This New Year’s Eve was by far the best I can remember. It involved no fancy outfits or drinks, no parties or gatherings, and it didn’t even involve me actually staying awake until midnight. What it did involve, however, was a whole day chalked full of fun with my family.

To help us get into the spirit the day of, I spent the evening prior whipping up this little balloon garland. Inside each balloon (which my husband so graciously donated his lungs to fill), I placed a rolled up piece of paper highlighting activities we would do throughout the day. We hung and filled 12 balloons to represent 12 o’clock and popped them in their numbered order as the day progressed. Not only did my little one light up when he walked into the living room New Year’s Eve morning, but he continued to do so as we popped each balloon one-by-one and participated in all of the festive fun.

Below are the details of each of our twelve activities (in order) as well as a corresponding free printable for you to cut and create your own New Year’s Eve balloon poppin’ adventure!

1. Read a story. I chose “Happy New Year, Spot” by Eric Hill to introduce the theme of our day!

2. Do family yoga. I did find some pretty great New Year’s themed yoga out there. But my little guy absolutely loves the site Cosmic Kids, so for our yoga-venture he got to choose which video from the site we did as a family to start our day off on a relaxed note.

3. Watch a show. Asher normally gets to watch one 30 minute show each morning, so I decided to stick to routine with our theme. “Pete the Cat: A Groovy New Year” on Amazon Prime was the perfect addition to our day, especially because Pete is already a beloved buddy in our home.

4. Create New Year’s art. This activity was a two-for-one special. While Asher watched his show, I put together his snack on this little “dot art” 2019 I drew up. Once he finished up his snack, then we took out our dot markers, and he set to decorating our new year.

5. Have a dance party. Now we lucked out and our local zoo was actually hosting a New Year’s Eve party for kids coupled with a DJ and a whole lot of opportunity to get our dance on. So we took advantage and partied with the animals for a bit while we were at it. Check your community for local events for kids, otherwise, this can certainly be done in the comfort of your living room.

6. Rest up for more fun. Yes, you better believe I included a balloon for naptime. Not only because we all needed some rest after such an exciting morning, but I knew that if the paper said we “had” to do it, my toddler would be more inclined to do so.

7. Bake cupcakes. We always do our afternoon snack right after nap, so as soon as Asher woke up and we popped our next balloon, we set to baking.

8. Play in the snow. Now I had all intentions of us going out to play, but we had spent most of the morning outside at the zoo and our afternoon was a little blustery. So we brought the snow in for a little sensory play. I used some of our magnetic numbers to hide the number 2019 in the snow, and Asher worked time and again to dig it out with his favorite machines and line it up in order on the construction paper I provided him.

9. Blow bubbles. This one is pretty self explanatory. But also, one that always entertains.

10. Make party poppers. We created our own with a few paper cups, balloons and pom poms using these simple DIY instructions from the Make and Takes blog.

11. Take a balloon bath. I mean is there really any other way to do it on New Year’s eve? Blow up a few balloons and toss em’ in and your toddler’s got their very own tub party.

12. Countdown to the New Year.  Because Asher goes to bed at 7pm, I just found a good ole’ youTube video of a ball drop from years’ past, and we counted down as a family cheering and clapping with a former crowd as if it were this year’s real deal.

And there ya have it folks- a day’s worth of New Year’s activities for the little ones in your life.

Interested in creating your own New Year’s Eve family fun? Click on the image to download my free balloon stuffer printable.

Font: KG Fonts
Graphics: My Cute Graphics

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