If you’ve got young children, there’s a good chance you won’t be out late this New Year’s Eve, coming home in the early hours of the morning ready to sleep it off with few memories of the night before.
If staying in for New Year's is your new normal, read on for 5 fun ways to celebrate New Year's Eve with your family.
Here are five fun ways to celebrate New Year's Eve with your family:
Get a big piece of paper and draw your dreams!
There are lots of fun ways you can make New Year celebrations magical and memorable with kids.
A new year ahead is an exciting prospect for children, so embrace ways to both celebrate the new year and reflect on the one that is closing.
Here are five fun ways to celebrate New Year's Eve with your family:
1. Draw Your Dreams
Get a big piece of paper and draw your dreams!
Find as big a piece of paper as you can – a roll of paper from an art shop is ideal – and place it on the living room floor, kitchen table, or wherever you have the most space.
Arm all your artists with pens, pencils, glitter, plus scissors and a pile of old magazines.
Have everyone draw and collage out their dreams for the new year. You'll create something beautiful together and also encourage everyone to chat about their hopes for the year to come.
Add pictures that represent what you want to do, places you'd like to visit, things that make you smile.
Adding words that resonate with you is also a great idea. Some people choose a word of the year as a code for their family life.
When everyone is finished you will have a huge piece of art that reflects your family’s dreams for the new year.
2. Cook a Family Meal
Nigel Slater recommends starting the new year with lentils for luck, but you could make your New Year's Eve meal a special one too.
We love to have a carpet picnic of party foods and all those little supermaket party foods and canapes.
Or you could create a delicious three course meal and make it super special with a tablecloth and menu.
Spend the day making delicious food together, then decorate the table and the room ready for New Year.
3. Invite Friends or Neighbours Round
Dependent on where you live, many of your neighbours and local friends may have young children too, so invite them round to hang out together.
Keep it informal and relaxed, ask everyone to bring a dish for a pot luck supper, or make some big batch meals like chilli and jacket potatoes.
Put a film on and pop some popcorn for the kids or put on some party tunes.
The kids will love staying up late playing with their friends and you can relax and chat without too many interruptions!
4. Plant Seeds or Bulbs
The Winter Solstice is behind us and the days are gradually starting get longer and brighter, so why not look ahead to spring by planting some seeds or bulbs at new year?
Whilst bulbs are traditionally planted around Autumn Equinox, some experts say you can still pot bulbs up in January and it's a good time to get some flower and vegetable seeds starteed too.
Spend some time on New Year's Eve planting seeds or bulbs together, put them in your sunniest spot and look forward to the spring.
You could even decorate the plant pots with paint or add some inspiring words for the new year like 'fun', 'love' or 'family'.
5. Go for a Night Time Walk
Our girls LOVE a night time walk at any time of year. There's something exciting about heading out in the dark armed with a torch.
A walk in the dark as the year turns can be a really energising and uplifting New Year’s celebration and may become a new family tradition. It's a great way to set an intention to embrace nature study for the new year, too!
Arm everyone witth warm clothes and torches and head out on an adventure. You may even spot bats, urban foxes or other wildlife.
Spending time with your children planning ahead and thinking about the year to come is the ideal way to spend New Year's Eve as a family, but take some time too to reflect on what the last year has meant to you.
Share memories, look back at the year's photos and think back over your favourite things that happened in the past year. You may not be heading out to a big party any more but, if anything, New Years can have even greater significance now you are a parent.
Happy New Year!
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