New Year’s Eve Crafts – Ideas for New Year’s Eve Art Projects

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New Year’s Eve is for celebration, reflection, and joy as we prepare to usher in the new year. It is a time demarcated for the gathering of close friends and family to bid the past year adieu and open our arms to the next one. It is important to remind ourselves that children and toddlers may also want to join in on the fun. If you are a parent hoping for some inspiration on how to include your child in the festivities, you might be interested in getting some ideas on how to engage them in some exciting and simple New Year’s Eve arts and crafts. If so, you have come to the right spot. In this article, we will take you through some fun and easy-to-do crafts that your kids can perform in preparation for a stunning New Year’s celebration!

A Brief History of New Year’s Eve Celebrations

Before we get into the New Year’s crafts, you may like to learn a little about the history of this celebration. What is the history behind this universally celebrated holiday? Its origins actually date back thousands of years, and its celebration has been heralded by many different cultures in many different ways throughout the course of history. We accredit the first celebration of the new year to the ancient Babylonians, who began doing so more than 4 000 years ago. Unlike today, they celebrated the new year according to a different calendar, which saw the celebration occurring in late March during the first new moon to arrive after the spring equinox.

Also, unlike today, the introduction of the new year is something that the Babylonians celebrated for 11 days. Much like today, however, these celebrations also saw feasting, gift-giving, and other related festivities among the itinerary.

The ancient Romans were the first to celebrate New Year’s Eve according to the contemporary calendar, kicking their festivities off in January during what they called the Feast of Janus. The celebration was done in honor of Janus, their god of beginnings and ends. Much like the Babylonians, this celebration was also hallmarked with gift-giving and feasting, among other rituals.

In the 6^th Century AD, the Christian Church would officially adopt January 1^st as the date on which the celebration of the new year would occur. IT would, however, take until the 16^th century for the modern concept of New Year’s Eve celebrations to come into being. For the Scottish, the celebration of the new year was called Hogmanay, and it was considered a time for feasting, gift-giving, and visiting neighbors. For the English, the celebration of the new year was referred to as Watch Night, during which time the church bells would be run at midnight to signify the passage of the previous year and the beginning of the new one. Today, we celebrate New Year’s as a secular event, during which time parties, festivities, and fireworks are in abundance across the globe.

One of the most famous events to celebrate the new year occurs in New York City each year, where a ball is dropped after the seconds toward midnight are counted down. This event attracts millions of people to New York each year, and even more elsewhere who watch it on their TV screens. There are other celebrations of the new year, however, that occur on different days. One such example is the Tet festival celebrated by the Chinese.

All in all, New Year’s Eve and the celebration thereof is something steeped in a rich history that spans across time and many cultures. For most cultures, it is a time for human beings all around the world to come together in celebration of a new beginning. Irrespective of how one may choose to celebrate it, it is always a time worth spending in reflection on the previous year while keenly and optimistically anticipating what may be brought in the year to come.

New Year’s Arts and Crafts

There are dozens of fun and creative New Year’s Eve crafts that children can enjoy, irrespective of their age. From headbands, to wishing wands, noisemakers, hats, clocks, and crowns, these crafts can allow children to personalize their New Year’s Eve celebrations and also express their creativity to their friends and family. better yet, the finished products also serve as a fun and memorable keepsake of this special occasion.

So, call your kids, gather your materials, allow their imaginations to run wild, and have fun with your family as you all craft your way into the new year! You might want a few ideas on fun New Year’s Eve crafts to do with your child to get them in the spirit of the celebrations.

It can be a gratifying and fulfilling family activity for both you and your kid to perform a News Year’s art project together. Here we have listed a number of enjoyable New Year craft ideas for you to peruse through.

New Year’s Eve Countdown Clock

If you are looking for easy New Year craft ideas, you could create a clock that counts down the hours until the new year. The countdown toward midnight is the most exciting part of any New Year’s Eve celebration, and children absolutely adore the anticipation that comes with waiting for the clock to strike 12. Since this is such a big part of the New Year’s celebration, it could be a great idea to get your child to create their own countdown clock.

All you would need is a paper plate and some decorative markers. You can help them write the numbers one through 12 around the edges of the plate like a normal clock before letting them decorate it further using stickers, glitter, and other such garlands. Using a popsicle stick as the clock hand and a thumb tack that nails it to the clock, you can get your child to wind down the hours as they pass toward midnight. To make things a little bit more exciting, you can even get them to color in the numbers of the hours as they pass.

