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Celebrate New Year's Eve With Kid-Friendly Activities for the Whole Family

Family of four wearing matching Celebration Stars pajamas Family of four wearing matching Celebration Stars pajamas

As the countdown to midnight begins, parents everywhere are asking the same question: How do we ring in the New Year with our little ones by our side?

Forget the babysitter search, or sacrificing the festive spirit — this year, it's all about celebrating together. With a little planning and a mix of creative, kid-friendly activities, you can make this NYE one your whole family will remember!

From cozy PJ parties to goal-setting with the kiddos, get ready to create lasting memories that bring everyone into the countdown magic.

drawing of a star

 

Get the Kids Excited for New Year's Eve

The anticipation of the new year can be just as fun as the actual party! Here are some activities you can organize for your kids to get them excited to start a new calendar year.

• Countdown Crafts: Gather some craft supplies like colored paper, markers, glitter, and stickers. Encourage your kids to create their own countdown clocks or New Year's Eve hats that match their favorite Little Sleepies print.

• New Year's Resolutions for Kids: In the days leading up to the countdown, create New Year's resolutions together. Encourage your kids to set goals and aspirations for the coming year, whether it's learning a new skill, being kinder to others, or spending more time outdoors.

Image of two children wearing Celebration Stars pajamas

Fun Activities to Celebrate NYE Together

Whether your family is staying in or heading out for New Year's Eve, we've got some fun ideas to spark creativity and keep the excitement high for everyone — no matter your plans or the ages of your kids! 


If You're Staying In...

• Family game night: Bring out the board and card games for a night of friendly competition. Consider games that are suitable for all ages so everyone can participate. A family game night is a surefire way to keep everyone entertained until the clock strikes midnight! Make it picture-perfect with Matching Pajamas for everyone (Celebration Stars is the perfect gold-foiled print for the occasion!).

• Create a kid-friendly New Year's Eve meal: We love a DIY pizza station. Set out mini pizza crusts with toppings like tomato sauce, cheese, mini pepperoni, and diced vegetables. Then, let kids customize their own mini pizzas - you can even help them spell out 2025!

• Mocktail mixology: Who says adults get to have all the fun? Set up a mocktail station with juices, soda, and sparkling water. Let your little mixologists concoct their own festive drinks. Add colorful straws and fun garnishes and watch your little ones' faces light up! 

If You're Going Out...

• Find a community event: Check if there are family-friendly New Year's Eve events in your community. Some towns organize early celebrations or activities suitable for children, giving you enough time to celebrate and still make it to bed on time.

• Do something fun with neighbors: Organize a neighborhood get-together like a kids' parade (weather permitting!) or a celebration where different homes host party-themed pop-ups like a sparkling apple cider bar and photo booth. Bring an extra sweatshirt in case it gets chilly!

• Watch fireworks: If your community is planning a fireworks display, gather in a central location to watch the fireworks together. Make sure it's a safe distance for the kids and bring Cloud Blankets® and chairs for a cozy watch party. 

Family of three wearing matching Celebration Stars pajamas

Making Bedtime Special on New Year's Eve

Balancing the excitement of New Year's Eve with bedtime can be challenging, but a thoughtful approach helps maintain a sleep schedule while ensuring everyone has a memorable evening. Start by talking with your kids about the plan for the night, sharing the schedule, including when bedtime will be, and assuring them that there's plenty of fun to enjoy before it's time to sleep.

If you're letting toddlers or younger kids stay up late, consider a short afternoon nap to help them stay energized for the ball drop. For families going out, plan enough time to get the kids cozy in their Zippies before bed, perhaps even deciding that the party winds down before you get home, so they can relax after dancing with friends.

Finally, create a wind-down routine to ease into sleep by introducing calming activities as the night progresses, like playing quieter games, reading a story, or watching a soothing movie. This balance lets your little ones fully experience the excitement of New Year's while still getting the rest they need. 

Drawing of a star

This New Year's Eve, make it a family affair filled with laughter and creativity. These kid-friendly activities and suggestions ensure that the countdown to midnight is exciting for everyone.

Cheers to a year filled with love, laughter, and countless precious moments!

 

 

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53 Comments

  • Dominique Lacy

    Jan/04/2025

    We will be celebrating early with our littles and then hopefully getting to watch the ball drop, if me and my husband don’t fall asleep!🤣

  • Danielle

    Dec/30/2024

    We move the clocks ahead and have a “countdown” at 8pm to new years! Once the girls start being able to read time we won’t be able to do that haha!

  • Cassie Moscato

    Dec/30/2024

    We always make pizza as a family and have a game night!! We have a 11 year old so we let her stay up late with us and my 2 year old goes to bed at her normal time but we still enjoy the pizza and game night together as a family!

  • Zoe wells

    Dec/18/2024

    My daughter is 16months so we will be doing a lunch time ball drop before nap time so we can all celebrate together!

  • Vanessa Melendez

    Dec/18/2024

    This is my first year celebrating with my 6 month old baby boy! We are so excited to stay home, eat nutritious food and create memories together as a first time parents. Happy holidays everyone!

