My kids are getting old enough to stay up a little later on New Year’s Eve. Some of them might even make it to midnight this year, though some will be asleep long before that. I love all the ideas out there of fun ways to spend those hours on New Year’s Eve. We will probably play some games and maybe watch a movie. But I figured those hours will give us plenty of time to also do some meaningful activities. Here’s a few that I’ve thought of doing:
- New Year’s Questionaire – we’ve done these a couple times in the past — there are tons of them on Pinterest. They are fun for the kids to fill out all about themselves right now (favorite color, food, etc) and dream about the future (what they want to be when they grow up).
- Crafting Gratitude Journals – We will be adding gratitude journaling to our daily routine in the coming year. Every night we’ll have a few minutes to write down or draw a picture of 3 things they are thankful for that day. I got a cheap composition notebook for each child and we’ll be picking out cute scrapbook paper to glue to the front and to make them look fun and unique to each individual.
- Setting new goals – 4 of my 5 kids will be involved in our church’s new goal setting program in the coming year. They are asked to set a goal in each of these areas: social, spiritual, physical, intellectual. So, we’ll be taking some time to help the kids come up with a goal in each category for the coming year. I’ll be joining them in setting my own goals in these areas, too.
- Picking out a family word for the year – You know the trend of picking out a word that will guide your actions in the coming year? I thought it would be fun to pick out a word for our family, too . . . something we can all be focused on together. We will decide on a word and use a 12×12 cardstock page to make a collage around that word, then hang it where we’ll see it all year long.
- Letters – Last year, on New Year’s Eve, after the kids were in bed, I left a letter for each of them that I had written about the things I was proud of them for in the last year. This doesn’t “involve” the kids in a sense that it gives them something to do, but it is a meaningful way thing to do on New Year’s Eve.
I’m so excited for the new year with it’s brand new beginnings and looking forward to making some memories with fun and meaningful activities as we celebrate on New Year’s Eve.
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