If you are having a New Year’s Eve party this year, then you will have no chance of getting the kids off to bed with all the excitement bubbling around downstairs.
The only thing to do is embrace the fun and do something to keep the kids happy. I have come up with five New Year’s Eve drinks that will involve kids and give them some wonderful memories to end 2013 with!
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Children’s ‘Champagne’ with grape twizzlers
If we ever have a glass of wine in front of the boys, Toby attempts to drink it (!) and Reuben always asks if he can have a special glass with Mummy & Daddy. I think its quite nice for children to have something ‘fancy and special’ on New Years Eve and you may even find that the designated drivers will be nipping over to the kids table for a tipple themselves!
You will need:
- Lemonade or ginger ale (depending on the age of your children and their likes)
- white grape juice
- pineapple juice
For the grape twizzlers you will need:
- long skewer
- 12 grapes of bothcolours
So you want half a glass or jug of your fizzy drink of choice (lemonade is what I have used here as Roo doesn’t like ginger ale and neither do I!) then a quarter each of your fruit juice to top up. You really only want to make this and pop it in the fridge as close to the time you want to use it as possible because you don’t want the fizz to go flat!
Slide the grapes onto the skewer, then lean into the glass as in the picture.
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Chocolate Cream Soda
For those of your who like creamy drinks, this will be a must. It is a bit like drinking fizzy chocolate milk, so is often the most popular at the kids table.
I found this receipe on the brownie eyed baker blog, I think you should check it out, which you can do by clicking the image below.
So you will need (for each glass):
- Ice
- ½ cup soda water
- 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup (or flavor of your choice)
- 2 tablespoons whole milk or single cream if you prefer
- Whipped cream for topping (optional)
Add the soda and stir in the chocolate syrup. Add the milk or cream (I use cream – unhealthy but yummy for a treat!) slowly and stir in gently.
Top with cream… its as easy as that!
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Fruity punch
Since my children have an obsession with fruit and fruit juices this one always goes down a treat and is fab if you are pushed for time as it requires nothing more than bunging three juices into a jug and adding ice. You can dress this up with champagne flutes, or just serve it in a normal glass. If you have time and you want to get fancy, add some chopped up fruit to the jug.
- three of your favourite fruit juices. I always add orange juice as it gives a bit of a boost to any punch, but it isn’t essential.
- ice
Add the juices to the jug or glass, mix.
How easy is that!?
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Ice cream floats
There are so many different versions of this and all of them a divine. One of my personal favourites is a cherry coke ice cream float (see below), but I strongly urge you to check out Brit+Co’s post about all the different floats you can make. Mmm Limoncello float has my vote (maybe not for kids though!!)
To make a cherry cola float:
- Cherry cola
- glazé cherries
- vanilla ice cream
Fill the glass two thirds full of cherry coke, add a large scoop of vanilla ice cream (you can, of course, use any ice cream but vanilla is the best I think) and decorate with a couple of cherries on the side of the glass.
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Hot vanilla
There is always one little one who just wants to curl up with something warm in their tummy and I think this is especially popular for little ones before bedtime or to help them drop off. I found this gem on spoonful.com, check out their other winter warmer recipes.
- 1/2 cup of whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup
- Dash of cinnamon
- 1 cup of milk (per hot vanilla)
- 2 teaspoons of sugar (per hot vanilla)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (per hot vanilla)
Whip the cream with the chocolate syrup and cinnamon together until holding quite firm. Once your have done that, heat the milk, sugar and vanilla extract in the microwave for about 1 minute. Add the cream and serve with a drizzle of chocolate syrup over the top. Yum.
I hope you try some of these recipes for your party and that the kids enjoy themselves! I will be posting about other New Years Eve ideas and tips soon!
Harriet x
