If there is one good thing about 2020, we have been “forced” to embrace celebrations at home with our families.
Now for me, New Year’s Eve, I can take it or leave it. It was never that big of a deal for me. But I know that I’m not representative of the rest of society. Many Asian countries take their Lunar New Year extremely seriously. I’ve been in Thailand during a celebration, and it is no joke.
So no matter what we feel about this holiday, if you want to celebrate it without going out, once again we offer you an open-and-go (as much as possible–there are somethings you may want to prep) party matrix to make your festivities exciting.
What we have here is a highly curated list of ideas that we found around the internet that were reasonable in regards to getting ready for a New Year’s Eve Party.
Family Party Matrix
Formula
- Choose two or three categories.
- Choose one activity from each category.
- Put something sparkly on everyone.
- Do activity one.
- Eat something.
- Do activity two.
- (Optional) Do activity three
Categories
1. Decorations
2. Dance party
3. Fun Drinks
4. Fun Treats (or Food)
5. Games/Activities
6. New Year’s Countdown/Ball Drop
CategorY Activities
Decorations
New Year’s Eve decorations depend upon your idea of fun. How messy do you want it to be? Ideas can range from lots of confetti and balloons to some streamers. You can have bunches of 2’s and 1’s taped around your house walls or a simple “2021” Banner.
Dance Party
Whether you are a family of dance parties or your kids have never been exposed, New Year’s Eve calls for a dance party. It’s an easy activity. Make a playlist on Spotify, Amazon, YouTube, or wherever, and dance.
Some of our favorite songs include:
“The Limbo,” “The Chicken Dance,” “The Electric Slide,” “Cotton-eyed Joe,” and “The Hokey Pokey.” You can’t go wrong with these in your repertoire.
Fun Drinks
I’ve collected 3 different drinks that you may want to try to create a fun atmosphere.
Fun Food/Treats
You can use this for your dinner or you can add something fun to eat as a category separate from mealtime.
Here are five fun food ideas.
- New Year’s Eve Pizza
- New Year’s Snack Mix
- New Year’s Eve Trifles (just scroll down until you see it)
- New Year’s Eve Popcorn
- S’mores Dippers (or anything from this post)
Games and Activities
Whether you like crafts or games, there is something to choose from this list. And if you need a low-key activity to get you to Countdown Time, you can always pop in a holiday movie, turn the lights down, and munch on popcorn.
- Minute to Win It Games
- New Year’s Eve Scavenger Hunt
- New Year’s Eve Wishing Wand
- 3D New Year’s Craft (my boys would love this)
Countdown and Ball Drop Ideas
Favorite New Year’s Eve Hack? Hold a countdown before bedtime, drop the ball, and tuck the kids in tight.
What makes a ball drop exciting? The countdown for sure as well as lots of noisemakers, balloons as well as smiles and hugs!
There are ball drops on YouTube or other streaming programs. Or you can make your own (depending how much effort you want to put into it. Everything I found was pretty intense.) Click Here to Make Your Own Ball Drop
Here is a fun handmade shaker you can make.
Click Here to Make A Shaker
Or don’t do any of these activities and just countdown to 1, scream “happy new year,” and give lots of hugs.
