New Year’s Eve Countdown Goodie Bags
Traditions are one of the things I love most about the Holidays. Many, many years ago, we started a great tradition…New Year’s Eve Countdown Goodie Bags. Put together these fun bags to open throughout the evening, they are great for kids and adults!
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Each hour leading up to midnight, fill a bag with toys, candy, small puzzles and more. Be sure to leave the noise makers for the midnight bag.
My boys were quite young when we began this tradition, but they still wanted to stay up until midnight, and quite honestly, it was hard for my husband and I to stay up that late too. So, we started using Goodie Bags to countdown to midnight.
First you will need to prepare the bags. I’m using white lunch bags, any bag will work though. You can either make your own clocks on construction paper or use the Clock Printables that I made for you.
Head on over to grab the Printables! I made 6 sets in different colors so you can coordinate for each child if you want, making it easier for each child to keep their bags separate. I also keep the clocks from year to year.
This post is from several years ago, so that’s why you see 2014. But you can still find all the items for this year.
To fill the bags, I always look for small toys and items that have multiples in a bag. The party section is a great place to find small items. I also always put the noise makers and poppers in the midnight bag and hand those out a few minutes before the hour, that way, we aren’t hearing the noise for hours. Some other items I have used in the past are glow necklaces, small puzzles and toys, and candy.
Right now is the perfect time to find small items in the Christmas section on sale.
Since these Countdown Bags are great for any age, I put together a group of ideas for different age groups for you.
New Year’s Eve Countdoown Goodie Bags
New Year’s Eve Countdown Goodie Bags for Toddlers
- Sticker Books
- Bubbles
- Snacks like Teddy Grahams
- Plastic Bracelets
- Small Puzzle
New Year’s Eve Countdown Goodie Bags for Pre-Teens
- Hacky Sacks
- Yo-Yos
- Glow Bracelets or Necklaces
- Candy
- Stationery Set
- Toys from Sports Favor Pack
- Slap Bracelet
New Year’s Eve Countdown Goodie Bags for Young Adults
- Playing Cards
- Glow Bracelets or Necklaces
- Candy and/or Cookies
- Air Freshener for Vehicle
- Noise Makers
I display them with shiny gift bag filler and noise makers. This has become such a tradition for my boys, that even my oldest son who is 23 asks me to be sure to have bags for him too. So really, there is not an age limit for these Countdown Bags – fill and have fun!
Watch the Facebook LIVE Video here to see how I put them together and tips on what to include in the Countdown Bags.
Do you have New Year’s Eve traditions?
Need more ideas? Here are Dessert Recipes, Party Food and Fun!
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I hope you don’t mind …I featured this today on my blog! LOVE the idea. May just have to toss some together for tonight. Just looks SUPER FUN for any age.
What a fun and creative idea! I absolutely love it. Thank you for sharing your brilliance with the blogging community. 🙂
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What a fun idea! We have all the cousins over for New Year’s Eve and this would be a great way to pass the evening.
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This is an awesome idea! I’m so doing this tomorrow with my boys! Thank you.
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What an awesome idea. I’ll be snagging this one! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Love this idea! I am going to try to make these today for my two sons…and make it a tradition as well!
I LOVE this idea. Our tradition is a party with friends and kids. We hang tarps and set up heaters on our back porch for the adults and the kids have access to the XBox, Wii and movies. We all get together to watch the peach drop (Hey, we are in GA after all!) These bags would be great to hand out at midnight for the kids. Off to the dollar store…..
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What a fun idea! Thanks for sharing!
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Totally stealing your idea!!! This will be soooo fun for my kids!!
Thanks for sharing!
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What a neat tradition:-)
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What a great idea!!! Thanks for sharing!!! I just may do this, this year! =)
Love this! I think I shall steal it 🙂 Thank you!!
I love the idea of Count Down bags! I think I might try a mini-version this year.
I found your site through Beauty & Bedlam…LOVE the idea about the countdown goodie bags! My kids are 9 and 6 and I was trying to think of something fun to do for Thursday night with them. I think I found my answer!
And I hope you don’t mind if I share this post on my little blog.
Love the idea!!
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@Jennifer, Sure! That would be great! I’d love for you to share! Happy New Year!
~Liz
I LOVE this! What a great idea! My kids are still too young, but I am going to store this one in the memory banks for a couple years from now!! 🙂
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