Glittery New Year’s Hats

Using sequins, glitter, and other festive materials, you could decorate some hats. Hats are among the most popular New Year’s Eve regalia and are almost essential components for a western celebration of this kind. But why purchase these hats from a costume store when you and your child could instead create ones yourselves? To make your own New Year’s hats, the base material you would need is either paper or cardstock. You just need to cut out a cone shape and then staple it along the edges to make a fun party hat. Before stapling the hats, your child can decorate them with paint, markers, stickers, and other materials.

The process of making these hats is not only easy and fast, but it also gives your child the opportunity to flaunt their creative skills at the party itself.

Confetti Poppers

One of the most entertaining parts of a New Year’s celebration for a kid is when confetti is strewn around as the clock strikes midnight. So why not let them make their own confetti poppers? Making these poppers is relatively simple as all you need is confetti, tissue paper, and empty toilet paper rolls. You can start by cutting some tissue paper big enough to cover one end of the toilet roll, then you can secure it in place over the hole using a rubber band. You can then fill the roll with confetti before closing the opposite side in the same way. When the clock strikes 12 and it is time to celebrate, your child can then smash the roll in between two hands to shoot confetti into the air.

Party Noisemakers

What good is a New Year’s Eve celebration without a fair amount of noise? And what better noise makers are there than children? Speaking of noisemakers, they are a great choice of New Year’s crafts for pre-schoolers. All you need are items such as paper plates and dry beans or rice. After letting your kids decorate the exterior of their plates, you can fold the plates and stable their edges shut.

You can then let your kids add dry beans or similar objects into the plates before helping them stable them shut. Now, your children can shake these noisemakers like maracas during your New Year’s celebrations.

New Year’s Resolution Cards

Provided that they are old enough to read and write, you could have your kids create cards that list out their goals for the upcoming year. It is the perfect time for them to reflect on the year that has just passed and to line up goals for the year ahead of them. Resolution cards are among the best New Year’s art projects for kids to get into. As far as New Year’s arts and crafts go, this is also one of the easiest to do since all you need to do is provide them with construction paper or index cards for them to write their goals on.

Their goals could be as simple as learning a new hobby or making friends to the actualization of more serious things like improving their grades at school. Either way, it would be a great family bonding experience for you to then help them achieve their goals over the course of the following year. You can then place their cards in a jar or envelope for them to open up on the next New Year’s celebration day. This is, however, not the best option in terms of New Year’s crafts for toddlers, unless your baby is a savant with an impressively premature understanding of the English lexicon.

New Year’s Eve Ball Drop

As we have discussed, the ball drop is a popular New York celebration event on New Year’s Day. Using a cardboard box, glitter, and confetti, you and your child can make your own ball drop. You just need to cut out a circle from the top of a box and then cover the hole using gold or silver paper. You can then beautify the box using a variety of festive decorations. You and your child can fill this box with glitter and confetti before using a ribbon to suspend it from the ceiling.

At midnight, you can let your child release the string to drop the box and spread confetti, just like the real thing but on a smaller scale.

Fireworks Painting

If you want New Year’s Eve craft ideas that involve the use of paint, this one is for you. You and your child can use paint and glitter to produce stunning fireworks paintings. Fireworks are inextricably linked to the celebration of New Year’s, and creating a painting of fireworks can be a fantastic choice of New Year’s crafts for toddlers.

You can start the project by first preparing the workstation using newspaper or a drop cloth to make things easier to clean up.

You can then break out a canvas or high GSM paper and some paint. Allow your child to use a sponge that they can dip into the paint and then press onto the canvas to create their fireworks. To make the fireworks pop out a little more, your child could use a variety of different colors and apply some glitter for an additional dash of sparkle. Once the painting is finished, leave it to dry for a while before putting it out for display on New Year’s Eve.

DIY Sparklers

If you do not want your children to be exposed to the dangers of fireworks or live in an area where fireworks are prohibited, you and your child can still create your own makeshift and totally safe sparklers using pipe cleaners and glitter. For New Year’s art projects involving the creation of DIY sparklers, you will need pipe cleaners, glue, and glitter.

For the first step, you should take two pipe cleaning rods and twist them together to create a long stem. You can then allow your child to dip one end of the stem into the glue, and then sprinkle glitter over it. After you have left the glue to dry, your child can then let your child wave the stem around as if it were a sparkler. When the glitter catches the light, it will shine as bright as the real thing yet pose no threat to the well-being of your child or the environment.

