Grammy on the Go
By Karen Shadrach
It’s almost time to ring in a new year. Yea!! As we move forward, let’s hope 2021 is filled with more opportunities, peace, health and a more normal way of life. The grandchildren always want to celebrate the New Year’s Eve holiday but they (let’s face it, and we grandparents, also) have a difficult time staying awake until midnight! Many venues that have had child-friendly New Year’s Eve events have been canceled this year due to Covid, but why not host your own party? We call these parties Noon Year’s Eve since the magic hour is at 12 o’clock noon!
Instead of a ball drop countdown, I make up a clock face and post it on the wall or a large window. A different activity is planned for each of the 1-11 hours, culminating at 12 when we celebrate the New Year! The time limits for each activity are dependent on the ages of your grandchildren. Ours are 3-5 years old, so each “hour” lasts 5-6 minutes. This makes this event approximately 1 hour in length. After each activity is completed, a child can place an X on that hour, or remove it from the clock. Their excitement rises as we move through each hour to 12!
An example set of activities includes the following ideas we have used in the past years: You can modify times or things to do, depending on the interests of your grandchildren. You could even ask them to help you to plan the party and use their ideas.
Hour 1– Paint or color a fun holiday New Year’s color sheet. These can be found online to print, or have them draw hats and balloons to color.
Hours 2 and 3 – Play a favorite game. More time was allotted for this activity.
Hour 4 – Read a book or conduct a New Year interview. Make up sheets with questions, such as what was your favorite food or color, or what things do you want to do next year? Write down answers and date the sheet. It is fun to save and read it next year.
Hours 5 and 6 – Do a craft together. We made tambourines to use as a noisemaker for the 12th hour. Take two paper plates and color the outsides. Cut long strips of construction paper or use ribbon and attach these to one side of the plate. Insert about 10-20 beans into the center of plates and staple shut.
Hour 7 – Eat a snack. Leftover Christmas cookies are great!
Hour 8 – Gather all your New Year celebration noisemakers, leis and hats.
Hour 9 – Learn to sing Auld Lang Syne. A good child version can be found on YouTube by Sunshine Kids.
Hour 10 – Dance time! Dance to above song, plus any other of their favorites.
Hour 11 – Pour drinks and have a toast. We purchased plastic Champaign flutes and poured sparkling grape juice for our toast.
Finally! Made it to Hour 12! Watch a ball drop on YouTube from last year then set up your own. While watching the ball drop, make sure all kids have on their hats and equipped with their noisemakers. We have steps that go upstairs making a balcony from which to drop balloons. We filled two garbage bags with small balloons and after the kids yelled their countdown, the balloons were dropped. This year, I purchased fake snowballs that we will drop over the balcony. If you don’t have a staircase, you can hang the balloons on the ceiling to drop at the appropriate time.
This celebration does take a bit of preparation ahead of time, but the kids will love it (and will probably want to do it again next year). It’s all about making a memory…
Happy New Year, everyone!
