Noon Year’s Eve Celebration for Your Family
Kids love to participate in all the festivities of New Year’s parties. The only problem is that New Year’s Eve celebrations typically happen at midnight as we countdown to the new year. Thankfully there is a perfect solution: a Noon Year’s Eve celebration!
Whether you want to be asleep at midnight or you plan on counting down to the start of the new year with friends at an event, there’s a good chance as a parent you don’t plan on having your young children stay up to celebrate. Throwing a party at noon instead of at midnight is a great way to have your kids join in the fun of a New Year’s celebration.
Countdown to Noon
One of our family traditions is to do a Noon Year’s Eve celebration with our kids. What we do is pretty much the same thing that you would do for New Year’s Eve at midnight but at noon on New Year’s Eve. While you could countdown to any hour, there’s something magical about having the clock strike 12:00 that makes noon the perfect time to celebrate with the kids.
Each year Netflix creates some awesome, kid-friendly countdown counters for families to use on New Year’s Eve. They are available for anytime of day – whether you are having a Noon Year’s Eve celebration or decide to countdown just before bedtime in the evening. In previous years, our boys have loved counting down to noon with King Julian of Madagascar and other favorite characters. (For a list of the Netflix New Year’s Eve Countdowns this year check out this preview article on Best Movies Right Now.)
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Simple and Cheap Noon Year’s Eve Balloon Drop
The balloon drop has become an annual part of our Noon Year’s Eve celebration that the boys look forward to and start asking about before Christmas even arrives.
Our balloon drop is simply created with supplies from the Dollar Tree or you can have them shipped quickly to you from Amazon.
What you will need:
With a plastic table cover and some tape and ribbon you too can create a balloon drop.
Cut the table cover down the middle to make two long pieces. Spread the two pieces apart leaving a gap. Use the masking tape to gently tape the seam you just cut (ensuring you are leaving a gap between the two pieces of plastic cover).
Cut ribbon long enough to run the length of the table cover with enough ribbon to hang off each end and be able to be reached from the floor by your child. (Our ribbon was approximately 8 feet long on each end and 9 feet in the middle for the table cover, so 26 total feet of ribbon.)
Lay the ribbon along the tape seam inside the table cover.
Blow up the balloons. We typically use between 24 and 30 balloons in our balloon drop.
Tape the table cover to the ceiling. Be sure to allow the table cover to hang with enough space to add in the balloons.
Carefully put the balloons into the table cover and wait for the fun to begin!
When you’re ready at the end of the countdown, all the kids have to do is pull on the string and the balloons drop from the ceiling. You can of course add things like confetti as well, but how much do you really want to pick up.
Kid’s Noon Year’s Eve Celebration Mocktails
We also love to do mocktails (fancy, alcohol-free sparkling beverages) for the kids. Our classic Noon Year’s Eve mocktail is simple to make with just 4 items.
What you will need:
- Champagne Flutes – since we are working with kids, we love to purchase the plastic champagne flutes from the Dollar Tree. (Cheap and not fragile!)
- Glow sticks – these glow stick straws clearly aren’t necessary, but they add some extra fun in the mocktail so I highly recommend them. You can also buy regular glow sticks for fun at the Dollar Tree.
- Gummy Bears – you only need a couple for each drink just to give it a bit of color and kid-friendly fun.
- Sparkling Cider
When you are almost ready to serve the mocktails, combine all of the ingredients in the plastic champagne flutes. For a bit of an extra wow factor you can rim the flutes with sugar.
Share Your Celebration with Us!
Will you try throwing a party at noon instead of at midnight this year at your home? We’d love to see your Noon Year’s Eve celebration photos! Tag @militarywithkids in any photos you share on Instagram or Facebook.
