Noon Year's Eve Party for Kids: Schedule, Food and Activities

A noon year party moves the countdown from midnight to noon, so toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children can celebrate the new year while they are awake, fed and in a good mood. Nobody has to fight a bedtime, and you can still have the hats, the noise, the countdown and the toast. This guide covers the idea, a sample schedule, food, activities by age, the noon countdown and the supervision details that matter with small guests. For the adult version of the evening, see our New Year’s Eve party ideas at home, and the full set of tools and guides is on the New Year’s Eve party hub.

What a Noon Year Party Is

The idea is simple. The party is held in the morning, the whole thing builds to a countdown at noon, and the children cheer in the new year with a toast of juice. Some families hold it on December 31 and some pick a nearby weekend morning. Either way, you keep the parts of New Year’s Eve that children enjoy and drop the parts they cannot manage, such as staying up until midnight.

A noon year party also suits mixed ages. Older children can help run the countdown, younger ones can decorate hats at the table, and parents can stay for the whole thing without arranging a sitter. Keep the guest list to a number you can supervise comfortably, and ask parents or guardians whether they plan to stay.

A Sample Schedule: 10 AM to 12:15 PM

This is a starting point, not a rule. Move the times around to fit your guests, and cut an item if the children are busy with something else.

• 10:00 AM, arrival and craft. Children decorate paper party hats or paper crowns as they arrive. A table of craft supplies gives early guests something to do while others come in.
• 10:20 AM, free play and photo corner. Set out a simple photo backdrop and a few paper props. Let the children play while the last guests arrive.
• 10:40 AM, snack. Serve the snack spread and drinks. A seated snack calms the room before the next activity.
• 11:00 AM, first countdown bag. Open the first bag and do the activity inside it together. Give the group about ten minutes.
• 11:20 AM, game. A short group game, chosen from the lists below.
• 11:40 AM, my-year-in-review. Children draw or say their favorite thing from the year, then predict one thing for next year.
• 11:50 AM, noisemaker time. Hand out paper noisemakers and practice the countdown once so the little ones know what to expect.
• 12:00 PM, the countdown and the toast. Count down from ten, cheer, and raise a cup of juice.
• 12:05 PM, cake or a treat. A small treat and some dancing, with music on.
• 12:15 PM, goodbye. Hand out age-appropriate favors (nothing small for children under age 3) and send the guests off before lunch.

If you plan to serve a real lunch, move the end time later and add a few minutes to the dance. Perishable food should not sit out more than 2 hours (1 hour when it is above 90 degrees F), which is USDA food-safety guidance, so put out the snack at 10:40 and clear it before the countdown.

Plan the Countdown With Bags

A countdown bag is a bag that holds one activity and is opened at a set time. The New Year’s Eve countdown bag planner lists one bag for each whole hour after the party starts, up to and including the countdown time. For a party that starts at 10:00 AM with a noon countdown, that works out to two bags, opened at 11 and 12. If your party starts at 7:30 AM, you get five bags, opened at 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Enter your start time, choose noon as the countdown time, add your own activities if you like and print the list.

Bag ideas for this age group, as our own suggestions:

1. A cup of paper-hat decorating supplies
2. A page for drawing a picture of the year
3. A set of noisemaker paper rolls to color
4. A note card for a prediction about next year

A 10 AM start gives two bags, so pick two of these. For more on how the bags work, see our guide to New Year’s Eve countdown bags.

Food and the Juice Toast

A morning party needs light food. Plan a snack, a treat and a toast, and plan lunch for later. Some ideas:

• Fruit cups or sliced fruit
• Mini muffins or small pancakes
• Cheese cubes and crackers
• Yogurt cups
• Cut-up sandwiches
• A simple cake, cupcakes or cookies for after the countdown

As a planning estimate, about 3 to 4 snack items per child is a reasonable starting point for a morning party, plus 1 treat each. That is our own estimate, so adjust it for your group. The New Year’s Eve food and drink calculator turns your guest count and party length into estimates for appetizers, desserts and drinks, including alcohol-free drinks. Its sample values are set for an evening party, so treat its numbers as a rough guide and scale them down for a short morning party, and set guests having alcohol to 0 for a kids’ party.

Cut food into small pieces for the youngest guests, and sit children down to eat. Ask parents or guardians about allergies on the invitation, label every dish clearly and keep ingredient packaging handy in case someone asks.

For the toast, pour juice or sparkling juice into small cups before 11:50 so you are not pouring during the countdown. About a half cup per child is a starting point, though that is just our own estimate. Plastic cups with lids are easier for toddlers. When the clock hits noon, all the children raise a cup and say “Happy New Year.”

Activities by Age

Children of different ages need different things. Choose two or three from the age bands that match your guest list.

Under 3 (supervised play). Keep activities simple and large. Offer chunky crayons and big paper, scarves to wave, and soft music for dancing. Do not offer balloons, small party favors or small items. Small parts are a choking hazard for children under 3, and hard candy and popcorn for children under 4, so supervise closely or skip them altogether. Uninflated or broken latex balloons are a choking and suffocation risk for children under 8; keep them away from young children and pick up broken pieces right away. A parent or caregiver should stay within reach.

Ages 3 to 5. Let them decorate paper hats, make paper noisemakers and play a freeze dance. A simple sticker scene works well too. Keep any activity under ten minutes.

Ages 6 to 8. They can handle a bingo-style game, a scavenger hunt around a room, a drawing game or a story relay. Let them take turns calling the countdown. Our New Year’s Eve games for family guide has more ideas for mixed groups.

Ages 9 and up. Give older children a role: photographer, DJ, countdown leader or craft helper. They can run a trivia round or a charades game for younger guests, which keeps them involved without making the party feel babyish.

Decorations That Work for Small Guests

Keep decorations at adult height and make them out of paper. Paper streamers, banners, paper stars and a simple table covering are plenty. Skip balloons if there are guests under 8, because uninflated or broken latex balloons are a choking and suffocation risk for children under 8. If you do use them, keep them away from young children and pick up broken pieces right away. Do not use fireworks or sparklers. Leave fireworks to licensed professionals.

Set up a quiet corner with books or a blanket for a child who gets overwhelmed by the noise, and keep the volume manageable.

Where the Printables Fit

You can run the whole party with paper and crayons. If you want everything laid out for you, our Noon Year Party theme is a kids’ noon countdown in a printable suite, with countdown bag tags timed for you and the my-year-in-review sheet included. The full list of kits and what they contain is in the suites section of the hub.

A Short Checklist for the Day Before

• Confirm the guest count and ask about allergies if you have not yet.
• Fill the countdown bags and label each with its opening time.
• Print or draw the my-year-in-review sheets.
• Cut paper hats and gather craft supplies.
• Shop for snacks, juice, cups and cake.
• Clear a space for dancing and a place for the photo corner.

On the morning itself, set out the craft table first, keep the food covered until 10:40, and pour the toast cups just before the countdown. A noon year party is short, so the main job is keeping the pace moving. If the children are happy at one activity, let them stay there and shorten the next one. The countdown at noon is the goal, and everything else is flexible.