Traditions are a big part of family events throughout the entire year. New Year’s Eve is no exception. Whether you are staying home and celebrating with your kiddos or if you are going out and have a sitter staying home with them, kids still like ringing in the new year like the rest of us. These New Year’s Eve Countdown Bags are a perfect way for the littles to enjoy the celebration of a new year as well.
There are a nunber of fun options when creating the countdown bags. I love creating just one bag per each child. A clock with a movable hand will be affixed to the front and goodies will be hidden inside. As each hour approaches, the child will move their clock hand to designate the appropriate hour. The big reveal of course will be when the hand reaches 12!
Making the New Year’s Eve Countdown Bags ~
Supplies ~
- Lunch sized bags (also known as party paper goody bags)
- Glue stick
- Paper fasteners/brads of choice
- Clock and clock hand (free printout below)
We chose fun metallic party bags for this year’s celebration ~
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Instructions ~
Print and cut out the clock face and clock hand provided in this post. *Links for various clocks are at bottom of post!
Using the glue stick, affix the clock face to the front of the bag. *Be sure to not paste it too close to the top as you will need space to fold the top of the bag down.
Make a small hole in the end of the clock face. You can push the brad right through the paper, but if it looks as if it is going to rip, try punching a small hole first with a pointy object. Put the paper fastener/brad through the hole and then through the middle of the clock.
Reach into the sack and bend the arms of the brad to help secure the clock hand.
Fill the bag with the goodies you have collected.
Fold top of bag over and secure with sticker or make a small hole and tie a pretty ribbon through to hold in place.
How the Bags Work ~
At the top of every hour, the children get to move the clock hand. Explain to the children that when the hand FINALLY reaches the 12 they will get to open their New Year’s Eve countdown bag. *If your children are younger and will not make it to midnight, choose another designated time for them to receive their goodies!
Playing games, having dance parties and of course eating lots of yummy food are all, of course, an integral part of the time spent between the moving of the clock hand toward midnight! Heidi, from OneCreativeMommy.com has some great free printables for New Year’s Eve Bingo. Click this link to go directly to One Creative Mommy and get the Bingo game boards to print! Use fun candies for the Bingo markers…and of course, be sure to have extras on hand for those candies that the little ones “sneak” to eat while playing! 😉
Festive Ideas for the Bag Fillers ~
Fill these fun bags with everything from small toys, to little candies to, of course, NOISE MAKERS!!!! Below are some of the items we have filled our bags with for this year. *Notice we have chosen some toys to inspire a little quiet time play…sometimes you need just a little break to slow down for breaks ~
Also included are small snack size bags of cookies and teddy grahams. Individually wrapped candies and Nutrigrain bites. You might even want to consider adding a juice box or favorite drink pouch!
New Year’s Eve Food Ideas ~
Fun ideas for festive food are galore on Pinterest, in recipe books and probably even in your recipe box! Munchies can range from simple to more difficult as far as preparations go. Remember that when you are adding in all the fun of games and dance parties, whatever food you choose to serve will be loved. Yes, I, Mimi, am saying that….shocking right? The gal who loves everything theme oriented.
My point is….it’s been a very busy last couple of months. With that being said, we are ready for a good mix of simple and festive! We plan on mixing simple recipes with a few of our favorite more time consuming ones. For example, popcorn is simple right? Our family loves popcorn so that will be on the menu! However, we definitely need one or two fun foods. Below are a couple of links for you to check out that have great ideas…from sweet to savory.
Adventures in Familyhood has some great ideas for food ideas. Check out these awesome food ideas from Adventuresinfamilyhood.com in this link! As far as savory goes, I have to say one of my favorites are the Crescent Dippers by Pillsbury…rolled out in numbers so you can make dippers in the year you are celebrating. Use this link for the instructions on making New Year’s Eve Crescent Dippers by Pillsbury! Another website that has loads of fun finger foods is from Brightcolormom.com. Click here to see all of the fun ideas Michelle from Brightcolormom.com has in store for your New Year’s Eve celebration!
Choose Your Clock Face ~
I created several clock faces for you. If you choose the monster or penguin, you will have to be a bit more careful cutting out the clock hands. In order for those clock faces to fit on the bags I had to make them and the clock hands a bit smaller. However, they are super cute and worth a little extra work! I have provided a small pic so you can see which green link you want to choose….or you can print them all!
New Year’s Eve Countdown Clock – Blue
New Year’s Eve Countdown Clock – Purple
New Year’s Eve Countdown Clock – Monster
New Year’s Eve Countdown Clock – Penguin
There you have it friends! Have fun putting these adorable New Year’s Eve countdown bags together…Come back and let me know what fun ideas you fill yours with!
Happy New Year’s to you my friends ~
Mimi
