Over the past 8 years, my site has acquired regular readers. It’s nice, but very responsible, because every year they expect something new from me, and it’s not that easy. Even professional presenters repeat proven entertainment for years, so don’t be afraid to slightly change and put in a new verbal shell those competitions and surprise moments that amused guests last year.
Firstly , guests don’t understand all this as well as you do. Secondly, the Chinese horoscope throws up different characters, and it’s easier for you and me to look for inspiration in these charismatic symbols of the year. In 2021 we will celebrate the Year of the Pig. Naturally, I tried to put together a selection of ideas that would honor this animal.
Let me remind you what parts a home holiday script can consist of, so that there is no repetition and monotony:
• Any version of a win-win lottery with small funny souvenirs • Good fortune-telling predictions that are randomly given to guests • Short table games, preferably humorous ones • Photo sessions with unusual props, accessories and photo props • A small but effective creative master class (guests take the souvenirs for themselves) • Creation of a single art object (all guests make a small fragment, the result is something grandiose) • Dance battle • Game of forfeits or its equivalent (participation of each guest is required) • Vocal competition (individual, or better yet, a choir competition) • Quiz (New Year's, comic, according to the customs of different countries of the world, etc.) • Relay races (any task for speed and original thinking) • Special effects (minimum sparklers)
For a creative person (and you are all very creative), sometimes this list with reminders is enough, and the whole festive evening comes up with itself. There is not and cannot be a universal scenario, since all families are very different. Some people have more kids, then we devote part of our time to them, and then we have fun in an adult company. Children over 8-9 years old almost always wait for the chimes to strike and really want to have fun for several hours in a row. In some families there are many representatives of the older generation who feel sorry for missing the New Year's concert on TV. When drawing up a script for a family holiday, all this needs to be taken into account.
Below I will give examples for each point so that the holiday is dedicated specifically to the Year of the Pig 2021.
Any version of a win-win lottery with small funny souvenirs
Gifts wrapped in New Year's wrapping paper have some kind of magic. Everyone wants to get them)). Any little thing, but they want it. In this case, packaging is even more important, since it is what creates the festive mood. A kind of childish joy covers a person at the sight of a bunch of these boxes and packages. Buy small pig figurines, beautiful candles, small calendars with pigs, gift soap, miniature towels with Christmas trees, cups with the symbol of the year, funny souvenirs for the home. The packaging must be opaque.
Here's how you can play these souvenirs:
- Collect small belongings of each guest in a box or bag, and prepared packages in another bag: “This gift is for...” - we pull out the item and souvenir at the same time with both hands.
- Under each plate, put different pictures with famous pigs from films and cartoons, and the second picture is attached to the prize, waiting for matches.
- Just hang it on a bright ribbon and cut it with scissors with your eyes closed, like in Soviet childhood.
- Allow the youngest guest, as the symbol of the year, to hand out gifts to his taste, stopping attempts to give everything to just one mother.
- Give souvenirs for reading a New Year's poem (let the quatrains lie under the plates,).
Main colors
The main color of 2021, of course, will be yellow or gold.
Bright sunny shades of flowers are ideal for creating a festive mood. This color should be present in clothing, interior decor, and gift design.
The New Year's palette also includes other colors:
- pink is the pig’s natural color,
- green is the color of grass,
- brown is the color of earth.
You can use any shades of the presented range:
- ocher color,
- terracotta,
- chocolate,
- coffee,
- beige,
- citric,
- sand,
- khaki.
Attention: bright acid colors are not suitable for celebrating the Year of the Pig!
Good fortune-telling predictions that happen to guests by chance
Comic good predictions are a special part of the holiday. Many people don’t admit it, but still quietly read horoscopes, take all sorts of tests and look for “signs of fate” in the events of the day. A small package with a New Year's Eve fortune will delight guests of any age. What you write there is your choice. The whole point is that the prediction will randomly find its “owner”. And that's the beauty of it. Everything should be positive, kind, promising health, prosperity, success and love.
How to make predictions:
- Tie it to the souvenir that took part in the win-win lottery. Well, connect the prediction itself with the little thing that came across: “This goldfish will fulfill your three deepest desires”, “Did you get a pink pig with a heart? You will be lucky in love,” etc.
- Roll it into tubes, stuff it into colorful balls, and popping it is always fun.
