See ya, 2020! 50 Ways to Celebrate New Year’s Eve as a Family
I think we can ALL agree that New Year’s Eve this year will look different than it has in years past, but that doesn’t mean we can’t ring in 2021 with a little fun! If nothing else, surviving 2020 is certainly something to celebrate, so we’ve rounded up 50 fabulous ideas for celebrating with (or without, no judgment) your littles!
Looking Back on 2020
New Year’s Eve is a natural time to take stock of the year that has passed. Here are some ideas to help you reflect.
- Complete family questionnaires and year-end interviews. It’s a great chance to complete a snapshot of who your kids are right now.
- Create a time capsule. In ours, we will probably include a mask, an empty bottle of hand sanitizer, and an empty toilet paper roll. 2020, amirite?
- Take a trip down memory lane. Look through the videos on your phone and giggle at all the random moments you’ve captured.
- While you’ve got your phone, choose the best photos of the year to print or upload into a scrapbook. They’re not doing anyone any good sitting in the cloud. We’ve heard awesome things about Chatbooks!
- Look back at all the good things that happened this year from our friends at Some Good News.
Looking Forward
One of the best things about New Year’s Eve is that we can look forward to 2021! After the year we’ve had, dreaming about ANYTHING seems like the most hopeful thing I can do.
6. Create a memory jar for 2021. I know good things happened to us in 2020, but I can’t remember most of them. Creating a memory jar will help me next New Year’s Eve.
7. Get out your 2021 Calendar and make some plans. (Nothing huge, because we know better than that at this point. But some totally refundable plans would be great!) Having things to look forward to always puts me in a better mood.
8. Make your resolutions. Mine will involve working on relationships. I miss my people.
9. Make your 2021 Bingo Card. Please, for the sake of us all, leave off the murder hornets.
10. Make your 2021 reading (or binge-watching) list. Set a reading goal and create a Goodreads account so you can track your progress!
Good Luck and Good Karma
2020 has been rough. Anything we can do to prevent a repeat in 2021 seems like a great idea.
11. Get your charitable donation in before year-end!
12. Clear out things you don’t need. Give to local organizations if you can.
13. Write thank you cards to those who have helped you survive 2020.
14. Make amends with anyone you might have hurt this year, even if it was unintentional.
15. Perform a random act of kindness.
16. Choose your own adventure to benefit Special Olympics Wisconsin!
17. Take part in a New Year Good Luck Tradition–or start your own!
18. Make a plan to volunteer in 2021.
Just for Fun!
19. Do your own photoshoot. Be goofy and add props if you’re up for it! Step it up a notch and make some Tik Toks or Reels as a family!
20. Sit down and play some classic board games or cards. Some popular faves for elementary age kids are Exploding Kittens and SkipBo and if you have older kiddos, Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan are both fantastic!
21. Create some noisemakers! (Just make sure they’re gone by the morning…)
22. Have a movie marathon. The Disney+ catalog makes this suuuuuuper easy!
23. Head to Spotify and have a dance party with your top played songs. (Solidarity if the Paw Patrol Theme makes the cut.)
24. Pop Confetti (OR–blow bubbles. Less Mess.)
25. Complete an at-home treasure hunt.
26. Have a Zoom party or Google Meet with your extended family and friends. You can use House Party to make NYE a Game Night!
27. Get your kids’ friends together for a car parade.
28. Get dressed up fancy, even if you have nowhere to go! Bonus points if you take photos.
29. Pretend you’re not stuck home and go on a virtual cruise!
30. Do a craft or two!
31. Throw down with a dance or lip sync battle!
32. Jim Gaffigan at the Pabst is a Milwaukee NYE Tradition. Watch one of his (or someone else’s) comedy specials at home.
33. Say yes to something you wouldn’t normally agree to. Ice Cream for breakfast? Why not?!
34. Have some good old-fashioned family competition with some minute to win it games.
35. Visit the Zoo — it’s free for the last week of 2020!
36. Let the kids smash a piñata. (Or, you know, get your own 2020 stress out.)
Noon Year’s Eve Virtual Rave with The Kid Boogie Down
* Click link to: twitch.tv/kidboogiedown to view in a browser
OR
* (GET INTERACTIVE) Log in to the Twitch app/ Create an account to join the chat to make comments/song requests!
Food and Drink
37. Make a fancy Charcuterie Board with all your favorite finger foods!
38. Cocktails and Mocktails
39. Great Lakes Distillery tasting flight
40. Hot Cocoa Bar! Or, bust out the Hot Cocoa Bombs and snuggle up under blankets.
41. Brunch or Doughnuts on New Year’s Day
42. Get some takeout from your favorite local restaurant!
The usual hits
43. Watch Disney’s Magical Show or another fireworks display.
44. Watch a concert or musical. Have you seen Hamilton or Newsies on Disney+ yet?
45. Watch New Year’s Rockin’ Eve
46. Watch the ball drop (or choose a Netflix countdown to get everyone in bed on time)
47. DIY Balloon Drop with supplies you can get at the Dollar Store!
48. At-Home Karaoke Showdown
49. Kiss someone (that you live with) at Midnight
50. And the ultimate favorite for tired parents…..Go to bed early.
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