themes and is on one page. It's a great way to enjoy a fun activity with kids of all ages. Themes you'll find are:

• Clock
• Candy
• Confetti
• Balloons
• Fireworks
• Fizzy drink
• Noise maker
• New year
• Candle
• Snowflake
• Party hat
• Tiara

You can totally print out as many copies of this scavenger hunt as you need to enjoy for personal use with your family and friends 😊

If you’d like to share this activity with your friends, family, or co-workers, that would be awesome. If you do, I ask that you please share this post. Thanks in advance for your cooperation and sharing!

To get this free printable New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt, simply subscribe to Rock Your Homeschool.

⭐️ You’ll receive an email with a PDF file plus a password to open the VIP Resource Library to all RYHS freebies. Email Amy at rockyourhomeschool@gmail.com if you have any problems!

Oh, and you’ll also get emails with ideas, resources, and encouragement to make life and learning fun 🙂

(Hey hey! Current RYHS members just need to access the VIP Resource Library page and enter the password in your welcome email.)

⭐️ Get your FREE New Year's Eve Scavenger Hunt now! ⭐️

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