New Years Kids Party Ideas

Kids love celebrating New Year's Eve, too, but bedtimes often mean they miss out on the fun! This New Year's celebration won't be held at midnight though, but in the afternoon! The kids get to celebrate and you and your adult guests will have time to get home for the babysitter, so you can go out on the town and celebrate New Year's Eve too!

I would start the party around 5:00, so the kids have time to play before dinner. Have dinner at 5:45 and then a New Year's countdown around 6:15. Then everyone would hit the road around 6:30. (I've found that an hour and half works well for parties with younger children. You can have a longer or later party depending on the ages of the kids at your party!)

New Year's Party Invitations
Party411 has a great selection of personalized New Year's invitations that are easy and perfect for a kids' party. They will love getting their own invitation in the mail! Our whimsical ticket invitations are also great fun.

Try a few of these kid-friendly invite ideas to make yours extra special:

Send a ring pop along with your invitation that says, "Ring in the 2016 at the Miller's New Year's Party!" Your young guests will love the sweet treat.
Fill New Year's balloons with metallic star confetti and attach it to a card that says "Blow Up & Pop!" Write your party info on the back of the card, and your guests will love this interactive party cracker invite!
Toss a couple of pieces of glow jewelry into your envelope that the kids can then wear to the party.
Keep it simple but exciting with a handful of streamers confetti in each invite!

Make sure to specify whether parents are also invited to the party. If you're hosting younger kids, then this is probably the wisest choice. Do you really want to watch a house full of little ones by yourself? Probably not, and parents love to see their cute kiddos enjoying a party! It's a great photo op.

Get The Kids Involved: If your child is "hosting" the party, then ask them to help with the invitations. Print up invitations on white cardstock and ask your kids to help add sparkles. Or, let them color on the invitation. They will love helping!

New Year's Party Decorations
As the kids arrive, be sure to pass out an assortment of fun New Year's theme wearables and favors. Here are our favorites:

Tiaras for the girls.
New Year top hats for the boys.
New Year's Party Kits are great and include noisemakers, hats and tiaras for everyone!
Glow Jewelry, like bracelets and necklaces, are always a hit with the kids and are perfect for New Year's Eve!

As for decorations, think fun and bright when filling your room. Here are some great options:

Add a star fringe door curtain for some glitz and glam as the kids arrive.
A gold fringe banner brightens up the room.
Or, get all your decorating done in one shot with a colorful New Year's Decorating Kit! Comes complete with garlands, cutouts, and ceiling swirls!

I would have bright balloon bouquets around the room. You can buy these at a local party store (be sure to call ahead so your order is ready) or you can buy a helium tank and New Year balloons and make them yourself!

Get The Kids Involved: Decorations are another great place to get kids involved. Make a large welcome banner and have them help color in the letters. If they are older, they can paint the sign themselves!

kids new Years Table decorations and menu
Depending on the ages of your little guests, you might want to bring in small tables and chairs to make them more comfortable. Even the picnic table they use in the summer will work. Here are some fun items to decorate your tables:

Cover them with bright New Year's table covers to make them feel more special.
Or even a top hat with balloons coming out of it would be great surprise for your guests.
Then sprinkle some classic star confetti around the tables to finish off the look!

Get The Kids Involved: Get your little ones involved by making DIY centerpieces! Have them decorate stars cut from heavy cardstock with glitter and markers. Glue the stars to long wooden skewers and display them by propping them up in vases filled with basket filler.

Your menu certainly doesn't need to be fancy for a kid's New Year's party. We all know how picky they can be, so choose foods they will eat! I would, however, make whatever you serve seem extra special for the holiday!

Kids eat hot dogs, right? Serve pigs in a blanket to make it fun!
Serving grilled cheese or PB&J? Use cookie cutters to cut the sandwiches into fun, festive shapes.
Serve Mac & Cheese in a fancy silver bowl.

Make sure to use bright New Year's paper goods to add color to the room. It's easy for cleanup, and, with kids, you won't need to worry about anything breaking.

New Year's Kids Activities
Just before the "ball drops" make sure you have everything set up for a night your little guests will never forget!

Have a New Year's countdown about an hour into the party. A balloon drop will get everyone cheering!
Pass out glasses of sparkling apple juice in plastic champagne glasses.
Don't forget to have confetti poppers to pop and party bubbles to blow - they will love these.
Make sure they are all wearing their hats and tiaras you passed out at the beginning of the party. Get the cameras ready!
After the countdown, hand out out pots, pans, and spoons. Walk around your neighborhood, and have them make some noise for the New Year.

We've also got a list of other New Year's games for kids you can check out for more ideas.

New Year's Party Favors
Make sure to send your young guests home with something to remember the last day of the old year! Try one of these fun favor ideas:

Everyone will love getting their picture taken at the party. Print the photos before they leave. An inexpensive frame along with the photo makes a great favor.
The kids will love getting a personalized New Year's candy bar!
An assortment of fun toy favors in custom New Year's Eve favor bags is an easy and organized gift to send the kids home with!

Enjoy planning your kid's New Year's Eve Party. It will be an evening (or afternoon!) to remember!