Getting The Family And House Into A New Year's Frame Of Mind

Every year around this time, I dream of a night on the couch with Eric as we munch on finger foods and watch the countdown. I give no thought to those four fantastic kids of ours. Nor do I have the thought that honestly, if Eric and I are actually sitting on the couch watching t.v., chances are we'll both fall asleep by 10pm. So this year, I'm not even going to waste my time with those grand notions. Instead, I'm going to focus on having a fun night together as a family - ringing in the New Year with Kids!

Now that Jessica has provided us with some fantastic food options and Amy has given us some great entertainment ideas, let's look at some ways to get crafty and decorative for the New Year celebrations.

I love the idea of being crafty and decorative. In actuality though, I am neither of those things, much to the disappointment of my kiddos. But I love them and want to make them happy, so we compromise and stick to crafts that don't need too much involvement from me. (I'd just ruin the things anyhow!)

However, I do love being crafty with words. So, one of our big projects tomorrow is going to be some acrostics. I just love writing out acrostics and kids always have a fun time with them too.

Do you remember acrostics? They are poems where you write a word vertically and then for each letter you write a short phrase that starts with the corresponding letter, and younger children can just write a word or two.

We will do "Happy New Year" as a family and each child will do his or her first and last name, and tie their words in with something they'd like to do or a character trait they want to work on in the new year. Then they can each decorate their papers with markers, stickers, glitter, etc.

Here are some other great New Year's craft ideas I've come across. And, most of them are easy enough for a variety of ages and skill-levels, including us non-crafty mamas. Many of these ideas also double as festive decorations.

• First Night Kazoos
• Giggle Shakers
• New Year Activity Book
• Countdown Clock
• Party Hats
• Circle of Friends confetti
  
• Shimmering New Year's Streamers
• New Year's Crackers
  

If you have any other crafty New Year's ideas, I'd love to hear about them!

Have a safe and fun New Year's celebration, and I wish you all a healthy, happy and prosperous 2009 that's filled with love!

Also, don't forgot to stop by Life As Mom on January 2nd to link up and share your New Year celebrations with us all. (Oh, and to enter her fabulous giveaway also!)