Kid-Friendly New Year's Party!

Okay, I know I'm posting this super late, but I kind of forgot about it.

This year for New Year's we were having a family party with 7 adults and 6 kids, ages 3-10. I wanted to plan a few things that would make it more fun than just your average family dinner, but it was hard to come up with things that everyone would enjoy.

First up? A New Year's Tree, idea courtesy of Sara at Our Best Bites. Loved this. We took down all the Christmas ornaments, and decorated the tree with curled ribbon, poppers, bead necklaces, jokes on pieces of paper that I curled into cute little rollies, and balloons filled with money. The kids LOVED the finished product, and it added a festive look to our party!

When our guests arrived, we had carnitas - complete with homemade salsa and guacamole! No pictures of that, since I was too busy eating!

Our first activity was an old-fashioned game we used to play called, "Are You There, Moriarty?" Two people lay down with their heads touching, both blindfolded. One asks, "Are you there, Moriarty?" The other answers, "Yes," and then the first player tries to thwack them with some rolled newspaper based on where their voice came from. Players need to hold hands so that they can't move too far. It was hilarious, and a game that all ages can play.

The kids really wanted us to have a drawing contest, which ended up being the most hilarious part of the night. Bad drawing can be reeeeeeallly funny! Here's my son and I, the winners of the adult and kid contests. The kids especially loved that we took their idea, and that they got to be a part of the planning.

For dessert, we had Caramel Corn Two Ways. On the left, Cinnamon Bun Popcorn, again courtesy of Our Best Bites. Amazing stuff. And on the right, classic caramel corn. I've got the best recipe for this - watch for it to be posted in a few weeks.

Every few hours the kids would get a balloon to pop and a joke to read. Here they are unrolling and reading out their jokes.

At midnight, they each popped a balloon with a WHOLE DOLLAR in it! So exciting when you're little! And then they popped one of the toy poppers. Six kids popping balloons, using noisemakers, and clamoring to see an unexpected fireworks show that appeared out our front windows, and you've got yourself a great New Year's!

I think we've got ourselves some new traditions!