Speaking of parties . . .

Family Millennium Activities and Celebration stuff (always with more good stuff to come!)

This Year's Party Theme

Continuing your Millennium Celebration!!!

Planning on celebrating the new millennium with your family?  We've got some great ideas for you!  These items range from family and individual activities, teaching, and party ideas.  Each of these ideas is based on the theme of 'Time' (of course).  We used this theme to ring in the new millennium, but you can use these ideas anytime!

Leading Up to December     During December     Millennial Party Themes

Millennium Party Certificate

During the Party    'Millennial' Things to Do     After Midnight

Family Preparation:  If the excitement of a having a party isn't enough, the preparation and anticipation for having one may be.    We've listed a few ideas below to help the family get into the idea that we're leaving the 20th century and entering the 21st!

During the months prior to December:

Build a Time Capsule!  This is a neat family project that can involve everyone.   In doing this you can send a message to the future on how you lived as a family at the dawn of the third millennium.  You don't need to have a time capsule just for the millennium celebrations.  You can have a capsule for just about any reason: Your 20th anniversary year, your 50th birthday . . . whatever, but you get the idea. You can include photographs, documents or just about anything else that will show people in the future your faith, your dreams, your toys, your everyday life.   Do you think 100 years from now anyone will know what a Pokémon is?  How about a Beanie Baby?  They won't unless you tell them!  Click here for more information on how to build your Capsule, and have a look at ours!

Make a Family patch Quilt!  A neat idea if you like sewing and practical.  Have everyone in your family design and make their own patch for the quilt.  Patches can be 6" x 6", 8" x 8", or any size you like.  The patch can consist of a family member's name and one symbol that best represents them.  In our family's case it might be like this:  John (a rocket), Linda (a Teddy Bear), Christina (a horse).  Patches can be made out of any material and the symbol can be:

• embroidered.
• cut from another piece of fabric and sewn in.
• cut from other fabric, sewn and embellished with fabric paint.

As New Year's Eve gets closer, assemble the patches (plus some extra patches to make it whole) and put it on display for your party guests, and either hang it, frame it or use it in the coming new year!  (Many thanks to Barbara Andrews of Fredericksburg, Virginia for this idea!)

During December:

Dinner Chat:  Remember when you were a kid and would sit around the dinner table and discuss things with Mom and Dad in a non-confrontational setting?   These times tended to build family cohesion because we all had something in common; our ideas about the topic of the evening. 

Time to get back to it and here's a good way.  With the excitement and bustle of Christmas about this time, it will be hard to keep the kid's attention on anything but toys.  Still, you can find some time around the dinner table to discuss events of the past and impress on them how humanity has advanced.  Perhaps even just once a week, around your biggest family dinner.  You can discuss the last 10, 100 or perhaps 1000 years of human history depending on the age of you kids (or even just between you and your spouse if your kids are too young).  Here's some ideas to consider:  

• Looking back:  Pretend that each day represents 100 years of human history from 1 B.C. to 2000.   During each of the 20 days prior to New Year's Eve, think of one thing (an invention, a positive idea or action) during that 100 years that defined or had a positive impact on human development on the world and share that with you family over dinner.
• The Future (It ain't what it used to be):  A personal favorite of ours.  Show your kids predictions of the future (from along time ago).  There have been so many predictions about what the future would be like, most of them either turned out wrong (like the family Autogyro), happened well in advance of the predicted date (like flat screen TV), or were never even considered by futurists (such as the Internet or the photocopier). 
  • Did you know in the 1970s the U.S. government predicted that we would be working 28 hours a week and would be retiring by age 38?  -  you wish!
  • Showing your children visions of future's past can be entertaining and a great learning experience for all.  They'll laugh and learn. 
  • A good source for information on 'Retro-futures' you can share with you family can be found here.
  • Click here for interesting and sometimes hilarious quotes from the past about our future!
  • Click here for some of the more hilarious predictions too!
  • If you're looking for information about the future from our present perspective, check out:
    • Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies at the University of Hawaii at
      Manoa in Honolulu.
    • Institute for Alternative Futures.
    • World Future Society.
    • The Foresight Institute.
    • The Hudson Institute (specializing on the near future).
• Looking Forward:  Get you family to think about what might be possible in the next 50 years or so. 

Party Themes:  What's a party without a theme?  

In a word, Duh-ull!!  

