New Years Activites for Children!

New Years Party Hats
Available on Amazon

New Years is a wonderful time to learn geometry. New Years Party Hats are cone shaped. A cone is a solid geometric shape that can be formed by using a compass. To make a circle large enough to make a party hat you will need a teacher sided compass. There are so many different projects to do using large cones, owning a teacher sized compass will come in very handy.

1. Following the the direction on this chart, make a circle and then draw a line from the center of the circle to the outer edge using a ruler. That line is the radius of the circle. The line that delineates the circle is called the circumference of the circle.

Photo Credit: How to Draw a Circle
on WPClipart

2. Now cut around the circle and on the line into the center.

3. Overlap the two edges where you cut the line. The more they overlap, the smaller around your New Years Hat will be.

4. Staple the hat to hold the edges where you would like them.

5. Spray the outside of the cone with spray glue.

6. Cover your New Years Party Hat with glitter.

Now you have a Glittery New Years Party Hat and you have learned a bit about geometry as well.!

Photo Credit: Champagne Glasses
on WPClipart

Children love to help out when preparing for a holiday celebration and New Years Eve is no exception. Often adults drink champagne to toast the new year. Here is a recipe that resembles champagne but without the alcohol. For this New Years Punch just mix a bottle of sparkling water with a can of frozen apple juice concentrate. The sparkling water adds the bubbles that champagne is so famous for.

Serve your Children's New Years Punch in Champagne glasses and teach them how to toast for the New Year.

Photo Credit: New Years Bubble Experiment
on Photobucket, Creative Commons

The bubbles that rise up and pop in your glass of champagne or your New Years Punch are made from escaping carbon dioxide. A fun activity to do with your children as New Years approaches is to make Dancing Raisins.

1 box of baking soda
1 bottle of white vinegar
A few raisins
A clear glass jar

Pour vinegar into the jar. Using a spoon, mix in a small amount of baking soda. Watch the bubbles rise and pour over the edge of the jar. Those bubbles are carbon dioxide that is released when the baking soda mixes with the vinegar.

Now add a few raisins. As the bubbles of carbon dioxide collect on the raisins the raisins begin to rise to the surface. When the raisins hit the surface the bubbles detach and burst through the surface. The raisins sink to the bottom and begin to collect carbon dioxide again.

I wonder if raisins would dance in champagne or New Years Punch?

Photo Credit: New Years Confetti
on WPClipart

In Costa Rica, where there is no snow, people gather each evening between Christmas and New Years to throw confetti. The confetti is small and white and resembles snow. Here in the USA people also throw confetti on New Years. We can turn this into an educational activity while helping to declutter and recycle all at the same time!

Young children love to use scissors. Cutting helps to strengthen the small muscles in fingers that are needed for handwriting. As the New Year approaches, begin to go through your files and throw out paper that you no longer need. Give these papers to your children to cut into strips and then into small pieces of confetti. They can collect the confetti in a basket and save it for midnight on New Years Eve.

To shred large quantities of paper, you might like to purchase a paper shredder. Just empty the paper shredder and give the paper shreds to your children to cut into smaller New Years confetti. Voila, your house is decluttered, you have recycled lots of paper and your children have strengthened their finger muscles which will help them with their penmanship.

After you have thrown the confetti on New Year's Eve, just sweep it up and spread it on your garden or add it to the compost. Paper is biodegradable.