30 Awesome New Year's Eve Games for Kids

If you’re planning on spending New Year’s Eve as a family this year, (i.e. you couldn’t find a babysitter either?) we’ve got your covered!

Enjoy these 30 Awesome New Year’s Eve Games for the family!

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE GUIDE TO THE BEST NEW YEAR’S EVE GAMES

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CUP GAME

You will need:

50 solo cups of one color
2 solo cups of another color

How to play:

Divide players into two teams. Divide cups into two even stacks, with one colored cup on the bottom of each stack. Teams stand in line with the first person holding the stack of cups. The cup of a different color should be on the bottom. Each team member will take one cup off the top of the stack and put it on the bottom of the stack. Repeat this process as quickly as possible until the different color cup is on the bottom again. Pass the stack to the person behind you. The first team for everyone to finish, wins.

RESOLUTION GUESSING GAME

You will need:

Pieces of paper (one per person)
Pens/Pencils
Bowl or bag

How to play:

Have everyone write down one New Year’s Resolution they are setting for themselves. They should place the resolution in the bag or bowl. One reader reads the resolutions one by one, and everyone must guess who’s resolution it is.

Gold clock on black background counting down to midnight

BALL DROP

You will need:

3 ping pong balls per player
One solo cup per player

How to play:

Players can play at the same time or take turns. The player will stand on a chair with the solo cup on the floor. The goal is to drop all three ping pong balls (one by one) into the Solo cup without bouncing the ball or tipping over the solo cup.

COUNTING DOWN THE HOURS

You will need:

Panty hose
Two tennis balls
24 solo cups

How to play:

Place each tennis ball into the legs of the panty hose (one tennis ball per leg). Create a “walkway” with the solo cups with 12 cups on each side. Set a timer for one minute. Each player must wear the panty hose on their head and walk through the walkway. The goal is to knock down as many of the solo cups as possible using the tennis balls inside the panty hose. You can make this harder by adding more solo cups, switching up the placement of the cups, or by removing one tennis ball from the panty hose.

NEW YEAR’S EVE CHARADES

Divide your group into two teams. One person from each team acts out a phrase without speaking, while the other members of the team try to guess the phrase. The objective is for your team to guess the phrase as quickly as possible, typically within one minute.

Times Square
Ball Drop
Midnight
Champagne toast
Setting resolutions
Calendar
Clock
Parade
Black Eyed Peas
Confetti

Happy New Year Crown with countdown and party favors

PICTIONARY

Divide your group into two teams. One person from each team draws a phrase without speaking, while the other members of the team try to guess what is being drawn. The objective is for your team to guess the phrase as quickly as possible, typically within one minute.

Balloons
Toast
Party hat
Party
Midnight
Ball drop
Resolution
Black tie
Sequins
Memories

THE FUTURE SAYS…

You will need:
No supplies needed

How to play:
This game is played just like Simon Says, only it’s called The Future Says. One person starts as The Future. This person stands at the front of the room and gives commands. If the command starts with THE FUTURE SAYS, then the players have to perform that
command. If the command DOESN’T start with THE FUTURE SAYS, then the players should NOT do the command. Anyone who breaks one of these two rules is eliminated from the remainder of the game. The last person still in the game wins
and then becomes “The Future” for the next round.

Sample commands: Jump up and down, touch your toes, bark like a dog, stick out your tongue, etc.

Black background with disco ball and lights

SPELL IT OUT RELAY

You will need:

4 sets of alphabet letters, divided into two baskets (2 full sets per basket)
New Year’s Eve-themed words (like countdown, clock, ball drop, etc.)

How to play:

Divide your players into two relay teams. Select one of your New Year’s Eve -themed words. One person from each team will run to the basket of alphabet letters and find the first letter of the word. As soon as they find it, they’ll lay it on the ground next to the basket and run back to tag the next person in line. The next person will find the next letter and so on until the entire word is spelled out. The first team to spell out the full word wins.

CANDY STACKER

You will need:

Any type of flat candy.
Tongue depressors or jumbo craft sticks (one per player)

How to play:
Set a timer for one minute. Each player should hold their tongue depressor in their mouth and stack as many pieces of candy on top as possible. If they fall off, they must start over. At the end of one minute, the player with the most candy in a stack wins.

M&M STRAWS

You will need:

Straws (one for each player)
Paper plates (two for each player)
M&Ms

How to play:

Put all of the candy on one plate. Participants must suck an M&M into the bottom of the straw and blow it onto the other plate. Their goal is to move all the M&Ms from one plate to the other in 60 seconds or less. Vary your amount of candy based on the age of the participant.

GLOW STICK SCAVENGER HUNT

You will need:

At least 20 glow sticks (the more the better)
Stopwatch

How to play:

One person hides the glowsticks all throughout the yard or house. Everyone else divides into two teams. When the timer starts, everyone has one minute to find and collect as many glow sticks as possible. When the minute is up, each team counts how many glow sticks they found. The team with the most glow sticks wins.

RESOLUTION WADDLE

You will need:

One balloon for each participant.

How to play:

Participants line up on one side of the room, blow up their balloon and tie it. They then race to the finish line with their balloon held between their legs. No hands allowed! This also makes a great relay race.

WHERE’S MY CANDY?

You will need:

Metal pie tins or paper plates (one for each player)
M&Ms or Skittles
Whipped cream (spray cans work best)

How to play:

Place 5 – 10 pieces of candy in each pie tin. (Make sure you use the same amount in each tin.) Cover with whipped cream. Each player sits with their hands behind their backs and has to find the candy and move it out of the pie tin using only their mouth. The first one to find all of their candy wins.

Strings of lights and stars on top of black background

CANDY TOES

You will need:

Two bags of individually wrapped pieces of candy
Two empty containers

How to play:

Divide players into two teams. In a relay race, each person runs to their team’s container of candy and removes one piece of candy from the container and puts it in the empty container. THEY ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO USE THEIR TOES. They then run back to their team and tag the next person. The first team to move all of their candy from one container to the other wins.

NEW YEAR’S EVE WRITE PASS DRAW

You will need:

Pencils (one for each player)
One piece of paper

How to play:

The first player writes a New Year’s Eve-related sentence at the top of the paper and passes it to the person on their right. That person draws the sentence and folds the paper down so that the sentence is hidden and only the picture can be seen. The paper is passed to the right and the third person must write a sentence describing the drawing. They then fold the paper down to cover the drawing so only the sentence they wrote is visible, and they pass it to the right. This continues until the piece of paper is back where it started. There is no winner, but there are sure to be lots of laughs.

CHOCOLATE CHALLENGE

You will need:

One mini candy bar per person

How to play:

How to play:
Unwrap the chocolate bar and place it on your forehead. Using only your face, move the chocolate bar from your forehead and into your mouth. The player who does it first, wins. If the chocolate bar falls off your face, you must start over with it on your forehead.

CANDLE SHOOT OUT

You will need:

Tapered candles (as many as you want)
Candle Labels
Matches
Squirt gun

How to play:

Create a label for each tapered candle. You can have each one be one hour of the night (as you countdown to midnight), or you can have each candle represent a specific year or decade. Light each candle. Players will participate one at a time. Set a timer for one minute. Players will shoot out the flames using a squirt gun. Players receive one point for each candle that is no longer lit when the minute is up. Make it harder by adjusting the distance from the candles or by blindfolding participants.