Make Believe Midnight: Ringing in the New Year with Children

Tomorrow night is the night when almost everyone stays up and greets a new day/month/year.  Possibly parties featuring champagne and dancing and lots of people come to mind.  To be honest, that was not really our scene BEFORE we had kids, so now that we have children, we are usually looking for ways to include them on this holiday.  After all, our years with them at home are limited.

Of course so far our kids have not stayed up until that late of an hour.  For one thing, they would be rather unpleasant the next day.  We have made a point of ringing in 9:00, and one year my husband change the clocks to look like midnight had arrived (they were not fooled or anything 🙂 )   This year we have yet to finalize our plans. There are several great events across the state that are geared for celebrating the new year with children.  Many of them feature make-believe midnight activities.  While we have not personally experienced the event, my understanding is that the Lincoln Children’s Museum even drops a ball at 8:00 (their pretend midnight hour).

Photo from cmocn.org

Noon Year’s Eve at the Omaha Henry Dorley Zoo

First Night of Play at the Omaha Children’s Museum

Make Believe Midnight at the Lincoln Children’s Museum

Countdown to the “Noon Year” Event at the Children’s Museum of Central Nebraska in Hastings

While Kearney, Norfolk and North Platte all have children’s museums or children’s discovery zones, none of them have any specific New Year’s Eve activities this year.  If you know of any additional optional New Year’s Eve activity for families in your area, please post it in the comments below or on the Odyssey Through Nebraska Facebook page.  However you celebrate, I hope you enjoy ringing in the new year!

Would this not be a fun way to ring in the new year?  (School bell from Steele City in Nebraska.)  Image from Wikipedia

Author: neodyssey