If you are used to thinking of New Year’s Eve as a time when you need to hire a babysitter, dress up and go to a club to enjoy champagne, why not try spending this night at home with children. When your expectations include kids, you may be surprised how much fun you can have, and you don’t have to give up on champagne either!

Pajama Party for Kids & Adults

When the night runs late, get all the children in their pajamas before they become tired and want to sleep. This way, children will feel comfortable when they pass out.

You can make this night even more special by adding fancy details. For example, party hats, bead necklaces and boas are great items to put on and contribute to a celebratory spirit. You will also get really cute photos at the end of the night.

Sleeping Zone for Children

Even if you have plenty of fun activities to do, little children can get sleepy. This is when you need to have a sleeping zone. Prepare a place with blankets and pillows – whatever can help the little ones feel cozy and warm.

Make sure your kids don’t think it is bedtime. It’s just a quiet place just in case any of them feel tired and want to relax there. You can give them movies to watch and books to read so they can just chill out a bit.

Plan Activities in Advance

Prepare fun activities for you and your kids to do together. A great way to combat their tiredness is to make countdown bags.

Don’t make these complicated. These can be just paper bags and you should write a time on each of them (for example, 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and so on). Each hour, kids should open up a new bag. Inside, you can put little treats and items you know they need.

Speaking of activities to do, you can: play board games, write out great things that happened this year, or have a dance party. Of course, everything should be age-appropriate and work around your children’s likes and dislikes.

International New Year’s Eve

With a Smart TV and Internet, you can easily look for videos of other celebrations going on in other states and worldwide. As your local time is ticking, watch other cities welcome the New Year and show their location on a map to your children, which is easy to display on your smartphone or other devices.

If you have little children and want to celebrate New Year’s early to fit the schedule of your kids, you can get in the right mood by watching other ceremonies ahead of your local time countdown. Add some noisemakers and lighted items for your children to play with.

Cookies & Milk

If your kids are old enough to make it to midnight, you can let them celebrate in a fancy yet child-friendly way. While adults can sip champagne and other alcoholic beverages, give kids milk in champagne flutes with their favorite cookies on the side. They will feel fancy and even more excited about the fact that they get a treat late at night and can enjoy this time with their parents. You can also prepare other tasty but simple snacks, for example, cold sandwiches, warm cider, fruits and vegetables.