New Years Eve is upon us, one of my favorite things to do is watching the ball drop from time square on TV. My kiddos are still too young to stay up to countdown till midnight. The past couple of years my oldest boys have "tried" to stay up but everyone ends up falling asleep, which is okay with me. Kids just like adults love a good party though. In lieu of staying up till midnight having a Noon Years Eve Countdown with the kids is a great idea. You can have a simple and fun party from 11 AM to Noon counting down to welcome the New Year! Let's talk food and drinks first. Since your party is at Noon, right at the lunch hour, they will need to eat. I don't know about your kids but my kiddos would rather snack than have an actual sit down meal. They love finger foods and snack foods, a charcuterie board is a dream come true for them! Make your own DIY Kid Charcuterie Board Charcuterie Boards are very popular right now and kids love to snack so this is the perfect easy way to entertain. You can use butcher paper on the table or a cutting board. Gather your favorite kid friendly snacks and arrange on the board. Here is a list of what we used: Grapes, Apple Slices, Goldfish, Crackers, Salami, Cubed Cheese, Yogurt Covered Pretzels, Mini Cookies, Tortilla Pinwheels, Pretzel Sticks, and some candy. Charcuterie Boards are beautiful and are the perfect centerpiece for any table.
Cotton Candy Kid Spritzer Have cotton candy in a glass and either use 7-Up, Sprite or Sparkling Cider. You can find plastic flutes at your local Dollar Store. My kiddos love pouring over the cotton candy and watching it disappear, it turns your drink into a pretty sweet sparkling pink drink.
Now let us talk activities. The kiddos are home for Christmas break anyway and you need to keep them busy here are some ideas to have fun counting down to the New Year with your kiddos while keeping them active, off their electronic devices and hopefully so busy having fun they forget to fight with their siblings. DIY Craft Countdown Clock Keep little hands buys and have them create their very own clock countdown. Use a paper plate, pipe cleaners, stickers, buttons or any other craft items you have on hand. You will need a punch hole, paper plates and craft supplies. You could make this a real working clock and practice time, or just have your kids glue the clock hands made from construction paper, totally up to you.
DIY Noise Makers You can purchase noise makers at the Dollar Store, or you can make your own. Use empty water bottles and rice, beans, pebbles, or beads whatever you have on hand. We have made these before to attend sporting events and we have died the rice with a drop of food coloring.
Word for 2020 Choosing a word for the New Year is a great way to have your kids think about goals and what they envision the New Year to be for them. With each New Year I endeavor to have my kids come up with goals in different areas (Social, Physical, Spiritual, Educational). Depending on their age a great simple way to introduce them to goal setting is simply choosing a Word to focus on. This can be one of your countdown activities, have them write their word on a 3x5 index card. You can decorate your card with markers, stickers, and even frame it or have them pin it on a bulletin board in their room. Here is a link for a free printable I made of Word Ideas to help prompt them. http://bit.ly/356YPV3
Photo Booth Fun We love having fun taking pictures, you can buy a photo booth backdrop at the Dollar Store or make your own with streamers, a table cloth or blanket. At the Dollar Store you can also find photo booth props or have your kiddos find some props from around the house.
DIY Party Hats I purchased party hats at the Dollar Store you could make your own with construction paper. I am going to have my kiddos spruce up our party hats with some leftover Christmas tinsel garland I have had for years. My kiddos love using the hot glue gun, so they will enjoy adding on to the party hats I bought.
Looking for more ways to keep little hands busy? I found some cookie decorating kits on clearance at my local grocery store, that is another great activity, have them decorate their own cookie or cupcake. Make a time capsule. Use a shoe box, have them decorate the outside and then they can add in things that remind them of this past year. They could add in a ticket stub from an event, they could add in a picture of themselves, they could write out on paper a list of their favorite things. Make a gratitude jar. Have your kids get started on a gratitude jar. Then each week have them write on a strip of paper what they are grateful for, then at the end of the year you can rehears all of the amazing things that happened throughout the year. Scavenger Hunt This is always a fun way to have them use up all that energy they have. Especially if the weather is nice have them go into the backyard and find things such as a smooth rock, a leaf, something yellow, something green, pine-cone, flower, bark. You could have them find three different types of leaves and three different types of rocks. Sensory Bin Depending on the ages of your children. My toddler loves sensory bins. You can make your own using rice, popcorn kernels, slime, water and more. Toss in mini figurines, plastic toys from the Dollar Store and you'll have your own DIY Sensory Bin. I hope some of these ideas help you have fun ringing in the new year with your kids. We wish you a safe and Happy New Year. Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends. www.BlogAboutItAll.com.
We are so excited to share the news with you that our family is growing! We've adopted, and want to introduce you to our our newest addition. Our family is growing by four paws....Kitty paws!!!! Meet the adorable "Demi" our new cat. The boys picked the named Demi, no not after Demi Lovato Sorry not Sorry although I do love her, it is after all of their initials (Diego, Emanuel, Matteo, Isaiah).
My boys have been asking for a pet for awhile now my husband's answer has always been a Stone Cold No. They have had fish and turtles but never a dog or cat. When people always ask if we have pets, I always say Get Back, are you crazy I have four boys to take care of, definitely not looking for more work. My husband and I both grew up with pets and I must admit having a pet as a child seems like a rite of passage. I had a cat growing up, chickens and a few dogs. My husband's family had a beautiful and very loved border collie named Bobbi for over 15 years. While a few years back I was encouraging my husband that we should get a dog, and more recently our four year old started asking for a baby, chickens, goats or a cat. My hubby met us in the middle and we decided to ease our way into the "pet owner life" with a cat.
We adopted our cat from Itsie Bitsie Rescue, the process was very easy. We visited Pet Smart to ask questions and find out about the process a couple of weeks ago. This past weekend we went to Pet Smart who hosts Itsie Bitsie Pet adoptions on most weekends from Noon to 5 PM. We put our name on a waiting list, it is a first come, first serve basis. We looked at all the kittens through the glass and made a couple choices, just in case someone before us picked the one we wanted. We actually ended up with the kitten of our choice, which we were ecstatic about. Once your name is called you are taken into a room, where you are introduced to your pet to see if it is a good fit. A friendly and super helpful volunteer went over tips in caring for our new kitten as well as sharing as much information as they had on file. They sent us home with a bag of food, a cat toy and a handcrafted blanket by one of their great volunteers. The boys will Remember December forever. I am Confident that this kitty will be well loved and have an exciting life with four boys loving on her.
Our Kitten is four months old and was originally named Buttons, because she is cute as a button. While we all loved that name, three of the boys had their heart set on calling her Demi and my youngest has changed her name about five times so we are sticking with Demi.
If you found this post from my social media announcement picture Tell Me You Love Me and that you are not too disappointed that it wasn't a baby announcement. Also did you spot some hidden names in this blog post? Comment if you did!
Itsie Bitsie Rescue is a non-profit organization. They depend on donations, grants, and volunteers to keep their small rescue running. The majority of the funding for rescue comes from donations provided by loyal sponsors and adoption fees. They provide safe shelter, love, and time to develop for unweaned kittens and puppies so that they too can find forever homes.
They have an amazing group of volunteers. The work of their volunteers is what makes their organization so successful. They are always looking for more dedicated volunteers to help with animal foster care, adoption and fundraising. If you are interested you can find more info at http://www.itsiebitsierescue.org/
I'm sure you know how difficult it can be to get a picture of multiple children, you can only imagine how much fun we have had adding a cat in the mix. Thank you for reading if you’ve enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends. www.BlogAboutItAll.com. Don't Forget to comment below if you know what's hidden in this blog post.
