New Years Party with Lots of Kids

Board games, perhaps? Let them have a dance party? Offer them a place to play "grown ups" and have 7-up or punch with cherries and umbrellas and some music. Or make it a theme and make sure they have some of the traditional new year's eve accouterments like Hawaiian leis and party hats, etc... Ask one of the older kids to be the "DJ", they'll enjoy the "responsibility". Encourage them to play musical chairs or other music-based games that all the kids in that age range can play. Duck-duck goose is good for getting energy out and all you need is a little room for them to sit in a circle and run around each other. If you've got the room (preferably a basement), get a pinata and let them whack at that later in the evening.

<a href=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073640/&gt;Rudolph&#39;s Shiny New Year</a> is always a good video for kids in the 5-10 year old range. It's a classic and kids always seem to enjoy it.

I guess in general I don't worry about kids being bored; they will figure out something to do, they don't need everything choreographed and don't need to be entertained. As children we just "figured out something to do" when the adults got together. No one entertained us/scheduled activities and we always had a blast. I'm of the opinion that we don't let children just play unstructured enough, so they don't learn to entertain themselves/play together/organize games themselves so I tend to not organize things for them but rather give them the tools to do so and let them play. They'll figure it out and enjoy themselves because they hate being bored more than we do.

Make homemade play-doh.

Have some beach balls or balloons blown up for them to play with.

New Years Eve "toys" are always a hit.

Make little goodie bags (little trinkets and toys and treats) up to hand out when the kids start to act up or get bored.

Board games geared for their ages keep kids busy. Or even a deck of cards. (Crazy 8, Old maid, Kings Corner, etc. Lots of games you can play with a regular deck of cards!)

Coloring sheets are a great idea.

If you want to have some kind of contest I suggest sugar cubes and either glue or frosting and cardboard. Have the kids make IGLOOS!!!

Hey! I am having a similiar function. We will have 12 adults and 11 kids, ranging from 2-11 years. In the past they have just played in the toy room/bedrooms. But this year, I decided to make up the basement for them. We have a big unfinished area, and I am going to put out some area rugs, set up a table and some chairs, put a cd player and TV w/VCR for them to use. I am going to put toys down there, there are some balls, bikes, etc. They will have board/kids games available to them. I think I may decorate a little down there too with some lights and balloons.

With kids as young as 3...heck, even some 5 yr olds, I don't think I would have any "activites" that will require help, otherwise you will be spending all evening helping the kids out. Just have things available to them and let them figure out what they want to play. Usually kids are just happy running around like mad men! Good luck and HAPPY NEW YEARS!

I like the sugar cube igloo idea that was given :) Maybe have a coloring contest too?

As a kid, my parents always played cards with a group of people. Us kids would play games too. I think there are so many computer games now-a-days, get out the card games and board games! Suggestions are Uno, Skip-Bo, Chutes and Ladders, Clue, or Memory. Do you have legos that they can play with... maybe build a city with? Maybe they can play a game of Hangman on two teams? Have you heard of pictonary?... it's like charades, but you draw the pictures instead of acting it out. They could play that in teams of two also. If you want them moving around, the beach ball idea suggested is nice... but use balloons (no worries of bumping and knocking something over/breaking). Maybe they could play some sort of game/contest with the balloon... like volleyball or the such? If they have mucic, musical chairs is a good game too. One year, my nephew thought of a scavenger hunt at our party. One of the kids left a medium size toy somewhere to hide. Then they gave clues on where it was (kind of like the hot/cold game we played as kids). That would keep them occupied awhile also.

I hope I was of help to you. I'm sure I could think of more for you... I come from a family of game players. It has been tradition for my family to go bowling and come home to play games all night. Everyone brings a dish to pass and we nibble all night. I always thought as a child that was cool to stay up until midnight (if I made it that long - lol). It is an inexpensive way to celebrate the new year, and don't have to worry about being on the road with the ones who have been drinking. Once or twice, we have even had a family spend the night!

Enjoy your party and good luck finding things for the kids. I'm sure they will think it's great to be like the grown ups having a New Year's party. Don't forget to have special drinks for the kids. My kids think it's great to have "kiddie cocktails"... a must have :) If you pop open champain on the stroke of midnight, maybe have a non-alcoholic drink for the kids to pop open (sparkling cider or the such). Maybe one of the older kids (12 yr olds) can be the drink mixer and DJ for the night (play some Disney songs or the such). You could maybe give them a little prize/small gift for doing that. This way you can enjoy the night with the adults.

Have fun and have a Happy New Year,
~SR

If your husband doesn't like the idea then nix the frosting, you won't have such a big mess and the kids can still have fun with pretzel rods and marshmallows and eat them too! Have fun!

Hire a teenage babysitter to watch them and maybe come up with some games and activities. I did this once when I had a huge open house for my husband's birthday. It was well worth the cost. I also had a little kids size picnic table with some coloring and crafts. I bought a cheap cardboard "house" at Michael's or somewhere that was designed to be colored and then used as a playhouse (a big box would work too). You can also get inexpensive party games and crafts at Michael's or stores like Party America. We also have a two story house and the adults were on the main level and the kids were upstairs. You could rent a couple of videos too. The boys got a little rowdy, but the girls colored and did crafts and the babysitters kept them all safe and supervised.

Our church does this too (no drinking of coarse). We bring a total of probably 30 board/card games between all of us and the younger boys set up a game system to the tv with 4 controllers and play on that most of the evening. Lots of good food and good times =)