New Year’s Celebrations for Kids
Fun Children's Activities for the Turning of the Calendar
The pressure of New Year’s resolutions and the failure of most people who attempt to keep them is a long-running joke in American society. Why not introduce your family to some new traditions that allow you to take stock of the Old Year and look ahead to the New Year without adding pressure to your life. The following three ideas allow families to measure what is important to them without creating a list of things to do.
Transitioning from Thanksgiving and Christmas into a New Year
Thanksgiving has passed and the Christmas presents are tucked away. Still, it is possible, to hang onto the lessons in thankfulness and generosity that your children just learned. Collect all the Christmas cards that you received from close friends and family. Make sure that they are people that your children know. Put them in a basket. Starting January first, pull a card out of the basket every day and reread it. Talk about the people who sent the card. Mention what you appreciate about them and have your children do the same. Pray for them.
A Time Capsule of Favorites
Every New Year’s Day make a list of favorites for every family member. Write down the answers and then put them into an envelope with the year’s date on it. Do this every year using the same questions. It will be fun for the entire family to read everyone’s old lists and see how their life and values have changed. Ask a variety of questions so that the abilities of every member of the family (from the three-year-old to the ninety-three-year-old are met). Here are some questions to get you started.
- What is your favorite color?
- What is your favorite food?
- What is your favorite song?
- Who are your friends?
- What are a few of your favorite memories from last year?
- What do you think you will do this year?
- Who would you like to meet this year?
- Where would you like to go this year?
Out With the Old, In With the New Album
Have every member of the family draw, cut out, or take two pictures. One picture should represent a favorite event from the last year. The second should represent a desire for the upcoming year. Have everyone write a little bit at the bottom of their picture explaining what it means. Put them in an album. After a few years you will have a unique album that shows each family member’s perspective on a given year.
If you want to emphasize out with the old, include a second set of images reflecting a bad experience from the past year and an image of something about the upcoming year that is nerve-wracking. Again, everyone should write a little at the bottom of their picture explaining it. It provides the person with a way to deal with a negative event that happened in the last year and gives them an opportunity to explore options for dealing with what makes them nervous.
By emphasizing the transition from old to new and by allowing the child to reflect on the past in a positive way without burdening them with lists for the future, you create a holiday of positive traditions not one with old baggage.
Read about How Other Cultures Celebrate New Year’s
Customs for Celebrating the Change of the Calendar
The Ways People in Different Countries Celebrate
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