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New Year’s Eve Family Fun Party – Balloon Game and Food and Drink Ideas

Celebrating New Year’s Eve with kids is a real eye-opener. We’ve had the baby years – where we didn’t just see midnight in, we also saw in 1, 2, 3, 4 and up for the day at 5, the toddler years where our youngest managed to see in the new year and then every single big event of 2012 especially if it happened late at night. But by far the most fun we’ve had is spending time with friends and family playing games, having fun. This balloon countdown game for kids is a great way for even little ones to countdown to the new year and learn a little at the same time. So here you go our New Year’s Eve Balloon Countdown Game for Family Fun!

Pinterest image for a New Year's Eve Activity for Kids of all ages

This is a sponsored post written on behalf of Balloon Time

What you need for our Balloon Game

Balloon Time Helium Tank

Silver Sharpie

Activity Cards – print from this download

Looking for more activities that are kid-friendly for New Year’s then look no further than our selection of handpicked tried and tested New Year’s Eve Activities for Families.

Prep Needed

Using the Balloon Time Helium Tank find out where it is available near you on the Balloon Time Website set it up to inflate the balloons following the easy instructions on the side of the tank.

balloon time helium tank and box

Take 12 coloured balloons – we used yellow and pink because they looked the brightest according to the kids.

filling up a helium balloon from an at home tank kit
inflated balloon ready to detach from a helium tank

Attach to the nozzle and inflate – Tie off quickly and then either attach your string now or store in a LOW ceiling room as they will rise and I can’t tell you the fun I had chasing them around the ceiling of the lounge! I ended up storing them under our breakfast bar whilst I inflated them all.

helium balloons with ribbon floating on an artex ceiling

Attach a LONG string to each balloon and then use the silver sharpie to create some clocks.

balloon with a clock face showing 6 o'clock drawn on it with a silver metalic marker

We used each time between 1pm and midnight and I made them as easy as possible to read especially for our little ones that are just learning to tell the time.

They were then tied together.

I printed out our activity cards and cut them up ready for the game. I’ve included a second page of blank cards for you to create your own fun activities for your family.

Looking for other ideas to spend quality family time together on New Year’s Eve check out our alternatives to going to a party for more family fun.

Playing the Balloon Countdown Game

It would be lovely to play this game over a day and I’m sure with older kids you could possibly do it – but the oldest of our little group is only 6 and the youngest just 18 months so it wasn’t possible. Instead we set it up mid afternoon and then got playing.

pink balloon with a silver clock on it showing 7 o'clock for counting down the hours to New Year's 2021

The balloons were released around the room – this is where it is vital that the strings are LONG so that the kids can catch it.

They then had to tell the time – the youngest ones had to find someone to tell them the time and the older ones who could read numbers let us know what number they got, the ones that could read clocks told us the time that they could see.

It was lovely to see the youngest ones asking the older kids the time rather than us adults.

Once the time was found – the matching activity card was found and the kids then had to do the activity.

We had so much fun doing things like dress your mummy like a snowman using a pile of hats, gloves, scarf and carrot that we had put together with the Dad’s judging the speed of the activity.

New Year's Eve Countdown balloon for a quick and easy countdown for new years with the kids

Discover even more fun New Year’s Eve Party Games for Kids to play together this year.

Food and Drink Ideas for your News Year’s Eve Family Fun Party

No New Year’s Eve Party is complete without some special drinks – and at this one time of the year I think it’s allowed to let a little fizziness into the party – these candy mocktails for kids from Modern Parents Messy Kids are the perfect choice, but for your youngest we used sparkling water instead of a flavoured drink as with the candies as well there was just too much sugar.

We decided that unlike us that would sit down for a meal together with the kids in party mood it was time for some fun party foods for them so here was a little peek at our New Year’s Eve Party Menu for the Kids.

Sausage Rolls which we made using puff pastry and some sausage meat in the shape of stars

Filled Potato Skins

Squashed Tomato Pasta

Quinoa Salad

Cucumber Stars, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrot Sticks

Marshmallow Star and Snowflakes

Glittered Fairy Cakes

Fruit Wands

Other Game Ideas

We decided to go with simple, traditional and easy games for the group – we played Musical Statues, Sleeping Lions, and Musical Chairs. Plus we danced lots and lots – which meant that by the time it was their bedtime all of them went to sleep and slept through till morning (or maybe that’s just our wish for the new year!)

Author
Cerys Parker

Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.

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