Entertaining gets dull when you do the same old sit down meal over and over. That was my life in December when my kids were young beginning when my grandmother arrived from England, followed by my mother’s birthday, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. By the time New Year’s Eve hit I was worn-out by the monotony. Eventually, I got smart and had my children take over. They successfully entertained four generations and you can re-create that. Here’s what you can do to create a New Year’s Eve your guests will never forget.
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My childhood was filled with parties where everyone gathered around my father playing a diverse range of music with his acoustic guitar and harmonica. He shared our Swiss past with his yodeling, and put a smile on everyone’s face with songs like My Ding-A-Ling, Alouette, and The Battle of New Orleans. I couldn’t offer those same memories to my children but I wanted to give them something just as special.
Growing up my kids saw me do lots of entertaining since we had many houseguests, I threw lots of birthday parties, ran playgroups, and was a Sparks and Brownie leader. When I invited the kids to organize New Years Eve they were excited for their chance to take control. The first time we did this was December 31st, 2004, Vincent would have been eight and Alexandra six years old.
Deciding she wanted part of the action too, my 80 year old grandmother helped with the preparations, decorating, and buying gifts for the winners and losers. Between the four of us we pulled off a fun-filled night my children, and guests looked forward to every year, and still talk about today.
I’d always enjoyed the challenge of entertaining but there was a stress behind it. This time it was effortless and so much fun sharing in the preparations. We sat together planning what was needed of any party then went to work. The next day we were ready after having completed our party organizing list. The below list has quick-links to each section:
date and time
For any party you begin with a date and time. The kids answered this part easily, New Years Eve, and we decided that an evening start, after 5 p.m. was a good time for guests to show up.
location
Again, the kids answered this easily, the location was obvious, our home. We just needed to have the areas of the house cleared where we were playing: the living room and rec room.
theme
It was New Years Eve so we began our shopping list with a New Years Eve party decoration package. Blowers, hats, streamers, and anything else the kit came with.
guests
The kids created the guest list so we knew how much to buy in the way of food, crafts, and prizes. Our guests were family, local, and anyone visiting from out-of-town. Typically the party was no more than 10 to 15 people, keeping it manageable. If we had space, sometimes we even invited friends who happen to be free.
schedule
The next task was creating a schedule for the night allowing us to be prepared so we didn’t miss anything:
3 pm Prepare for party:
- Tidy and decorate
- Set up team building area with hat, paper, and pencils to fill in names
- Prepare scrapbook and craft supplies
- Set up games areas
- Prepare food, dips, drinks, etc
- Champagne in the fridge
- Have food plates, napkins, and cups ready
- Champagne flutes cleaned
5 pm Arrival, settle in, and scrapbook
6 pm Teams created
7 pm Food spread
8 pm Let the games begin
9 pm Kid’s show
10 pm Games continued
11:00 pm Hand out winner/loser prizes
11:45 pm Countdown to New Years
food and drink
What’s a party without food and drink? The best part of this informal event was we were entertaining with finger foods, all the kid’s favourites, and a few things for the adults:
food
- Plum sauce
- Chicken wings
- Sour cream dip
- Barbecue sauce dip
- Ketchup
- Sausage rolls
- Spring rolls
- Chips and other munchies
- A variety of adult syle appetizers.
drink
- Juice boxes
- Pop
- Champagne for midnight
- Wine
- Sherry for great gran
to do
Our to do list covered two lists, shopping and preparations.
shopping
First, we checked our supplies then purchased whatever was needed:
- New Years party decorations including hats, blowers, décor, plates, cups, and napkins
- Easle paper
- markers
- Plum sauce
- Chicken wings
- Sour cream dip
- Barbecue sauce dip
- Ketchup
- Sausage rolls
- Spring rolls
- Chips and other munchies
- A variety of adult syle appetizers.
