Super Fun & Simple New Year's Eve Tradition Ideas for the Whole Family

Family-friendly New Year's Eve Tradition Ideas 

I know. I know. It's still the Christmas season. But it isn't too early to start thinking about how you are going to celebrate the new year.  Everyone is so different about how they like to ring in the new year, but here's a few of our favorite family New Year's Eve traditions.

1. Ring in the New Year with a bang. Literally.

We love running up and down the streets at midnight with pots and pans in hand. No need for fancy noisemakers!

2. Take a New Year's Photo 

Put up a fun backdrop and let everyone snap a photo after the clock strikes 12. You'll love looking back over the years and see how much everyone has changed!

We love dressing up in black, white, gold, and silver on New Year's Eve. In fact, I specifically have saved this shirt for New Year's Eve. Same goes for my husband's tie. Even if you are having a party at home, dressing up makes the evening lots more fun.

3. Let children stay up as late they want! 

This tradition may sound crazy, but as a child, we looked forward to New Year's Eve because it was the one night that we could stay up as late as we wanted.

Last year, I put together some simple bags for each hour. All of the kids really looked forward to opening a special treat or activity each hour to pass the time.

4. Give New Year's Eve gifts to neighbors. 

The past few years, we have opted to give New Year's Eve gifts instead of Christmas gifts. It has really helped simplify our Christmas season to do one less thing. Plus, when everyone is so overloaded with treats and goodies, it's good to spread them out, right? If you are feeling overwhelmed, maybe opt for New Year's gifts instead.

A few New Year's Gifts we've given:

"Happy New Year from your New Neighbors" - we attached a simple tag to a bottle of non-alcoholic Martinelli.

"Here's some Dough for the New Year!"-

We made some of our favorite homemade cookie dough and attached these cute "Here's Some Dough for the New Year" tags.

5. Set Family Goals 

We have a family goals binder that we update each January. Each family member has their own page, plus there are pages you can fill out as family. You can download your own copy here.

6. Watch family videos from the previous year. 

Chances are, you are probably like me and have thousands of photos and home videos from the year. And unless I make it a point to do something with them, they are going to just sit on my hard drive and never get looked at. So, put a picture slideshow together, pop some popcorn, and have a family movie night with all those memories.

What are your New Year's Eve traditions? Bring on 2016!!

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This post is part of the Tradition Tuesday series. Come back on Tuesdays for a new tradition idea!  If you have a favorite holiday tradition you'd like to share, send me the details at [email protected] or tag #sofestivetraditions on Instagram).