We love this New Years (or New Years Eve!) activity for kids that we call - "Looking Back on 2023!". You've seen plenty of ideas out there for resolutions (or "in and out" as it's been deemed this year ;)), and we'll be doing those too - but we wanted to make time to actually talk about the year that is ending!
We all have a LOT going on, and honestly sometimes the year becomes an absolute blur. But no matter the year, there are important things that happen - and they are worth remembering!
At work we call this 'celebrating wins' , and you also see a bunch of adults doing it all over social media this time of year as well... but there isn't really a space for kids to do this, even though it might be even more important for them because kids often need prompts to remember even the coolest stuff and help with the timeline aspect...
So anyway, we're bringing this concept to the kids!
Supplies You'll Need:
Printer + paper
Phone / computer
12 Balloons (we used these)
Ribbons, hole puncher, and washi tape (optional)
1. Download the template below (or make your own), which includes one sheet for each month. Go through your phone and start dropping pictures in. We did it all on the computer, but you can also print pictures and cut and paste them onto the sheets. As we selected pictures, I tried not to overthink (lol lol) it but I did a mix of big highlights (trips we took, first day of school, birthdays) along with smaller highlights - this could be something like "visited the dentist with no cavities" or even just "playing with our favorite toys". There was also a mix of sad (LaSalle dying) and happy (fun trips) - because it's all part of remembering the year.
2. Print out the 12 sheets and fold them into the smallest squares possible. Try to fold in any sharp edges as well. Then stuff one little packet into each balloon (prior to blowing up). Blow the balloons up, tag them by month, and hang them all together.
3. At whatever interval is best (we'll do every hour), pop the balloons and talk about the month in 2023 that's highlighted. Use the pictures and text as prompts, but talk about the things you can't see in pictures too - maybe how they felt, how much they've grown since then, what they'd do the same or differently in the new year... etc!
And ta da - you celebrated the year before moving into the next! And one day I'll get my act together and make actual books of each of our trips and books for each kid by year (maybe when the kids all move out and I retire lol)... but I didn't want to keep waiting to have more time to actually spend a few minutes remembering the ups and downs of 2023 with them before moving on to all our big ideas for 2024!
Hope this inspires you (and makes it easy for you) to look back too!
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