Confetti Balloons

For a fun and festive touch, you and your child can fill transparent balloons with confetti. This is a great choice of New Year’s crafts for pre-schoolers as it is safe, easy to achieve, and an excellent way to let your children get involved in adding their own touch of festivity to the celebration.

You can start the project by allowing your kid to fill clear balloons with confetti before inflating them with helium to air. We suggest that you do the inflating yourself to protect your child from injury or accidentally ingesting the contents of the balloons.

If you want to go for an extra magical touch, you can even add small amounts of glitter to the mix inside the balloons before inflation. Once your balloons are stuffed and inflated, you may proceed to tie a string to the tied end and let them drift and float around the party space. For some extra fun, you can get your children to pop the balloons as the clock strikes midnight to start the year off with a bang as the party is filled with glitter and confetti.

Festive Headbands

Helping your children create festive headbands is an easy and entertaining way to add some pizazz to their New Year’s outfits. To make these headbands, you can get your hands on some plain headbands that your children can then decorate using glitter, paint, sequins, and other such decorations to make them look as festive as possible. For extra brownie points, you can even help them add messages such as “Happy New Year” or “Cheers to 2023” using letter beads or stickers. Children of all ages can enjoy this task as well. The best thing about this project is that it will allow the personality and creativity of your children to shine.

New Year’s Eve Wishing Wands

This is another fun and imaginative way to get your children into New Year’s arts and crafts projects. If you want to make wishing wands with your kids, you must first buy some paper straws or a wooden dowel, ribbons, tinsel, and other decorations. Using the dowel or straw as the rod, you can help your children attach the decorations to one end. If you want to go the full nine yards, you can also help them cut out a star from Styrofoam or cardboard to attach at the end as well.

Using metallic colors of paint, you can decorate the want and stars further to give them a magical shimmer. At your New Year’s Eve party, your children can wave their magic wand and make wishes for what they want to see come out of the new year.

New Year’s Eve Crown

If you want to add some festive regality to the outfits of your children this New Year’s Eve, consider helping them make their own crowns. You can start the creation of these crowns using foam or paper as the base. You can decorate these bases with sequins, glitter, and paint before stapling them into shape. If you want to make their crowns extra special, help them add a lovely New Year’s message to their headpieces. With their crowns completed, your children can walk around the New Year’s Eve party feeling like royalty as they usher in new beginnings for their kingdom. This is a fantastic art and craft project for your kids if you want to give them an opportunity to show off their personality and creativity to their families.

In conclusion, New Year’s Eve is one of the most important times of celebration on the calendar, and it is super important to make your kids feel as if they are a crucial part of the festivities. It will not only keep them entertained but also make them feel more engaged in the event overall, fostering in them a healthy appreciation for this annual tradition. Every craft idea we have discussed will also elevate the New Year’s Eve experience that your child has. Glittery hats will get your children in the festive spirit, confetti and noisemakers will bring out their excitement, the countdown clock will help them learn how to keep track of time, and resolution cards will teach them how to set goals for themselves. Most importantly, New Year’s Eve craft projects offer you the chance to exercise family bonding experiences with your children, bringing you closer during a time of celebration for all that we hold dear to us.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Make New Year’s Eve Exciting for My Children?

Adults may have their own way of celebrating New Year’s Eve, but you can get your children in on the action too by getting them started with a fun and easy arts and crafts project. You could also let them feel as if they are more a part of the celebrations by whipping up some tasty mocktails for them to enjoy.

What Is a Good New Year’s Eve Activity for My Family?

You and your family could put together a time capsule that you can then plant in your backyard or somewhere special. You can get your children to make drawings and write personal letters to themselves that they can place inside this capsule before placing it on the ground and covering it up. You can leave this capsule in the ground to be dug up the following New Year’s Day to reflect on your past with nostalgia. Alternatively, you and your family could leave the time capsule buried for decades and unearth its contents once your children are all grown up.

Rebecca Fleming( Interior Designer, Crafting Maniac, Content Editor )

Rebecca has been a crafting maniac since childhood. One of her great passions is also decorating and furnishing. She has a degree in English and Communications (BA) from Cornell University in New York. After graduating and working at a local art gallery, Rebecca discovered her enthusiasm for art and design. During this time she continued her education in interior design with a recognized certificate from an institute in New York. Since 2020 she has been writing blog posts about the topics crafting, home decor, interior design and color theory at craft-art.com. Meanwhile, she is also the senior content editor with us. Working as a content writer and editor for Craft Art perfectly allows her to combine her fluency with her affinity for art and design.

Learn more about Rebecca Fleming and about us.