Spending time as a family creating crafts and
memories is a good way to celebrate significant days. Your children will
forget the TV shows they watched or the internet videos, but they will
remember the time you spent really focusing on them.
New Year's Eve is a fun holiday, with many crafts that are easy and
enjoyable for children to make. Noisemakers and hats are especially
popular with kids, and they will be proud to show off their creations
while the clock ticks down to midnight.Noisemakers
Kids love to make noise to ring in the new year. They will enjoy it even more with noisemakers they created themselves.Water Bottle Shaker
Here's an easy way to use an empty water bottle. Shake it up for a rattly welcome to the new year.You will need:
- Dry water bottle with label removed
- Dry beans
- White tissue paper
- Colored tissue paper
- Curling ribbon
- White glue
- Inexpensive craft paintbrush
- Water
- Scissors
- Drop two handfuls of dry beans into the bottle, and screw the lid on tightly.
- Make a mix of half white glue with half water in a bowl. You will need enough to thoroughly cover the outside of water bottle.
- Tear the white tissue paper into large pieces.
- Paint a section of the water bottle with the glue mixture.
- Lay a piece of white tissue paper on the glue, then paint more glue over the paper to completely cover it.
- Continue in this manner until the entire bottle is covered with two layers of white tissue paper.
- Tear the colored tissue paper into small squares.
- Randomly glue them on the water bottle to resemble confetti.
- Tie lengths of curling ribbon around the neck of the bottle.
- Let the shaker dry for several hours.
New Year's Spin Drum
This is a slightly more complex craft, perfect for older elementary kids. An adult should cut the oatmeal canister.
You will need:
You will need:
You will need:
- Empty oatmeal canister
- Paint
- Craft paintbrushes
- Glue
- Glitter
- Hole punch
- 1/2-inch-wide by 1-foot-long dowel
- 16-inch length of string
- Tape
- Two 3/4-inch wooden beads
- 2 plastic lids that fit the oatmeal canister
- White construction paper
- Curling ribbon
- Marking pens
- Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut a 2-inch ring off the top of the oatmeal canister. Use scissors to trim away any rough edges.
- Paint the outside of the ring as desired, and decorate with glued-on glitter. Let dry.
- Punch a hole in the center of the ring that is wide enough to admit the dowel.
- Slide the dowel through the hole until it touches the opposite side of the ring.
- Apply glue inside the ring to hold the dowel in place.
- Punch two holes in the ring that are opposite to each other, and perpendicular to the dowel.
- Wrap a small piece of tape around each end of the string.
- Tie the middle of the string to the dowel.
- Pass the two ends of the string through the two holes in the ring.
- Thread a bead onto each end of string. Knot securely.
- Place the two plastic lids on the ring.
- Cut construction paper circles to fit onto the plastic lids. Glue in place.
- Decorate the construction paper circles with the markers.
- Tie curling ribbon around the dowel at the base of the drum.
- Make noise by holding the dowel between your palms and rolling it back and forth quickly so the beads hit the plastic lids.
Party Hats
Hats are a fun way to add to the festivities of New Year's Eve. Your kids will have a good time decorating their hats for the big night.New Year's Eve Crowns
These special hats will make your kids feel like royalty. Make a crown for a prince, or a cone-shaped princess’s hat.You will need:
- Metallic poster board
- Scissors
- Double-sided foam tape
- Thumbtacks
- 2 large paperclips
- Duct tape
- Soft elastic thread
- Colorful pipe cleaners
- Colorful pom-poms
- For the cone-shaped hat, cut a semicircle with a 14-inch diameter out of poster board. Roll it into a cone, and fit to your child's head.
- Seal the seam with the double-sided tape.
- Create a chinstrap by using a thumbtack to poke holes on each side of the hat near the bottom. Thread one end of elastic thread through each hole, and knot securely to hold in place.
- For the crown, cut a strip of poster board 26 inches long and 5 inches wide. Cut a decorative pattern along one edge of the strip.
- Fit the strip around your child's forehead, and use paper clips to secure the seam.
- For both hats, wrap pipe cleaners around pom-poms, wrapping the base of the pipe cleaner around a pencil to make spirals.
- Use the thumbtack to poke holes in the hats, then push 1 inch of the pipe cleaner through the hole.
- Secure the pipe cleaners with small pieces of duct tape inside the hats.
- Bend the pipe cleaners as desired to create fun bends and swirls.