How to Help Your Kids Get Their New Year Off to a Great Start

Everybody, especially the children, enjoyed eating all types of food and goodies during the holidays. They played on their computers, talked on cellphones and watched television. Now it's time to start the year right by learning to live a healthy lifestyle. It is much easier to set goals of a healthy lifestyle for your kids if you join in with them. Make it a family goal. Children join in more easily when they see it as a family activity. You should make the goal appear exciting and enjoyable.

Make healthy eating a family affair!

Eating Right

Start off by providing nutritious food, such as meat and vegetables. Fast foods like pizza, fries, and burgers should be minimized. Eating vegetables becomes more enjoyable when you turn it into a game. Try mixing different types of vegetables together. The meals become more colorful and interesting. Ask your children to identify the different vegetables that are mixed together. You can offer rewards for those that get a perfect score.

Be sure your kids eat a good breakfast. Breakfast is considered the most critical meal of the day. Breakfast should provide sufficient nutrients and energy for the day. Load breakfast meals with fruits, cereals, milk and other healthy food. A variety of food during breakfast makes it easier for your kids to select different types of food. But be sure they get an assortment of food for breakfast. The varied choices make the meals more interesting and exciting. You can offer prizes to the child that eats the most assorted healthy food during breakfast.

The entire family will enjoy getting active.

Keep Them Moving!

Besides eating a healthy diet kids need to have adequate exercise. You can have them do chores around the house to keep them busy and moving around. You can set up outdoor games to keep your kids more physically active. If they get sufficient exercise during the day, it shouldn't be difficult getting them to sleep early. Rest and sleep are equally important in ensuring a healthy lifestyle.

Remember, children do not fully understand the importance of a healthy lifestyle. They are young, strong, and vibrant. You need to show them how to live a healthy lifestyle. They will see the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle in time. And they will be glad you showed them how to integrate healthy eating habits and regular physical activities into a busy lifestyle.

When you’re in need of ideas on ways to make life more interesting, remember that the team at Package From Santa is here to help. Please visit the blog often - we add new content each month.

New Year Family Traditions

Making family traditions for special occasions, like Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a good practice. Traditions help the family remember the past and strengthen the bond between family members. The New Year is a special occasion that should also have family traditions. 

By this time Santa Claus is back at the North Pole resting up. He spent lots of time reading specially crafted letters to Santa and made decisions about who is naughty and who is nice. Then he made his long journey to deliver gifts to kids all across the world. He is tired and probably sleeping right now.

But that doesn't mean you should be sleeping too! Don’t sleep the day away on January 1^st. Many families fail to have traditions because everybody is tired on New Year's Day. They are resting from staying up late celebrating New Year's Eve. You can have traditions for New Year's Eve and another set of traditions for New Year's Day. The traditions can make the New Year events more meaningful and memorable.

 

For New Year's Eve, you can have some punch and fruit to eat as you welcome the New Year. A family camp-out can be a great way to welcome the New Year. Try camping in the house – kids will love the ‘adventure’ and you will be much more comfortable. You can set the tent up in the living room. You can play games and tell stories around the tent while waiting for midnight.

You can spend the time discussing various resolutions. Some resolutions may be difficult to keep. You can also talk about ways of keeping the resolutions. While you will probably make well-planned resolutions designed to make you a better person, your kids will likely have different ideas about resolutions. Remind your kids, and yourself, that resolutions should not be too difficult to maintain. Otherwise, it’s easy to lose interest in working to meet the goals. 

New Year resolutions should not be too easy either. If they are you (or your kids) will not feel a real sense of accomplishment when the goal is met. After sharing each other’s resolutions you can write them down. Each family member can make their own predictions about which resolutions will be kept. You can then review these next year as you again celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another.

Whoever has the most correct predictions can win prizes. You can also have another set of predictions about other matters, such as world events and sports. This will make the children become more aware of happenings around the world.

Special Meals Can Become Family Traditions

On New Year's Day, you can have brunch, a combined breakfast and lunch meal. This will give everyone a chance to sleep late. If people are still tired, you can have a New Year dinner instead. It is important the family eat together on the first day of the year. The family meal produces a closer bonding among the family members.

Clean-Up Time

This can also be the time to put away the Christmas decorations. All the family members can pitch in and help keep the decorations for the next year. If you have an artificial tree, you may want to pack and store it away. Don't forget to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Family members tend to become too familiar with one another and assume many basic practices. A Happy New Year greeting is always appreciated. 

Happy New Year to All!

Kid-Friendly New Year Party Ideas

If you’re like millions of other people, your New Year’s celebration will include kids. The good news is, when you use kid-friendly New Year party ideas, old and young alike can enjoy the party!

Embrace the concept and incorporate lots of fun things for all. Read these New Year party ideas provided by Package From Santa. 

Keep in mind that the celebration can be enjoyed long before midnight. That is, you could make 10 pm the time that sparklers are lighted and glasses of Sparkling Grape Juice (or milk or whatever is preferred) are raised.

The Countdown

Every New Year party includes a countdown – whether you have yours at 8 pm, 10 pm, or midnight – the countdown should conclude with something fun and unique. Maybe you could have a piñata hung high that drops down at the right moment, or perhaps you could have balloons captured in a net hanging from the ceiling – and you guessed it – the net can be dropped at the countdown.

Party Favors

While a party for adults only might not ‘need’ party favors, when you include kids the favors are a must! You will find lots of favor ideas online and in local card and party shops. Keep in mind that most kids will enjoy wearing a hat, crown or tiara. You can make these yourself or buy them ready-made. Noise-makers are another party favorite for kids of all ages. Many dollar stores carry an assortment of kid party favors.

Decorations

New Year party decorations can come in all shapes and sizes. Simple decorations, like balloons and streamers can add a festive ambiance to any space.

Consider stars and disco balls. Styrofoam balls, stars, and other shapes can be decorated with colorful sequins. In fact, this DIY craft project is one that kids can help with. The sequins should be glued on to the shapes. These small decorations can then be displayed in decorative jars, vases, bowls, or simply displayed on table tops and other surfaces.

New Year Party Fun Food

Ordinary cupcakes and cookies can become special treats when you take the time to decorate them. One idea is to add frosting and sprinkles or to create a clock face with the magical time approaching.
Other food ideas include mini-burgers, mini pig in a blanket snacks (made with little smokies wrapped in biscuits or croissant rolls). You can also include deviled eggs, pizza, chips, and snack mixes.

Movies & Board Games

After the kids have enjoyed the countdown time they can retire to a slumber party in a bedroom or other area. Planning ahead includes having at least one or two movies or board games ready – this will help occupy the kids as they fall asleep.


At the same time the party can continue in the other part of the house. In other words, the adults can ‘party on’!