Preschool New Year's Eve Theme

Below you can find tons of fun and engaging New Year's Eve Activities! Pick and choose the activities for your lesson or download a free copy of our New Year's Eve Preschool Lesson Plan to save you time!

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Planning your New Year Theme 

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Download our Free New Year Preschool Sample Lesson Plan

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There are so many fun things to add to your art center this week!
Consider adding ribbon, confetti, glitter glue, star stickers, and gold paint to your art area. 

New Years Eve Party Crafts

Follow my tutorial to make a fun Celebration wand and binoculars for the big day!

Create a Confetti Popper

Decorate an empty cardboard roll. Cut an empty balloon in half and tie it at the bottom. Slide the open end of the balloon over the cardboard roll. Fill the roll with 2 spoons of paper confetti. Pull back and the balloon to trigger the popper. Practice sweeping!

Create a Noise Maker Bracelet

Create a noise maker bracelet to use in celebrations! You will need something for lacing like cording or chenille stems along with some bells or other objects that will make noise as children shake their hands! Encourage children to make their bracelet anyway they choose. ​

Firework Art

Cut slits halfway up the length of a cardboard paper roll. Then fold the slits up and out to make into a firework stamp for preschoolers to dip into paint. Sprinkle glitter on top for a fun effect.

Fireworks Salt Painting

Using glue have preschoolers design fireworks, pour salt onto the wet glue and once dry have preschoolers paint with water colors.

Invite Students to Decorate for New Years Eve

Add a box of new years decorations to the dramatic play area. Some items to include: party hats, noise makers, a clock, holiday table cloth, etc.

Costume Shop

Set up a fun costume shop so children can dress just right for the occasion.

New Year's Party Hat

Preschoolers can practice ringing in the new year with their very own custom New Year's Party Hat (free printable)

NYE Photo Booth

Provide preschoolers with fun props to take pictures for New Years eve! ​

Dinner Party

Include activities for preschoolers to have a dinner party.
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Ball Drop Celebration

Provide preschoolers with a ball for the drop and clocks. Have a mini countdown to the new year

Suggested Items to add to your Small World Play Space

Add items to re-create Times Square in your building area. Add play people,  skyscrapers, billboards,  items to build a ball drop, and confetti.

Set up an invitation to build Times Square

Set our a variety of city building blocks, people, and a picture of times square. Create a clock and ball drop craft to use in your small world play activities! Included in our free  The Night Before New Year's Pre-K Book Companion  Activities set. 

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New Years Celebrations Around the World

Add pictures of different cities from around the world celebrating the new year. ​

New Year's Tracing Activity

Practice following a line from left to right and tracing skills with this pre-cutting/writing activity included in my New Years Eve Activity Pack

                 Make Your Own Time Capsule

Make a time capsule to open next year! We have a printable for this as a sample of our Parent Engagement Newsletters, visit the Preschool Parent Engagement Series blog post to get this freebie. ​

Glitter Glue Tactile Letter Cards

Create your own glitter glue tactile letter cards. Trace letters on card stock with a pencil. Trace over each letter with glitter glue. Allow to dry completely overnight. Preschoolers can trace their fingers over the raised glitter glue surface to feel the shape of each letter helping them learn letter formation in a fun and exciting way.

Confetti Letter Tray

Add a fun Confetti Writing Tray to your New Year Activities, get all the details on our blog. 

Try this!

Free New Year's Resolution Storytime Activity

Enjoy a fun story about New Year's Resolutions and then engage your preschoolers in conversation about the book, learn vocabulary from the story and follow up with a writing prompt to get children thinking about what they want to do in the new year. Our Squirrels New Year's Resolution Book Companion Storytime Activities set is available for free in our shop. 

Get this freebie in our shop!

Story Dictation 

Invite your students to create a story about the past year. They can draw a picture and dictate their story for you to write, or write it themselves if they are able. 

New Year's Words

Add index cards with words such as: celebrate, new years, happy, and fireworks to your writing center. 

Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller and Kathi Ember
​Happy New Year Around the World by Sylvia Walker
The Stars Will Still Shine by Cynthia Rylant and Tiphanie Beeke
D is for Dragon Dance by Ying Chang Compestine and Yongsheng Xuan
Freedom Soup by Tami Charles and Jacqueline Alcantara
The Night Before New Year's by Natasha Wing and Amy Wummer

Print some fun math activities from the Pre-K Printable Fun Mini Happy New Year Activity Pack

Practice counting backwards from ten this week! This can be practiced often during transitions, as an activity during small group time and when playing with math materials.

Countdown to the New Year Practice Counting Down from 10-0

Practice counting down from 10-0 to ring in the new year!

Make a Paper Clock

Make a clock from a paper plate, write the numbers around the clock and cut arrows from card stock. 

New Years Number Hunt

Create a New Year themed sensory bin with numbers inside for preschoolers to find. Have them practice making the new year. ​

Ordering Streamers by size

Ordering New Year's Eve streamers by size can be a fun and engaging preschool math activity that will help children develop their size recognition and sequencing skills. To get started, gather a variety of different colored streamers in different lengths. Next, demonstrate to the children how to order the streamers from smallest to largest. Encourage them to use descriptive words such as ""shortest"" and ""longest"" to describe the streamers as they go.

