Enjoying New Year's Eve at Home with your Family

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Hi Everyone,

Can you believe it’s almost New Year’s Eve? Do you have reservations at your favorite restaurant or a fun party to attend, or are you still undecided? Here, we’ve pretty much always kept our New Year’s Eve celebrations low key. I think we’ve gone out a couple of times and also spent the evening with other families, but for the most part, our family usually has its own fun celebration at home.

Just in case you need some ideas for your own family fun night, I thought I would share some of our favorite ways to ring in the new year. Even the teens survive spending the night with the family, so you know it’s not that bad!

First, we have an easy dinner, which varies from pizza, grilled sandwiches, tacos or whatever else we feel like making–as long as it’s quick and easy to make. Then, as the night goes on, we put out plenty of finger foods such as chips, raw veggies, cheese, crackers, dips and salsa. We also put out whatever cookies and candy are left over from Christmas. There’s something about this bounty of finger foods that makes the evening more festive somehow!

Then, we begin playing a variety of games. We all love this wood tower or Jenga game. The kids also incorporate their own block-building contest into the night’s festivities.

Ever since I made this checkerboard coffee table, it’s gotten a lot of use. I recently moved it from our upstairs loft to the downstairs family room, and I know the kids have plans for New Year’s Eve that include a competitive chess tournament!

checkerboard coffee table, new year's eve games

When the kids were a little younger, we played Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders and other preschool games, but lately we’ve been tackling Apples to Apples, Scrabble and sometimes, Monopoly. It just depends on how old your kids are. If we need to stay awake, we start a game of Charades or find a family action game on the Wii.

Of course, I always have balloons, hats and noisemakers on hand too–gotta keep it festive! Well, I always have noisemakers, but I’m talking about the party kind!

You can change the food and games to suit your own family’s likes and tastes. We make it a point to have a family movie night once a week, but we don’t seem to have a game night as often. So New Year’s Eve is a little more special with the games. And since my family is extremely competitive, it’s a very active night!

If any of your kids make it to midnight, pour them some Sprite while you enjoy a glass of Champagne, and cap off your family night with a toast to the new year.

I hope this has given you some ideas for a night of family fun. Happy New Year, everyone, and thanks so much for reading! Have a great 2014!

Dee 🙂