When you have children, the days of hitting the town until the small hours may seem like a distant memory for some, and that’s not always such a bad thing. You could be lucky enough to be staying with us on weekend cottage holidays, Cornwall with the family later in the year but while you’re at home you can still keep one and all entertained. With our ideas, you’ll have no worries whatsoever!
Take a look and see which ones you fancy doing for your family night in on NYE.
1. Have a mini party
Get everyone to blow up balloons to play with in anticipation of ‘the big countdown’.
2. Get the drinks ready
Obviously the children can’t have alcohol but they can have mocktails or soft drinks that they would only usually have as a treat to make it special.
3. Make a resolution
This one is for age appropriate kids, but you can get them to make their own resolution. You never know, you might get lucky, they could read more books, play less on their mobile, tablets, or games consoles, smile more, or maybe even help out at home more?
4. Do the countdown
Realistically there are going to be few parents who let their kids stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve as it’ll be way past their bedtime, but this doesn’t mean they can’t have a countdown of their own. Why not have a countdown for them at 12 noon so that they are included and feel part of the occasion?
5. Watch a film
Once the excitement has worn off a bit, pop a movie on that they children can get cozied up to… the next thing you know they’ll be fast asleep!
6. Dress up
Get the kids dressed up as their favourite hero or Disney character so that they’re dressed up just like the revellers out on the town? They’ll have just as good a time!
7. Let them stay up a little later
Make the exception for New Year’s Eve and let the little ones stay up an hour or so later than you usually would. It won’t do any harm and you can use your own discretion to decide how long they get to stay up for.
8. Special cups
Get some plastic champagne flutes and put their drinks in them to spruce up their evening, they’ll love the theatre!
9. Ask what they want to do
They might not fully understand the stigma that surrounds New Year’s Eve (do you?), so explain what it’s all about and why people like to do something for the evening, then ask what they’ enjoy doing for their mini NYE.
10. Have Fun!
Most of all, have fun, and look forward to 2015!