After a long two months of the holiday season, sometimes it’s nice to stay at home with your loved ones and invite friends over to ring in the new year. A fancy party isn’t necessary to celebrate one year passing and another entering. Our team at Huffines Hyundai McKinney wants to help you plan your evening, so we’ve compiled a list of fun and unique ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve from home. And who knows, maybe you’ll find a new tradition to do each year to greet the incoming year.
Host a Virtual New Year’s Eve Party
Host a virtual party if you want to connect with friends from across the country or family members who couldn’t attend your gathering. Invite friends and family members who can come in person and set up a video chat time with those who can’t come. This way, everyone gets to feel involved and celebrate the holiday together. Some fun ideas to do while on video chat include:
- Complete virtual quizzes.
- Share your highlights of the year using photos.
- Talk about favorites of the year, such as movies, television series, books, and songs.
- Host a themed trivia game with questions about a favorite movie or show or about the past year.
As the clock gets closer to midnight, grab your favorite beverages and snacks to count down and cheers to the new year together.
Play Board Games
Dust off your favorite board games and call your kids or friends to the living room or kitchen table to play. There are tons of fun games you may already own, like Sorry and Monopoly, but consider purchasing New Year’s Eve-themed games. Several games are available online for you to choose from that you can order ahead of the holiday, or you can even add a holiday twist to the ones everyone already knows how to play, such as charades and bingo.
If you play bingo, get fun prizes, like treats, for your kids or guests. Incorporate the holiday-themed games between your beloved go-to games to make it feel like an extra special game night as you wait for the clock to strike midnight.
Make a Campfire
Make a campfire in your backyard if you have a fire pit. This is a fun New Year’s Eve activity that families with children of all ages can enjoy. Gather the kids and invite other family members and friends to sit around the campfire and chat. Make sure to bring the chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows to roast as you count down the year’s final hours. You can make the environment even cozier by adding some string lights and sharing blankets drawn over each other’s laps.
Additionally, consider purchasing themed New Year’s Eve decorations, such as balloons and streamers, to decorate the yard.
Create a New Year’s Resolution Time Capsule
A fun way to reflect on the year is by creating a New Year’s resolution time capsule for you and your family to review next New Year’s Eve. Each family member or guest can write down on a piece of paper what they want to work toward or experience in the upcoming year. Next, place the resolutions inside a container or jar that can get dirty. Then, have the kids help you bury the jar in the backyard to dig up next year and see if you achieved your goals.
This is a great way to spend time together as a family and help kids learn how to set attainable goals and plan the steps they need to reach them.
Organize an Escape Room in Your Home
Make the holiday memorable for your kids by organizing an escape room in your home. To do this, designate a room in your house as the escape area. Then, create puzzles and riddles for kids and teenagers to solve to make sure they can get out on time. There are escape kits you can download online to help guide you as you organize this activity for the family. The kits can have various themes, such as movies, and take about 30 minutes for you to set up. Kits may include:
- Riddles.
- Clue sheets.
- Accessories.
- Background music.
- Accomplishment diplomas.
Have Countdown to New Year’s Day Treats
Having treats to help you count down to New Year’s Day is especially fun for the children. Create small treat bags filled with candy, desserts, snacks, or small toys for kids to open up each hour leading up to midnight. You can choose when you want to start the countdown, such as starting at 6 or 7 p.m. This makes it exciting for the children and gives them something to look forward to each hour. You may even get your teenagers involved by getting them to help assemble them for the younger kids.
Another idea is taking the younger kids shopping to get their input on what to fill the bags with, but they won’t know which bag holds what each hour. Additionally, you can have the kids decorate the bags as a fun arts and crafts project.
Reflect on the Past Year
Reflect on the past year with your loved ones. Consider asking everyone to make a slideshow or another creative presentation to show off their year’s highlights. This can include:
- Photos.
- Vacations.
- Accomplishments.
- Major life events.
- Favorites from the year, such as movies and books.
This allows everyone to think about how far they’ve come in the past year and celebrate it with the ones they love most. It may also help you determine what you might like to work toward in the new year. To make it more fun, you can turn it into a game where you guess what accomplishments or milestones belong to each person.
There you have it, some fun and unique ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve from home with your loved ones. If you have an extra special tradition you like to do each year, contact us. We’d love to discuss your favorite way to ring in the new year, and we might even add it to the list for others to try.
Visit our dealership in McKinney, Texas, before the new year to start 2023 off right by purchasing a new car or pre-loved vehicle. Here at Huffines Hyundai McKinney, we value our customers, and we’ll be sure to get you a great deal so that you feel good about your purchase when you drive off the lot and into a fantastic new year.