Noon Year’s Eve Party Ideas & Free Printables

We’ve been throwing a Noon Year’s Eve Party for the kids for several years now. We saw the idea online, ran with it, and now it’s an annual event in our home. We’ve tried various activities over the years to make a fun and celebratory day. After lots of trial and error (the fun kind!), here are our top tips for having the best Noon Year’s Eve Party!

What is a Noon Years’ Eve Party?

A Noon Year’s Eve party is a celebration of the coming New Year held on December 31st at NOON, so little ones don’t have to stay up until midnight. Alternatively, some celebrate this on New Year’s Day at noon. But… as I’m usually up past midnight the night before, I prefer the 31st! You can do this with just your family, or like we do, where we invite friends and family. It’s a great time for both adults and kids.

Noon Year’s Eve Countdown

Whether you start in the morning and go all day until midnight, or just till noon, you’ll want a few activities to countdown to the big moment. You can countdown throughout the party hour by hour with various activities (we did that a few times). Or, for the littles, countdown just the minute before noon.

Noon Year’s Eve Party Activities

We used to have our guests arrive at 9 a.m. But we eventually changed that to 10, because it’s a long time for younger kids. Here’s a few activities we’ve done for the Countdown (the hour-by-hour countdown).

• Snowflake crafts: Cut out snowflakes, draw with glue and sprinkle with glitter, or if you have snow go out and make real snowmen! You could have kids complete a new craft on the hour, or put them all out for kids to pick and choose. If you don’t want to come up with a variety of craft ideas, there are crafts kits where everything is cut out and organized. Set them out and let the kids make their own.
• Cookie decorating: Sugar or gingerbread cookies work great if you make them ahead and just have cups of sprinkles and decorations handy!
• Pretzel Kiss making – because, you know, you don’t want to do the actual “kissing on New Year’s Eve” thing!

• Photo Booth: When guests arrive, have them snap a photo to commemorate the moment! I hang a plastic tablecloth, tinsel garland, or sparkly backdrops. Provide photo props on sticks like these winter sparkle props, and you’re done!
• Decorate noise makers: Paper plates stapled together with beans inside are great! Color the plates and affix gems and glitter. Another year we made paper blowers with straws and rolled gift wrap.
• Make your own party hats: Set out plain party hats, washi tape, stickers, and markers and let kids go to town decorating their own party hats. When the time comes for the exciting moment, everyone will have a unique look!

Fun and Easy Games

For kids who want to chill out, have a few tables set up with easy board games to play. Here’s a few we enjoy:

• Yeti in my Spaghetti
• Pie Face
• Connect Four
• Trouble (get the one with the pop-o-matic dice, so you don’t keep losing the pieces!).
• Minute-to-Win-It games. They are so low-prep, and if kids don’t take to one, you can easily switch to another game in a minute!

Reflections and Goals

I love using this Stars & Wishes worksheet for kids – naming things that SHINE from the last year and three WISHES for the new year. Since kids are usually wound up, it’s ok if they don’t fill it all out, or if you need to do this activity later. We also have this Looking Back… Looking Ahead New Year’s Reflection Sheet! BOTH printables are included in my Goal Setting for Kids Printable set!

Party Food

For food, I try to keep it simple. Kids are too wound up to want to eat much. Plus, it’s only lunchtime, not dinner!  Try a veggie platter, fruit kebobs, cracker trays, finger sandwiches, soup, or macaroni and cheese muffins. Colorful sodas and punch in clear plastic cups are fun to drink after the countdown.

Noon Year’s Eve Balloon Drop

The highlight of every Noon Year’s Eve party is our balloon drop! It’s so easy to make and has such a big effect! I like to cut some paper or tissue for confetti and throw that into the mix as well. When twelve noon (or midnight if you’re going for the real deal) comes, countdown the minute beforehand, then release the tape and balloons and confetti will shower down around everyone!

Balloon Drop Tips

• Use two vinyl tablecloths or pieces of fabric to contain the balloons.
• Next, punch holes through one side of each cloth and then “lace” the two clothes together with a long string or twine.
• Tape the unlaced sides to the ceiling with painter’s tape (or you could tack up if you don’t mind holes in your ceiling).
• Leave some slack in the cloth rigging to hold the balloons.
• Lastly, stuff the balloons into the shallow “pouch” you’ve just created on your ceiling! We find about 40-50 balloons is an impressive number to drop.

After the balloon drop, we always have a snack table ready before parents bundle up their kids to go home.

• Midnight milk and cookies (a “midnight” snack!) with plastic champagne flutes. I baked dark chocolate cookies (for midnight) with colorful M&Ms for the confetti thrown as the New Year begins! Fun, right!?
• Party Candy! How about Hershey Kisses for the “kiss at midnight”? Hand everyone a Ring Pop to “ring in the New Year!”