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New Year’s Eve Countdown Goodie Bags

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New Year's Eve Countdown 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!

New Year's Eve Countdown Bags

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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.

New Year's Eve Bags

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.

New Year's Eve Countdown Bags with FREE Printable Clocks | Available on HoosierHomemade.com

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 Bags with FREE Printable Clocks | Available on HoosierHomemade.com

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 Bags with FREE Printable Clocks | Available on HoosierHomemade.com

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 Bags with FREE Printable Clocks | Available on HoosierHomemade.com

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

New Year's Eve Countdown Bags with FREE Printable Clocks | Available on HoosierHomemade.com

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.

nye-clocks

New Year's Eve Countdown Bags

Do you have New Year’s Eve traditions?

Ring in the New Year with these New Year's Eve Desserts, Recipes and Fun for ALL ages! Pin to your Party Board!

Need more ideas? Here are Dessert Recipes, Party Food and Fun!

Follow along with the 100 Days of Homemade Holiday Inspiration for more simple recipes, easy crafts, homemade gift ideas, decorating tips and much more!

Homemade Holiday Inspiration

Countdown Bags for Back to School

You may also like our Countdown Bags for Back to School! 

110 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. What a fun and creative idea! I absolutely love it. Thank you for sharing your brilliance with the blogging community. 🙂
    .-= Stephanie´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday: photo booth =-.

  3. 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.
    .-= Amy´s last blog ..hello? is this thing on? =-.

  4. What an awesome idea. I’ll be snagging this one! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

  5. Christina Rivera says:

    Love this idea! I am going to try to make these today for my two sons…and make it a tradition as well!

  6. 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…..
    .-= Jenny´s last blog ..Two Pantry Recipes =-.

  7. Amanda (Garibay Soup) says:

    Totally stealing your idea!!! This will be soooo fun for my kids!!

    Thanks for sharing!
    .-= Amanda (Garibay Soup)´s last blog ..Works for Me Wednesday – Designing the BEST 10 Years of Your Life =-.

  8. Love this! I think I shall steal it 🙂 Thank you!!

  9. I love the idea of Count Down bags! I think I might try a mini-version this year.

  10. 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!!
    .-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Printable Refunds/Rebates =-.

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