I had this idea for New Year’s Eve Countdown Surprise Bags for Kids (yup, that title IS too long).  I wanted to share it with you as New Year’s Eve will be here before you know it.  So this is what I call a “Nap Time Tutorial.”  While my kids don’t nap, I can often find bits and pieces of quiet time that I can use to shoot a tutorial.  But sometimes in the middle, things go haywire and I have to scramble to finish.  Such as the case with this craft, but you get the idea and can totally cuten it up.

The idea behind this is that you choose a time that you want to start this on New Year’s Eve and each hour you hand your kids a new bag.  Inside the bag are fun treats, activities, etc. to keep them entertained and excited until midnight.  Candy works too, but they still get cranky when they start to come off that sugar high.

I’ve created a few examples of things to include in the bags.  For this one, I would also include a card that tells them to get dressed up like a business man and create a character.  Then they need to pretend they have to finish up one last job before the clock strikes midnight.  I don’t know about your kids but mine are great with impressions and accents.  They will use their imagination and put on a fun little show for the whole family.  When they get bored with that, the watch (found in the favor section of Party City) is a puzzle that they have to try to get the silver balls in to the holes.  But you know Dad will end up with the mustache on and a fake French accent…

This next bag would include some “party animals” and a cd of our favorite dance songs.  It would tell them to get their dance on. Then we would try to guess, if animals danced, which animal would be the best dancer.  Come on, this is good for at least 10 minutes, right?

Of course you can change this one up if your family doesn’t use the word suck.  With this bag I would say something about how waiting for midnight sucks and then we would drink root beer floats.  I get it.  Totally unclassy use of the word suck.  But its a play on words.  If I can turn it in to a teaching moment, doesn’t that trump class?

Add a little pizzazz with some silver tassels (I made these for my son’s upcoming birthday party so they were already on hand to zhuszh these up.  Anything will work.  Get as carried away as you want.

So there you have it.  A quick and easy idea to keep you family entertained on New Year’s Eve.