Set up an invitation to explore noise

One fun and engaging preschool science activity that you can set up to explore noise for New Year's is a sound matching game. To begin, gather a variety of objects that make different sounds when shaken or tapped, such as bells, whistles, party horns, maracas (check out our Make Your Own Maracas Tutorial, and blocks. Next, let the students listen to the sound each one makes. Then, have the students close their eyes as you use one of the objects to make a noise. Have your students guess which one made the sound they hear. This activity not only encourages children to explore the concept of noise and sound, but also helps to develop their listening and observation skills. Additionally, you can discuss how noise plays a role in New Year's celebrations, such as fireworks and cheering, and encourage the children to share their own experiences and traditions.

Sensory Bin Number Find

Add shredded paper to your sensory bin, mix in plastic numbers 0-10 for children to find. 

                                          Glitter Slime

Make glitter slime this week with your preschoolers. Check out the tutorial here.  

Mirror Observation

Invite students to observe a mirrored ball. Follow-up the observation by placing small shatter-proof mirrors in the science center for discovery. 

Noise Sorting

Cut several empty paper towel tubes in half. 
Seal one end with tape, put paper on the inside of the tape to prevent the objects inside from sticking to it. 
Next fill each tube about 1/4 of the way with a different object.
Some ideas: bells, rice, beans, pebbles, flour...
Then seal the other end.  Children will shake each container and sort them from softest noise to loudest. 

​Make Your Own Confetti

Supply a hole punch and paper in a variety of thicknesses. Children can improve hand strength, dexterity, and hand-eye coordination while making confetti.

New Years Eve Party Block Mats

Support fine motor and math development in preschoolers with these New Years Eve Pattern Block Mats.

Bubble Wrap Fireworks

Jump up and down on bubble wrap to make fireworks sounds.

Dance to Party Music

Find a fun playlist and let your preschoolers dance!

More Physical Development Ideas

Lucky Coconut Bowling from One Time Through

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My favorite thing I did this Year

Draw a picture of something fun you did this year and share it.

Learn about New Year's Eve Traditions Around the World 

People around the world have a lot of different ways of ringing in the new year!
Fireworks Displays:
Many countries, including the United States, Japan, and Australia, celebrate the new year with elaborate fireworks displays.
Countdown Parties:
In major cities like New York City, Sydney, and London, people gather in large crowds for countdown parties in iconic locations like Times Square and the Sydney Opera House.
First-Footing (Scotland):
In Scotland, the first-footer is the first person to enter a home after midnight. They bring symbolic gifts like coins, bread, and whisky to ensure good luck for the household.
Auld Lang Syne Singing (Worldwide):
People around the world join hands and sing "Auld Lang Syne," a Scottish poem-turned-song, to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one.
Bell Ringing (Japan):
In Japan, Buddhist temples ring bells 108 times at the stroke of midnight to symbolize the 108 human sins and cleanse people of their past wrongdoings.
Grape Eating (Spain):
Spaniards eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight, one for each chime of the clock, to ensure good luck for each month of the upcoming year.
Hogmanay (Scotland):
Scotland's Hogmanay celebrations last for several days, featuring street parties, parades, and the tradition of "first-footing."
Burning of the "Old Man" (Ecuador):
In Ecuador, people create life-sized effigies called "Año Viejo" (Old Man) and burn them at midnight to symbolize the end of the old year.
Polar Bear Plunge (Various):
In some colder regions, such as the Netherlands and Canada, brave individuals participate in "polar bear plunges" by jumping into icy waters to welcome the new year.
Lantern Festivals (China):
In China, lantern festivals are held, where people release lanterns into the sky to symbolize letting go of the old year's troubles and welcoming new opportunities.
Vasilopita Cake (Greece):
In Greece, a special cake called "Vasilopita" is baked with a hidden coin inside. The person who finds the coin in their slice is said to have good luck in the coming year.
Bonfires (Denmark):
In Denmark, it's a tradition to build and light large bonfires on New Year's Eve to symbolize the removal of evil spirits and welcome the new year.
Nochevieja (Mexico and Latin America):
In many Latin American countries, people celebrate "Nochevieja" by wearing colorful underwear, which is believed to bring good luck for the new year.
Hatsumode (Japan):
Japanese people visit Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples during the first days of the new year, praying for health, happiness, and prosperity in a custom called "hatsumode."
Kissing at Midnight (Various):
The tradition of sharing a kiss with a loved one at the stroke of midnight to ensure a year filled with love and affection is common in many countries worldwide.

Invite children to each create a time capsule. Encourage students to collect a few items that represent something important to them from the past year. Encourage parents to be involved, they can look through photos through the past year and print out a few to add to the time capsule. They can add their treasures to a shoe box that they decorate and take it home to share with their family, and then put it away to open again the following year. 

During circle time invite children to share something that made them happy this year. You can also ask them to share something they are looking forward to in the new year. 

New Year Preschool Activities

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New Year Pattern Block Mats

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Free 2024 New Years Party Hat

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