- Hang the folded notes on the Christmas tree and guests will choose their own prediction.
- Fold napkins like New Year's and hide the predictions inside.
- Make fortune cookies, here is the recipe and description on my website.
Game at the table
First option . If it’s the Year of the Pig, you can play the game “Crocodile” with such pigish words. You know the gist: the player reads a word on a card, which he needs to show with his movements to all the guests. By the way, for participating in competitions you can give out piglets (drawn pig noses or real money-piglets), and at the end of the holiday you can exchange all the “tokens” for some nice prize.
Images for the game: piglet, acorn, mud, piggy bank, guinea pig, Year of the Pig, etc. Add New Year's words: Olivier, chimes, champagne, Snow Maiden, etc.
The second option: show all the guests a card with the player’s “profession” (there are also ready-made games, the general name is “Who Am I”, there are headbands and cards with pictures in the set).
At this moment he turns away. Everyone knows who he is and only answers “yes” and “no” to all his clarifying questions, he needs to guess. Riddle what it is: “Snowman”, “Clown”, “Salesman at McDonalds”, Peppa Pig”, etc.
Favorite number
Each of the guests writes on a piece of paper their favorite number or the number that came to mind. Then the presenter announces that now he will ask everyone a question in turn, the answer to which will be a number written on a piece of paper, that is, the guest must answer the question posed by raising a piece of paper with a written number and calling out this number loudly. Questions could be of the following nature: How old are you? How many times a day do you prefer to eat? How many toes do you have on your left foot? How much do you weigh? and so on.
Photo sessions with accessories and photo props
While guests are getting ready, invite them to take a series of fun photos in a pre-prepared photo area. Stock up on pig masks or just large soft toys that your guests will pose with for the New Year's mood. I also often use large inflatable foil balloons (size 90-100 cm), maybe I’ll find a pig this year. Add other accessories (hats, unusual glasses, photo props on sticks).
If not everyone wants to be a pig, add other characters from movies and cartoons that have piglets. let there be Funtik, Mrs. Belladonna and a couple of detectives. Three little pigs and a wolf. Piglet and Winnie the Pooh. Khryusha, Filya and Stepashka, if anyone else remembers them.
A small but effective creative master class (guests take souvenirs for themselves)
It's not as difficult to organize at home as it seems. For master classes you need a separate table, preferably in another room. Sometimes it is important for the hostess that all the guests leave the table in order to tidy up a little and arrange the next holiday dishes, ventilate the room, etc. Children and adults like to do something cute, but at the same time they don’t want to be creative for more than 10-15 minutes on New Year’s Eve.
I always like to paint gingerbread cookies (there is ready-made colored icing in tubes), make felt New Year magnets, glue a picture onto a thick candle with a hot spoon, paint wooden figures (this year I will give out pigs to everyone), and assemble voluminous cards from ready-made elements.
Gingerbread is easy to make, I bake it every year, and it takes no more than an hour. Here is the prescription.
What to cook
What dishes should be on the New Year's table 2021? Everything is very simple. Simple salads, cold appetizers, main courses, various drinks and all kinds of desserts.
It is worth considering in which company the New Year's celebration will take place.
- If you are with family, then treats should be decorated in a warm and comfortable tone. For a family feast, suitable snacks are suitable for all family members.
- If the New Year's celebration is taking place with friends, then the emphasis in treats should be on lightness. This means that dishes should be as simple as possible in execution. After all, the larger the selection of simple treats, the more fun the party will be. It is also worth taking into account the preferences of your comrades.
- If the New Year's holiday takes place in a work environment, with colleagues, you need to be on top! All treats should be festive, but also a little businesslike. This can be achieved with dishes of the correct shape and versatility in preparation. Few people know exactly the taste preferences of their “colleagues.” This means that treats need to be prepared that are familiar to every person since childhood.
Creation of a single art object
An art object is some kind of artistic work in the creation of which all guests of the holiday participate. For example, one huge New Year's coloring book for everyone. It needs to be mounted on the wall or placed in a frame. You yourself will not notice how in a few hours a large canvas will turn into a colored congratulatory poster.
In the year of the Rooster, I suggested making a mosaic from colored pieces of paper, maybe someone remembers. This year I will make a beautiful A3 calendar in a frame. The pig can be painted, and there are good wishes and signatures from the guests around it. Memorable item. An exclusive that charges you with positivity for the whole year. The calendar will remind you of the holiday and joyful mood. It would be a good idea to print and cut out round photographs of your family members in advance (photo instead of signature).
