Family New Years Party

Organize a Family New Years celebration that lets you remember the good times from the previous year and yet helps you to organize the family for the coming year.

Spend the day creating memory books, organizing photos and school papers. This is a day long party. Take time to discuss with your children the items they are putting into their scrapbooks. Make a point to praise their previous accomplishments and the books they are building.

Celebrate in the evening by watching a movie and ringing in a Family New Years.

Gather Scrap Book Supplies

One scrapbook per family member.
Scissors, stickers, glue sticks, paper punches, etc... Anything you might want to use for decorating the pages in your books.
If you have a lot of pictures you might purchase some extra photo organizers.

New Years Eve Morning

In the morning have everyone gather their important papers and dig up all the photo packets you collected over the year. Don't forget all the school work and photos from the fridge. Set a timer for 10 minutes and see what can be gathered during that time. (a race against time makes it more fun for the kids)

You will need a large area set up to allow everyone room to work on their books together.

Do Not allow drinks or food at the table!

Gather everyone together to start their scrapbooks. Set a goal for everyone to have a couple of pages completed by lunch time. They should use their papers and school projects in their books, but also let them use some of the family photos.

Celebrate with Lunch

Have a sit down lunch with everyone and discuss the pages they are building. Encourage and praise the work they are doing. Make this one Family New Years that they will remember.
Get them excited to build more pages!

Complete the books

Some members of the family can finish a book in one day, some will take longer. As members finish their books, have them sort the extra photos into categories and arrange them into boxes. Try to keep them at the table and active in the family conversation going on. Aim to have everyone complete their book by dinner time but don't push too hard if they can't finish them. (there is always tomorrow!)

Family New Years Dinner

Eat a slow paced dinner together. Don't rush it. Enjoy the food and time spent together. Talk about the adventures of the past year and the dreams your kids have for the coming year. Don't forget to share some of your ideas with them.

Movie Time

Watch a family movie together. It's fun to create a sleepover atmosphere by having everyone get their sleeping bags and pillows and spread out in front of the television. (if they don't have sleeping bags, spread out blankets and sheets!)

Ring in the New Year

Anyone still awake at midnight can ring in the New Year (chances are the only ones awake will be Mom and Dad!)