Sure you can have a 'Come as you are', but themed Parties are really good and continuing the celebration of the new Millennium is one of the best reasons to have one.   You might consider making your own costumes.  Here, we show you some of our examples.  You might even be able to reuse those dusty Halloween costumes you shoved in your closet 2 months prior.  Here's some ideas to consider:

• Comic Book and cartoon Characters- Our theme for 2006.  Easy for the entire family to participate in, based your theme and costumes on your favorite superheroes!  Also consider having have a cartoon and comic book trivia contest with themed prizes.  You can make new costumes or recycle those Halloween costumes and tweak them a bit to be you favorite character from books, magazines, the movies and TV! 
• Dressing for the 21st Century- Assign each family or single person that you will invite to your party a particular decade within the 20th century to dress in.   Some may come dressed in 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s costumes, etc., straight up to today.   The host and hostess can dress up in futuristic costumes representing the 21st century (what we did for 2000).  As a bonus ask each family or single guest to explain why they dressed the way they dressed; what was appropriate to wear and what was not (a little history lesson by the way).  "Another thing we're doing is having each
  person represent a decade and give a presentation about what happened during those years. Based on the American Century Cookbook by Jean Anderson, we're also eating food from each decade, and talking about when different foods were introduced and were popular. You may want to suggest that as well." Submitted by Anita Wells
  
• "Just can't let go of the Past"- 
  • Ask each family and single person to come costumed in clothing representing a particular century of the 2nd millennium (that is between the years 1001-2000).  Some may come dressed in Medieval costumes, some the Renaissance, other Elizabethan, Colonial, Civil War or contemporary costumes.
  • Or, have everyone dress for a particular period.  This year the Y2KFAM will be doing the 1960s.  We'll be including:
    • 60s music
    • Lava lamps, 
    • Ericaphones, 
    • Twister and Rock'em-Sock'em Robot competitions 
    • And of course a 60s trivia contest.
      

• "Can't Wait for the Future"- Ask each family and single person to come costumed in clothing that represents the or 'the 21st century' or 'the future' in general.   This was our theme for DEC 2000!
  
• Toyland- This was our theme for 2002.  Everyone dresses in some sort of costume that looks like a toy.  Here are some ideas:     
  • Go to a goodwill or 2nd hand clothing shop and come dressed as Raggedy Ann or Raggedy Andy.
  • Get a teddy bear costume from the local costume shop.  
  • A pair of white pants, tall boots and band hat make the beginnings of a toy soldier.  
  • If you really want to cause a stir, come dressed as a slinky!
  • Put a plastic cone on your head, wrap yourself in silver and come dressed as a rocketship!

   

• The Reason for the Season- The Celebration of Jesus.  Our theme for our 2003-2004 New Year's Party. Getting dressed up as characters from the Bible.  Long flowing robes made out of old sheets, gown and such plus cardboard crowns can go a long way here!

   

• Costume Chaos-  Invite each family or single person to your party dressed in completely different themes.  Do not tell anyone else that the other guests will be asked to come in a different theme.  Ask each family to come dressed differently such as:

  • formal wear,
  • sports (tennis, football, baseball, equestrian, track, etc.).
  • 1900s period (50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, etc.)
  • Science Fiction (Star Trek, etc.)
  • Renaissance
  • Western (cowboy)
  • Military
  • Roman
  • like geeks (a.k.a. nerds)
  • like slobs
  • Scottish (kilts, bagpipes, etc.)

  Your guests will either love you or hate you for this . . . :-)

  More on inexpensive costuming here!
  

• Reward your guests- By Awarding prizes for their costume efforts in terms of:
  • Authenticity-  construction and knowledge about what they are wearing.
  • Originality- coming up with either unusual costume(s) or unusual materials to make it.
  • Audacity- Some actually had the guts to wear a particular costume to a party???

Party Ideas and Games.  Did someone say games?  We'll be adding a few millennial-themed games or games based on time for you to consider here!

• Recycle your 2003 party stuff!  The third year of the new Millennium (2003) may be drawing to a close soon but . . .  you can reuse your old party stuff!  
  • Here's how:  You might still have some 'Happy new Year- 2003' items like plates or napkins and the like.  Use these items as feature of your party to ceremonially throw out or destroy to ring out the second year of the new Millennium (2003) as you begin to celebrate the new one, 2004.  It's  kind of like "out with the old and in with the new"!  (We're doing this ourselves).
• What's This Thing?  During the party, gather all the kids around and have them guess what certain items are that were used during the 20th century.  Limit it to about 10-15 items because we all know the attention span of children.  Here's some ideas to consider:
  • A vacuum tube
  • An 8-track tape
  • A 45rpm record adapter (the thing you put into a 45 so you could play it on your dad's stereo).
  • A computer punch card.
  • A slide rule (I still needed to use one in high school!)
  • A telegram.
  • Some World War II ration coupons.
  • Other things you just don't see anymore today.  

  Then have the kids explain what these things were used for and what has taken their place  today.  If you can't find some of these items, find a picture instead!