Dance battle
The moment when you want to get up and move around always comes. It is better to prepare music and accessories so as not to rush around at the last moment. Again I suggest using coin patches. Place all the guests in a circle and distribute three coins to different people. The one with the coin dances in the center of the circle. The rest dance on the spot.
I like musical selections for flash mobs, because they contain fragments of different hits, and it all doesn’t last very long. As soon as the music changes, you need to give the patch to someone else. Instead of a coin, you can use a soft toy pig, some kind of accessory (carnival glasses), an orange, or any other item.
New Year in rhyme
Each guest takes turns taking out his own forfeit from the bag, which contains 4 New Year-themed words. The task of each participant is to create his own rhyme for each word, for example, Santa Claus - Partos, Snow Maiden - chicken, chimes - duelists, snowflake - tangerine, and so on. But then the presenter surprises everyone and announces that now they need to compose a New Year’s quatrain, using their own words and rhymes to them. The guest who comes up with the funniest and most beautiful poem will receive a prize.
Participants are divided into several teams, and each team receives a task: to come up with their own country, give it a name and come up with New Year’s traditions and customs for its inhabitants. For example, the same Tilimilitryamtiya, where they decorate the Christmas tree with clouds, there is not Father Frost, but Father Thunder.
Vocal competition (duets and trios)
I do not conduct such competitions without preparation. It is better to distribute karaoke numbers in advance so that guests can rehearse at home. Someone can learn the words by heart and it will turn out to be a real concert number. Solo performances are for the especially talented. Combine everyone else into duets and trios (two grandmothers and a granddaughter, the head of the family and a daughter-in-law, etc.). All karaoke sites have a selection of New Year's hits; you don't need to look for them specifically. Sometimes I print out the lyrics of the chorus of each song, with all the other guests as backing vocalists.
Of the pig songs, only “We are not afraid of the gray wolf” is the only one heard. I also suddenly remembered the pig farmer and the shepherd from Ivan Pyryev’s 1941 film: “I will never forget a friend if I became friends with him in Moscow.” A! Another song from Funtik the pig about kindness:
It's good to wander around the world with caramel on your cheek. And another one for a friend. Take it in your pocket as a spare.
Because, because Everyone is more necessary and dearer, Everyone is more trusting and stricter In this world, kindness.
Quiz
It doesn’t always come to a quiz on New Year’s Eve, but for the sake of prizes, guests are ready to participate. You can divide everyone sitting at the table into two teams and ask them to grunt loudly if they have a ready answer. You cannot shout out the answer, only after the sound signal “Oink”. I found a selection of questions about pigs on the Internet that you can use as a basis.
There are other quizzes on my site (different questions, not on a pig theme). Here's for the kids. Here's for adults. The questions are easy, the game is just for speed.
There are many ready-made collections of video quizzes on YouTube. Well, here's an example:
Active games and relay races
In the apartment, relay races are very conditional. There is nowhere to run, so you can do something within a radius of one and a half meters.
- throw “snowballs” into the basket (paper, foam, textile snowballs)
- We look for the drawn pig’s snout with our eyes closed and glue the snout into place blindfolded
- we wrap a small gift in paper and tie a bow together (you need to hug so that one player acts with his right, the second only with his left)
- make beads from dryers at speed (2 players from each team participate)
- who can draw the most piglets in 2 minutes (we fix A4 pieces of paper on thick cardboard)
What to give
Gifts for the New Year 2021 should be original and unusual. The pig loves to rummage in the ground and find something that only she can have. Therefore, you can give unusual keychains, souvenirs in the shape of a pig; for more expensive gifts, you can look at exclusive pens, rings, and bracelets.
- Parents can be given pottery, creative pillows for the living room, bedroom or cottage.
- Colleagues will like handmade soap or funny postcards made by themselves.
- It is advisable to give children gifts that they will play with every day, such as construction sets (Lego), puzzles from children's photographs, children's books, educational board games, sporting goods, and kits for the development of creative abilities. And to add some zest to them, you can order an inscription on these toys with the child’s name.
Good luck in organizing this wonderful holiday. Happy New Year!
