New Year's Eve

I heard about a fun activity to do as a family over on the FIAR message board: New Year's Eve Bags. We decided to give it a try! Basically it's a way to count down to midnight (although my kids didn't stay up that late, we celebrated a pretend midnight around 7:30).

I used one paper lunch bag for each hour that we counted down (we started at 2:00) and attached a paper clock face telling which hour to open each bag. On the back of each bag I attached a rhyme that gave a clue to the activity we would be doing that hour.

So the kids would look at each bag to find the one that said the correct hour, read the clue and try to guess what the activity would be. Inside the bag was something we would be using for the activity. I borrowed some of the rhymes from the lovely FIAR ladies, tweaked to fit my needs, and made some up myself. And, yes, they are corny but that's ok :)

2:00 Shuffle the cards and deal them out. Game time is what this hour's about!
In the bag: Uno (a new game for them)
Activity: Play card games

3:00 2011 is almost here. Time to reflect and think back on the year
In the bag: 2010 questionnaire
Activity: Answer questions such as favorite memory of the year and what you are most thankful for this year. We sealed these in an envelope to be opened next New Year's Eve.

4:00 Bowling, golf, sword fighting too! Grab a controller, you know what to do!
In the bag: Wii controller
Activity: Play Wii

5:00 Crust and sauce, add some cheese. Let's make a dinner that's sure to please. While we're at it, it wouldn't hurt to mix up something for dessert
In the bag: Can of tomato paste (to make sauce) and bottle of hot fudge.

Activity: Make homemade mini pizzas and blondies for dessert

6:00 Has this been fun? Has this been groovy? Let's change into jammies and watch a movie!
In the bag: DVD
Activity: Watch The Tale of Despereaux and enjoy blondie sundaes

Final Bag (when the movie was over) It's almost midnight, almost a new year! Let's make some noise! Let's shout and cheer!
In the bag: Noise makers
Activity: Count down to "midnight", blow noise makers and throw balloons in the air while shouting "Happy New Year"!

We had a lot of fun and we might have to make this a New Year's Eve tradition!