  • Dana Daniels

    Dec/18/2024

    We willspend our new years at home together as a family. We’ll probably all watch a movie and cuddle on the couch together and enjoy a special snack wearing our matching little Sleepies of course❤️

  • Delane Moehring

    Dec/18/2024

    We love New Years so much over here! We always stay in and have a movie night with matching pjs and make some kind of memorial craft. Usually hand prints or picture crafts so we can look back at the last year and see how much the kids have grown. My favorite thing to do is “pits, praises, and promises” before they go to bed. They write down the bad parts of the year, the good parts, and then the things they promise to do the next year. I love looking back at them every year.

  • Ashley Zeberl

    Dec/18/2024

    My daughter is just starting to be old enough to understand! I’d love to pass down traditions we did when I was a kid though: we made our own confetti and At the stroke of midnight we’re threw it up in the air! We also always had charcuterie counting down. Olives, cheese and crackers, cheese spread, veggies and dip and chips. It was a little way to make the evening special!

  • Megan Fruchtman

    Dec/18/2024

    Visiting family the week after Christmas and for NYE so my 4 month old can meet his Pop Pop!

  • Katelin Courtney

    Dec/18/2024

    Celebrating “noon years Eve” with the little!

  • Nancy Steed

    Dec/18/2024

    New Year’s Eve is my favorite holiday! I think my favorite traditon we have is lettinf out children stay up till midnight. When the ball drops we do a count down and throw hand made confetti. It’s a mess to clean up, but the best pictures, most fun, and most memorabke thing. All we do is take constuction paper and rip it up into about small pieces. The children usually end up in some confetti war, and laughing the entire time truly the best!

  • Alicia

    Dec/18/2024

    We do a noon-years eve countdown with a “ballon” drop at noon with a dance party so our littles can participate and still make it to bed on time.

  • Molly MacDavid

    Dec/18/2024

    I’m a nurse so unfortunately I’m usually stuck working most holidays. I will be ringing in the New Years with my patients!
    “My second family “

  • Allie

    Dec/18/2024

    We always countdown to 8 pm – my kids like their routine and we like that they can start the new year well rested. When 8 pm strikes we welcome the “new year” noisily by banging pots and pans!

  • Kristine Roberts

    Dec/18/2024

    Put up a tent in your living room and make appetizers for dinner and S’mores for dessert. Watch the Countdown to NYE from the comfort of your tent in your LS Pjs and covered in Cloud blankets.

  • Veronica

    Dec/18/2024

    We love to stay in. We play games and take turns talking about our favorite moments from the year and hopes for the New Year. We also try to make it til midnight to have some “champagne” with the kids in fancy dollar tree flutes 😊

  • Page

    Dec/18/2024

    This year I’m planning to host a pajama party for the kids and their friends with matching jammies, a kids charcuterie snack station and a dance party to ring in the new year. All ending by 6pm so we can hit that 7 o’clock bed time!

  • Dawn Price

    Dec/18/2024

    We love to have a pre new year celebration around 9pm before bedtime. We do fun “mocktail” drinks for the kids and watch the “ball drop” (YouTube it so they feel like it’s real time).

  • Jennifer Holbrook

    Dec/18/2024

    We’ve usually done a Noon Years Eve event and watched the ball drop at 9 pm Pacific time.

  • Brittany

    Dec/18/2024

    Great ideas! We definitely partake in the family game night on NYE. With four little ones, we don’t get out too much! We love to play board games and our new Nintendo Switch games Santa brought!

  • Nicolette

    Dec/18/2024

    We love to celebrate NYE at home. We have one year old this year, so we’ll make lots of snack for the day. Then after the baby goes to sleep we’ll play a few games and have a champagne toast. We’ll be asleep by midnight for sure, but sleeping so cost in our LittleSleepies.

  • Breeonna Bishop

    Dec/18/2024

    New years is such a fun time, we will creating goal/ vision boards with our kids as well as having and game night! We will also be cooking and baking and including the kids throughout the whole process! We are hoping to make it to see the ball drop but we somehow all always fall asleep before hand so fingers crossed this is our year!

  • Carley Swanson

    Dec/18/2024

    What a great read! Our boy is only 15m, so he doesn’t even know what NY is. When baby gets put to bed, me and my hubby will enjoy NYE, watching the ball drop :) we strictly follow a night time routine, so bubba knows when bedtime is. I’m sure we will incorporate some fun photo props of course!

  • Tori

    Dec/18/2024

    We will stay cozy inside baking cookies, coloring crafts and counting down (a little early, with last year’s countdown video so as to salvage a proper bedtime) to the new year together as a snugly pajama comfy family! We happen to have matching celebration print but many nights we are still enjoying matching family fun in several little sleepies prints!

  • Brittany Russell

    Dec/18/2024

    We love New Year’s Eve. We reflect on the last year and all of our accomplishments. Then think of what the next year will bring us and what we want to accomplish by the end of it. We visit families and have dinner and drinks. The kids get to play and have fun!

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