Monday, December 31, 2018

6th Annual New Year's Eve Balloon Activities

Today is my favorite day of activities with the kids. We look forward to this event all year! 

I added a new twist to our 6th Annual New Year's Eve activities: at the top of each hour, the balloon activity is to perform a New Year's Eve tradition from around the world.

12:00 Noon: Scotland and Ireland:bonfire and sparklers (fireworks)
1:00: Colombia: Carry empty suitcases around the house
2:00: Brazil: wear special underwear (red-love, yellow-money, white-peace
3:00: Armenia: bread with good luck wishes kneaded in
4:00: Japanese: buckwheat Solba noodles
5:00: Denmark: jump off chairs to leap into January
6:00: France: eat a stack of pancakes
7:00: Turkey: open front door and sprinkle salt to bring peace and abundance to the house
8:00: Philippines: display 12 round fruits
9:00: Ireland: hit walls with bread
10:00: Dutch: eat olibollen doughnuts
11:00: Czech Republic: cut an apple in half and look at the core to predict the coming year
12:00: Spain: eat 12 grapes

I write the activities on a sheet of paper and cut them up into strips. I place the strips inside a balloon and write the time on the balloon. When the time arrives, the kids take turns popping the balloon to find their next activity.

The other activities to fill in the rest of the night are as follows: 
12:16: do a walking water experiment (fill classes with different colored water. Place a paper towel in the glasses and watch the colors come together.)
12:33: complete the year in review questionnaire
12:47: make bath bombs
1:11: do dry ice experiments (we added dry ice to warm water in champagne glasses, we then added a little soap to each glass. We also carbonated orange kool-aid. The last thing we did was make a giant bubble with the dry ice.) 
1:52: make a penguin sensory bins--using water beads as the base. 
2:08: STEM challenge-build a raft and a slide for the penguin sensory bin
2:50: Rice Krispie Clocks
3:15: Pick "One Word" to concentrate on this year and paint your word on canvas
3:45: Make soft pretzels
4:15: glitter/water/dish soap experiment
4:32: magic milk experiment
5:20: Make shrink key chains of resolutions and visit the concession stand
5:42: Make 2019 cheese bread
6:20: elephant toothpaste experiment in champagne glasses
7:10: make brownie trifles
7:43 make color disappear experiment
8:14: hot chocolate bar
8:30: photo shoot
8:50: 2019 hand print craft
9:10: Chopped food challenge
9:51: burn ice
10:20: Ivory soap challenge
10:44: firework painting with toilet paper roll
11:05: visit the concession stand again
11:20: streamer ball of prizes
11:35: glow ring toss game

We end the night with a balloon drop we hang from the ceiling and a toast at midnight. 


Here are links to our past New Year's Eve parties: 

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