To not know how to celebrate NYE with kids?

[mynamechangemyrules]

I am a single parent and have kids from 8-15.

We are not with my family this year and they are not with their father as planned.

What can I do that will make NYE special without a) breaking the bank and b) without any friends as we don't have anyone who invites us/ responds to our invites as a family... I have friends, they have mates from school etc but they're not the same groups.

When I was a child families gathered altogether and it was fun for everyone, but unsurprisingly no one seems to want to invite a middle aged singleton with a poor ratio of adult to child 🤪 Have tried inviting people but they have 'proper' family friend groups to hang out with. (Not that they'd put it like that they're all too nice 💕)

Series of games, like charades,twister,then some awards at the end. 'most enthusiastic ', 'best overall', 'funniest moment'??

Party food, fun drinks, games, movies, living room disco 🕺

Fireworks on bbc iplayer from last year when you want them to go to bed (I will be playing them before 8pm for my 4year old). And send them to bed for peace and quiet!!
Play a few games- charades, musical bumps, card games, the floor is lava etc
Have some party food, nibbles and drinks
More importantly have fun...

“Tapas” food, fancy drinks in posh glasses, games then sparklers outside at midnight.

Play games, watch TV and have picky bits out
The excitement is staying up until midnight and watching the fireworks in London
Go outside and watch the fireworks local to you

The last couple of years we have done a buffet type meal using up the last of the festive snacks etc and we do an escape room type game, the Cluedo ones are good for a range of ages(mine are between 8 and 14) which takes up some of the time!
Our local pud is doing a free quiz this year in the evening and they are happy for older/well behaved kids to come along so we might pop to that for a couple of drinks and to do the quiz and then head home.

Film, games, karaoke, party food and mocktails. Bed just after the bells.

We do party food, a film and the fireworks.
Fairly low key but enjoyable.

Before bed play the Australian countdown and fireworks so they feel like they've still watched it if they're too young to stay up

My son loves a soft drink in a wine glass on NYE 😅

Definitely games.
We do this to fill the time between dinner and midnight and we are all adults

YouTube karaoke. There are a lot of karaoke versions of songs now or just songs with lyrics.

Buffet, games, film, sleep in the living room and watch in your phs/bed so the younger ones can fall asleep if they need to.

Those are things I've done with mine.

Some great ideas above.
Maybe do a slideshow of the year's highlights too for a spot of calm between games, karaoke and fireworks?

We are having a board games night with a Chinese takeaway, and chocolates. Really looking forward to it!

We never go out, it's usually just the 3 of us - 2 adults, one child.

The main thing is the party food - then we have loads of card games like exploding kittens and other similar ones and we have fun playing those while having MTV on in the background. My son also has some sort of soft drink in a champagne glass.

We used to have a film-and-takeaway fest.

We would select films together and rent/download them in advance. Usually two full length and one short.

We would get takeaways from the supermarket. Each person chose a starter and a main that they liked and were willing to share, plus we would choose some sides and puddings. We generally ended up with a variety of Indian, Thai, Chinese, American and British dishes. Plus something nice for the adults to toast the New Year and something non-alcoholic, but also bubbly and special, for the dc to toast.

At around 6pm we would start, with the starters. Then we would go to the living room to watch a film. Then we would return to the kitchen for the mains and sides. Then we word return to the living room to watch the next film. Then back to the kitchen for dessert. Then back to the living room for the final film. Finally, bubbly and Big Ben for everyone.

The dd are all adults now, but they still remember this with pleasure. One of the nice things about this fest is that everyone got what they wanted. And if they didn't care for a film they still hung out in the living room with us, and a book or a non-distracting toy.

slice of lemon on the side for extra fancy 🍸

We've done 'Johnny's disco' not real name since the kids were little. You need glow sticks. Turn the lights off in one of the bedrooms and do a few games like dancing competitions, musical bumps etc. Do some awards for most inventive dancer etc with some little treats. Kids have shloer or j20 in a champagne glass and maybe some party poppers. The kids try and juggle with glow sticks and we all end up laughing. We're probably only in the bedroom for an hour or so but they love it then come down and play board games or whatever with nice food.

We let the kids do a confetti canon one year and they absolutely loved it. Paper confetti ALL over the kitchen but was worth the joy. We also took a slow motion video of them jumping about in the confetti as it fell, and they still love watching it years later!

Sorry I forgot to add- I’m renovating the dining room at the moment and the house is a nightmare so I was aiming for low key. But we are going for: Fizz and Canapés (Coke and crisps!)/ a board game/ Pizzas/ a movie marathon/ sparklers and a fire in the garden! Exciting! Thank you 🎉

One thing we did Covid year when it was just us... I created a sheet with some categories eg. 3 best things that happened in 2020 and 3 worst things, 3 things I'm looking forward to in 2021. A 'dream come true' for 2021, a place I would like to go, something I would like to achieve etc. It was great to talk through them and then look at them the following year as well and see if the things happened.

Where do you live OP?
Is there any local social club type of places that are hosting parties you could attend? Would be a great way to socialise and meet new people too.

These are such great ideas ☺️

We often do a kitchen disco with the DC. Even though two are teenagers now they love a joining in with actions kind of dance, and sometimes even enjoy a few rounds of the Hokey Cokey!

Sadly this year it will just be the younger two DC as DD16 is off to her first NYE party. 😬

Little update- I've put on sparkly outfit and laid out stuff as if we were having guests, including pumping tunes in the front room 🤣 It's made me feel fab tbh when the day before yesterday I was feeling so low about it 🎉💕