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When I was a kid, I remember waiting for the day my parents would let me stay up until midnight on New Years Eve. I don’t know if I thought something magical happened at midnight or if it was just the excitement of it all, but I could not wait to find out!

My parents were not party people and many times my Dad even worked on New Years Eve, as he was a manager and computer programmer for a large oil company. He was either at work or on call should anything wonky happen when the clocks rolled over to the new year.

I remember when Y2K rolled around and he spent most of the New Years Day and night at work just to make sure the “world didn’t come to an end” when the clocks rolled over to the new century. He and his team had spent months working on it and doing scenarios so they were prepared for anything they could foresee happening. Thankfully it wasn’t the end of the world and the computers kept on ticking as the clock struck midnight. 

When we had kids I was so excited for the day they would get to stay up and “party” at midnight. As our oldest approached an age we thought he would enjoy it, we let him try to stay up. He had fun waiting, but was sadly disappointed when there weren’t fireworks and a huge party at our house as the clock rolled over.

Then, he woke up at his normal 7 am time and was a cranky mess for the rest of the day! I was so sad for him that it wasn’t what he expected and the next day he was pretty miserable due to his lack of sleep that night. So, we have not allowed him to stay up on New Years since. I know…I’m a horrible mother.

And truthfully, in the 9 years of our marriage (at that point), my husband had only been home on New Year’s Eve probably 3 times. He worked most New Years Eve’s, so I was home alone. Not that I minded all that much, but it really wasn’t worth me fighting the kiddos that late at night and then dealing with tired and cranky kids the next day by myself.

Celebrate a Noon-Year’s Day Party

So a few years ago, I decided even though my kids might be old enough to try the midnight thing again, I wanted more of a party for them to enjoy without the after-effects of staying up way past their bedtime. So I again, I went to the knowledge base of the internet – Pinterest.

I found some very clever ideas for celebrating and ringing in the New Year at NOON instead of midnight!!! The idea was perfect!! We could make the day filled with fun and partying, but still get them in bed at a reasonable hour. So, I got to work. I gathered supplies, made snacks and invited some cousins over to join in the fun!

Gather Your Supplies

First, I raided the dollar store, the dollar spot at Target and the party favor bins at Wal-Mart. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but wanted some fun items for the kids as we “celebrated” the new year. Then I bought a pack of brown paper sacks to fill with the items I bought. Each one was marked with the hours of our party, leading up to noon when we would open the last one. 

10:00 am – Little noisemaker (flute) and fruit snacks, which was perfect because that’s about our normal snack time in the mornings!

11:00 am – Another noisemaker (what was I thinking?), but the kids had a blast with them! I think there might have been a little toy in there too, but I didn’t get pictures, so I can’t really remember.

NOON – New Years Hats, Pop-its (that might not have been my best idea with 6 kids popping them at once) and opened some Sparkling Grape Juice for the kids to have a special treat to “toast” the New Year.

After we had opened all our bags and partied to bring in the Noon-Year, we had pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch. Of course, these were a huge hit with the kids and me, because they are so easy to make. After lunch it was time to finish off our celebration with a fun, make-your-own dessert.

What kid doesn’t like dessert? I gave them each a paper plate and a waffle cone. I then put out some chocolate and vanilla icing and sprinkles and let the kids make their own “Christmas Trees”. First, they covered their cones with their choice of icing and then “decorated” their trees with sprinkles. And then they were free to eat away! They had so much fun creating them and even got a little carried away with it, but they all enjoyed them and had fun. And that’s the point – right?!

Plan Your Own Party

Whether you have little ones that need to celebrate during the day or you have older kids that love staying up until midnight, now is the time to start planning your party. First, you need to figure out the hours and when you want to open bags. Then you can take off shopping for everything you need.

Make New Year’s fun for the whole family with these printable countdown clocks and reflection printables! These are so easy to put together and a super fun way to help even your little ones celebrate the new year as it rolls around! Print and use the clocks to countdown New Year’s Eve and the reflection pages on New Year’s Day.

Download the NYE Countdown & Reflection Pack

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