New Year's Eve at home with kids works when the evening has a programme: a dinner everyone likes at six, games between seven and eight, an early midnight at eight o'clock for children under seven, and then adult time while the older children get a film and a chance to stay up. Sparklers from age six with an adult alongside, and the children watch the fireworks from a distance, with ear defenders on the youngest.
New Year's Eve with small children is the celebration most parents don't quite know what to do with. Christmas has its routines. New Year has a countdown at midnight that a four-year-old can't join in with, firecrackers that frighten both children and dogs, and adults who would really like an evening to themselves. You can get all three, at home, with a little planning. This is the evening the way we usually plan it when we are there, and the one you can run yourselves.
The evening hour by hour
| Time | What | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Crafts: paper party hats, confetti from a hole punch, a time capsule | Everyone, the youngest with help |
| 18 | A dinner the children like, with the table laid a bit more nicely. Tacos, pizza the children build themselves, or a buffet of small things | Everyone |
| 19 | Games in the living room, see below | Everyone |
| 19.45 | Countdown at eight: everyone counts down from ten, a toast in sparkling apple juice, a hug, confetti | Children under seven |
| 20.15 | Bed for the little ones | Children under seven |
| 20.30 to 23 | A film, games, popcorn, maybe sparklers on the balcony | Children from seven |
| 23.45 | The real countdown, fireworks from the window or the balcony | Whoever is still awake |
Games that work from three to twelve
- Balloon countdown. One balloon per hour, with a note inside: a mission, a game, a sweet. At six the first one is popped, at seven the next. The children keep an eye on the clock all evening.
- Time capsule. Everyone draws or writes something about the year gone by and something about the next, in an envelope that is sealed and opened next New Year's Eve. This is the tradition families keep the longest.
- Quiz of the year. Ten questions about your family: who learned to ride a bike, where did we go last summer, what was the cat we looked after called. Our Family quiz has more questions for mixed ages.
- Musical statues. Music, dancing, freeze when the music stops. Works from age two, and the adults can join in.
- Limbo with a broom and two adults holding it.
- New Year's resolutions in pictures. Everyone draws something they want to do next year. Goes on the fridge and stays there until påsk (Easter).
- Charades from age six, with cards you have written beforehand: animals, jobs, things in the kitchen.
Food everyone will eat
New Year's dinner for adults is rarely New Year's dinner for children. Lobster and three courses at nine o'clock doesn't work with a five-year-old at the table. Instead, make a dinner the children like, but lay the table a bit more nicely: a white tablecloth, candles, a stemmed glass for the children with sparkling apple juice. Tacos, homemade pizza where each child builds their own, or a buffet of small things: meatballs, mini pies, vegetable sticks, bread. Dessert is ice cream with sprinkles. Then, once the children are asleep, you can eat what you like at nine. Two dinners on one evening a year is not unreasonable.
Sparklers, firecrackers and rockets
Fireworks have an age limit of 18 for buying and setting off, and that includes firecrackers. Children can watch. Sparklers are the only thing you can let children hold, from around six, outdoors or on the balcony, with gloves, with an adult beside them and with a bucket of water to drop the burnt-out sparkler into. The sparks burn holes in jackets and hurt on skin. Children under six watch, ideally on your lap.
The rockets themselves at midnight are more frightening than fun for many children. Ear defenders for children under five, watch from the window or the balcony rather than the street, and go inside when your child has had enough. If you live in the city centre: many Stockholm families watch from a window high up, because down on the street it is both crowded and loud. And keep an eye on the pets; they need a room with the door shut and the radio on from eleven o'clock.
The older children who want to stay up
From around seven, children want to be properly part of it, and you can let them try. Say they can stay up until they fall asleep, not until midnight, so nobody has failed. Have a film they chose, popcorn, a game. Many fall asleep on the sofa at half past ten and that is perfectly fine; carry them to bed and tell them about it tomorrow. Those who stay awake get to count down, watch the rockets from the window and go to bed at ten past. The next day will be sluggish, so plan nothing on 1 January except a walk and a film.
If you want to go out
If you want to celebrate New Year away from home, at a party or a dinner, it is one of the shifts our nannies most often take. The children get their evening at home with a countdown at eight, a film and bed at the usual time, and you come home to a calm flat. New Year's Eve gets booked early, in November or early December, because it is the first evening to fill up. How evening shifts work is covered in Evening and overnight babysitting.
How we do it with our families
Esther spent last New Year's Eve with a family in Vasastan, with a three-year-old and a six-year-old. She arrived at five, made party hats and popped the first balloon at six. Pizza the children built themselves at half past six, musical statues in the living room, a countdown from ten at eight o'clock with apple juice in stemmed glasses and confetti on the floor. The three-year-old was asleep by half past eight, the six-year-old got to watch a film and fell asleep on the sofa at ten, and Esther carried him to bed. When the parents came home after midnight, the note said where the confetti was, that the six-year-old wanted them to tell him about the rockets in the morning, and that the time capsule was on the fridge.
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Read more: Christmas with children · Games for kids · Family quiz · Prices
Frequently asked questions
How do you celebrate New Year with children who can't stay up until midnight?
Celebrate midnight at eight o'clock instead. A countdown, a toast in sparkling cider, a fireworks video on the TV or sparklers on the balcony, and then bed. The children have had a New Year, and you get the rest of the evening. From around seven or eight, many want to stay up for real, and that usually goes fine once a year.
Can children hold sparklers?
From around six, with an adult beside them, outdoors or on the balcony, with gloves and at arm's length from others. Sparklers get very hot and the sparks burn holes in jackets. Have a bucket of water to drop them in afterwards. Children under six watch.
What about firecrackers and rockets?
Children may not buy or set off fireworks; the age limit is 18. Let the children watch from a distance, with ear defenders on the little ones, and go inside if they get scared. Many dogs and many three-year-olds are frightened of the bangs, and there is no point staying out if your child is crying.
What do you do if your child wants to stay up but falls asleep on the sofa?
Let them sleep there. Carry them to bed, say it was New Year, and tell them in the morning that the year changed while they slept. It counts. No six-year-old remembers whether they were awake at midnight, but many remember that they were allowed to try.
Are there New Year games for small children?
Yes, anything that doesn't require telling the time. A balloon countdown where one balloon is popped each hour, a time capsule where each child puts in a drawing, resolutions drawn as pictures, a dance in the living room. It is the company that makes it, not the time.