- Juice boxes
- Pop
- Champagne for midnight
- Wine
- Sherry for great gran
- Crying towels or looser prizes
- Winners prizes
- Crayons, sprinkles, glue, and stickers to decorate the scrapbook
preparations
- Clean and clear the living room and rec room
- Put up decorations
- Artist easel, paper, and markers for Pictionary
- Create scrapbook and do printouts
- Crayons, sprinkles, glue, and stickers to decorate the scrapbook
- Hat, paper pieces, and pens to write names on for picking team names and game words
- Timer
- Champagne in the fridge and glasses ready
night entertainment
With a 5 pm start to the night there would be seven hours till midnight to entertain the guests. It was better to over-plan than have everyone bored so we prepared games and other entertainment that began with creating a scrapbook and name picking.
scrapbook
Keeping guests, especially the excited children, busy till everyone arrived, was the biggest challenge of the night. To fill the gap in time we created a scrapbook to work on, and used it for team-building, connecting, and even included photos of the night.
Scrapbook with New Years Eve title page 2005. Picture by Vickie Girolami. 
Scrapbook with New Year’s Eve schedule. Picture by Vickie Girolami. 
Scrapbook with New Year’s Eve menu. Picture by Vickie Girolami. 
Scrapbook with New Year’s Eve teams. Picture by Vickie Girolami. 
Scrapbook with New Year’s Eve games. Picture by Vickie Girolami. 
Scrapbook with New Year’s Eve autographs. Picture by Vickie Girolami. 
New Years Eve gang 2005. Timer picture by Vickie Girolami.
- Scrapbook
- Title page to decorate
- Schedule of the evening
- Teams
- Games
- Autographs
- Last page left to add a group picture which we developed and gave back to everyone with their scrapbook the following week.
name picking
There’s nothing like a bit of competition to add to the excitement so we decided each child would be a Team Captain. We’d have two teams who would duke it out for bragging rights and a prize. Everyone wrote their name on a piece of paper and put it in a hat. The Team Captains (my children) took turns picking names till everyone was on a team. Name picking was an idea we came up with after Great Gran told her love story.
During World War II my grandfather was a signalman and received the signal that a few women were arriving on base. He gathered his friends, put the women’s names in a hat, and each officer picked a name preventing all the officers going after the same woman. My grandfather picked my grandmother’s name, after a rough courtship the rest is history. Amazing, the only reason I’m here is because, as my grandfather always said, he won my grandmother in a lottery.
games
Our society, especially our school system, tries to create a winner out of everyone but that isn’t realistic in life. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The funnest way to learn that is games and it’s even more fun when you’re part of a team.
Our New Years Eve party games were easy and if someone didn’t know it, it was easily taught. After some brainstorming, and trial and error over the years the below list became our favourites. They appeal to every age group with each game win worth one point for the winning team:
- Pictionary
You can use the game itself or what we did. Each person writes something to draw on a paper then puts the paper into a hat for someone from the other team to pick. The person who picks the word then has to draw it so their team members can guess what it is within two minutes.
- Charades
This was a game new to the kids but they caught on quick. We played the same as Pictionary but this time everyone acted out the word(s).
Our Karaoke rated how you sing so each person picked and sang a song then was scored. If someone didn’t feel comfortable singing in front of everyone they could ask for someone from their team to do it for them. The team with the best score won.
- Darts
We had two dart boards, adult and children’s, so we could all play around the clock as a team. The first team to finish was the winner.
- Wii Fit Bowling
Playing Wii Fit Bowling was one of the greatest pleasures because it brought the seniors to the children’s world. Great gran caught us off guard when she beat us all.
bringing in the New Year
The night ended with toasts, watching the celebrations on television in New York, then packing it in.
After that night I didn’t mind the sit down meal on New Year’s Day but those were my favourite of all New Years Eve’s. The thrill of bringing in the New Year surrounded by loved ones and friends, some of them gone now, and being able to share a fun-filled night with four generations is something I will always cherish.
It’s been over a decade since I had a party like that and I can’t wait to have grandchildren to hopefully have the chance to do this once again. Till then, I’ve got the best memories and am happy with a New Years Eve of relaxation while I’m sick and have time to get better for the New Year.
Cheers,
Vickie Girolami
December 31, 2023
#middleagedteen #party #partygames #partyideas #partyplanning #holidayentertaining #newyearseve #newyearscelebration #karaoke #charades #darts #pictionary
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