• Name that (time related) Tune!:  Have a contest to see who can name the most 'time' related songs.  "Does anybody really know what time it is?", "25 or 6 to 4?", "Time After Time", "If I could save Time in a Bottle".  There are other variations on this game to include naming the recording artist(s), playing a tune and seeing who can say the title first!  Start buying your CDs now before 'time' runs out (pardon the pun . . .)!
• The DATEing game A trivia game.  It can be as general or specific as you like.  Millennium trivia, space, sports, 20th century and so forth.  Using a  history book and/or encyclopedia as your source, name an event and have your guests guess the year that it occurred.  Make them multiple choice questions with 3-4 possible answers.  Write down the questions (with answers on 3 x 5 cards) from your source, and have a stack of 30 questions (you don't want to drag out the game too long!).  The first person to guess 10 right wins a prize!
  • Example:  Alan Shepard, the first U.S. Astronaut, went into space in what year?
    • 1957
    • 1960
    • 1961 (source:  World Book page XXXX)
    • 1969
  •   Here's what the back of our cards look like.   You can download this and print them on the back of your own 3 x 5 cards!
• Gift Exchange-  An idea for a small party, have everyone bring a small gift ($5-10 value).  Everyone then draws a number out of a   hat, the lowest number gets first pick of the wrapped gifts.  The next in sequence can either pick a new (unopened gift) or one of the gifts picked by someone who picked earlier.  If someone looses a gift, they can either pick out a new one or one previously drawn!  This could go on for a long time however, to ensure the game ends quickly, limit the number of times a gift can change owners (preferably  2 times).   The results can be hilarious! Submitted by Linda Roth, Fredericksburg, VA
• For the young ones-  
  • "Reach 2004!" Face it, not everyone you invite is going to understand closing out 2003 and welcoming 2004, much less be able to pronounce it.  That is especially true of the younger generation (Generation Z?).  Whatever . . . We've devised is a simple 'ring toss' game that you can construct to keep them entertained.  Simply construct a board that has a number "2" followed by two dowels (in a line) that rings can be tossed on to.  The rings can come from any child's toy set.  When tossed on to each dowel, the rings will look like zeroes, and the number 2004 will be reached!   The young one wins the game, and gets a toy (or another prize).  You can have competitions and playoffs too!  Here's a picture of what we think the game could look like.  It's inexpensive (just a piece of 'foam core' or illustration   board), some magic markers, a few wooden dowels and some toy toss rings will do the job!  Easy, fun and cheap!
  • New Year Crowns-  The kids can get into the party spirit by making their own crowns!  Use a large piece of construction paper. Cut up and down in the middle and across the paper, to look like a king crown. Staple the ends together. Then use glue, to write a big 2004 in the middle of the crown. Sprinkle glitter over the glue. Glue pom-poms on the points of each triangle at the tip of the crown. Decorate the rest of the crown with squiggles, stars, designs, etc. Wear on New Year's Eve to celebrate the close-out of the first year of the new Millennium! Idea (with modifications) submitted by:  Elle Hudson, Sue Ebberhart, Michelle Mash, Laura Milligan, First grade teachers...Linden Hill Elementary School Wilmington, Delaware, USA.

• Party Group Photo-  Perhaps a bit cliché, but you can liven it up if you have a digital camera and a color printer.   Take a picture either just before or just after midnight and have all your guests sign it (or the frame that you will mount the picture in) with an acid-free pen.  We do this after midnight, taking a digital photo, printing it out  and placing it inside the frame (and a make copy for the time capsule).  Guests are also provided a copy as they leave!!

After Midnight:

• Sealing your Time Capsule:  Some time after midnight and after the party winds down, have a small time capsule sealing ceremony.
• Pray:  Offer prayer to God and pray for peace throughout the world.  Ask God to bless and sustain your family and your country, and give you a desire to help and be of help, service and blessings to others.

Millennium Close Out Party Certificate 

Just in case you missed getting in on a having an Official Y2KFAM Millennium Celebration Certificate for the actual millennium, we've got 'em still available for downloading!  Rather than pay big money for these, we're saving you the trouble and offering you FREE certificates that you can download and print as often as you like with no copyright restrictions.  

To Print the Certificate: Just click on the certificate to the left.  The image will appear by itself on a separate page.  Using your web browser, press the 'Print' button and you're on your way!  Note you might have to adjust the paper orientation when you print the certificate(s) out.  We do recommend that you use a good acid-free, perhaps glossy paper to print these out, or take the image on a disk to a local photocopy store and ask them to do it for you.

A JPEG version of the certificate is also available here.

We'll be providing even more 3 Millennium and 21st century celebration resources in the future, so check in periodically!

This page was last updated on 12/31/06 .