home / Blog / Activities / holidays / new year's / New Year’s Interview: Fun Family Tradition

New Year’s Interview: Fun Family Tradition

by Teach Mama
Mother and daughter writing at a table

Start a memorable New Year’s tradition by doing family interviews! Gather together to reflect on the past year’s highlights and share hopes for the future. Capture everyone’s thoughts with a free printable in a special notebook to create cherished memories and track dreams as they grow over time—a meaningful way to bond each year!

Mother and daughter writing at a table

I’m always shocked at how fast time goes by. One day we were celebrating our first New Year’s as a married couple and somehow suddenly in the blink of an eye it’s four decades later! This little activity only takes a few minutes one time each year. The other 364 days it may sit in the notebook on a shelf, but next year or 10, 20 or 40 years from now you will be so glad you took the time!

New Year’s Interview–Fun Family Tradition:

Make a special occasion of the Family Interview! Will that include a special meal before or after, a special dessert or a roaring fire and a cup of wassail (or will it be hot chocolate?) One family I know does theirs while the Rose Parade is on TV followed by brunch! And another family has a huge ice cream feast and then does their interviews on a sugar high! Whatever suits your family and makes it fun for them.

Getting Ready for the Interview

Download the printable interview form, binder cover sheet and spine then print enough for each person to have an interview sheet to fill out and whatever pens, pencils or crayons they might like to use to decorate their page.

Some kids are funny about things like that so it’s entirely up to them. After all this is going to be their interview and should reflect them. Everyone may want fill out their interview separately, but some folks work better in a group. It just depends on your family!

For young kiddos Mom and Dad may need to offer a little extra help with spelling and such. For really little kids, who are pre-writing/reading, Mom and Dad will need to do the actual writing– or at least provide a “translation” for what they write (or scribble)!

Mother, daughter and granddaughter standing in a single file

And that’s all there is to it! When everyone is finished you can either read your own or trade interviews and take turns reading them aloud. Some families video the reading part and others say they add a picture of their child to their interview for an extra reminder of the past year.

Then put the finished interview in a binder (I like these with the clear front and spine that I can slide a printable in to decorate) and wait for next year!

Printed family interview form, binder cover sheet and spine on a wooden table

Want to start a New Year’s Eve tradition and build lasting memories with Your Family?

Just throw your email in the box below and the link to download the New Year’s Eve Family Interview printable will appear in your inbox.

For More Fun in the New Year, Check Out These Great Ideas:

PIN THIS FOR LATER

You may also like

34 comments

Alexandra January 2, 2013 - 12:09 pm

Sounds so much fun! I admire you for saving the inteviews from the past years. I am terrible at such things…:(

Reply
amy January 2, 2013 - 1:20 pm

Alexandra!
YOU can do it, too! They’re all shoved in a binder–and keep the binder where you keep bills or photos, and you won’t lose them. Admittedly, I lost the first year’s–maybe 2008–so now I’m locking them in the skinny 3-ring binder! We can do it!

Reply
Alexandra January 3, 2013 - 6:30 am

when you say it it all sounds so simple! :))

Reply
Dan December 16, 2014 - 2:04 pm

It is a real challenge. One idea might be to tie the interviews to a fun Christmas event you already always do, like decorating the tree or baking cookies. Store the interviews with the Christmas ornaments and you’ll always get them out (except if you move).

Reply
PragmaticMom January 3, 2013 - 5:43 am

I love how this is like an older baby book and you can see how your kids change … from liking pink and purple to moving on to blue as favorite colors plus more. Thanks for sharing the form!

Reply
amy January 3, 2013 - 9:18 am

you got it–many thanks for reading, Mia, and happy 2013 to you!!

Reply
Annual New Year’s Interview – 2013 « Shannon's Tot School January 4, 2013 - 12:25 am

[…]  A few years ago I saw this great idea at Teach Mama and now we do one every year.  Amy revamped some of her interview questions so they are more geared towards older children now, but mine are still aimed for younger […]

Reply
A fun family tradition January 9, 2013 - 11:51 pm

[…] This is such a nice family tradition  Each year this family has the children(and maybe parents) fill out a list of questions about themselves. some kids do it quickly, others more thoroughly and it is important to put in some questions that get the children to think a little. Then each year they pull out the ones from the previous years and read them together. What fun.http://christmasnostalgics.com/2013/01/new-years-interview-fun-family-tradition.html […]

Reply
new year's family interview - teach mama December 28, 2013 - 10:11 pm

[…] we ate our sweets, we took turns answering questions for our New Year’s Family Interview, and what I realized–or remembered, rather–is that little ones love talking about […]

Reply
Year-End (or Birthday) Interview Questions for Kids to Answer December 30, 2013 - 6:55 am

[…] Teach Mama, New Year’s Interview a Fun Family Tradition […]

Reply
easy, homemade new year’s eve shakers December 30, 2013 - 10:22 pm

[…] each year as New Year’s Eve approaches, we clean out our recycle bin and put some of those small containers to use for easy, homemade […]

Reply
4 Simple Activities for Celebrating the New Year with Your Family | The Organized Parent January 20, 2014 - 3:41 am

[…] do video interviews and watch them all at the end of your party, or check out these printables from Teach Mama, Naturally Educational, or A Day in My Life  for your family to fill out.  Post them for the […]

Reply
must-have gifts for kids (and families!): 2014 | teachmama.com November 24, 2014 - 7:09 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
christmas eve tradition: family pajamas December 2, 2014 - 9:10 am

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
gifts that give back: ideas for kids and family December 3, 2014 - 7:36 am

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
enjoy the holiday: gingerbread houses & giving back | teachmama.com December 19, 2014 - 7:11 am

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
monthly craft gift for kids: kiwi crate brands December 19, 2014 - 7:13 am

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
christmas guess the word game December 23, 2014 - 12:59 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
26 cool, new family traditions to start in the new year December 26, 2014 - 12:30 am

[…] Complete the New Year’s Interview.  One of our all-time […]

Reply
New Year’s Eve preparations | emilia keriene December 26, 2014 - 1:13 am

[…] grow up to keep and look back at later. There are plenty of these types of questionnaires such as here. Not […]

Reply
new years eve guess the word game | teachmama.com December 29, 2014 - 12:30 am

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
Fun 2015 New Year’s Party Ideas | Learnthepc.net December 30, 2014 - 1:01 pm

[…] New Year’s Interview: Fun Family Tradition […]

Reply
advent activity calendar for kids and family: 2015 - teach mama November 29, 2015 - 6:47 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
Pamela Smith December 28, 2015 - 9:55 pm

What an awesome tradition! I would have loved doing this when my kids were little. But i will be pinning it for someday!! Thank for sharing!

Reply
new year’s eve bingo bonanza - teach mama December 30, 2015 - 12:05 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
Family Friendly New Year's Eve Ideas January 22, 2016 - 8:15 pm

[…] New Year’s Eve Interview / Teach Mama […]

Reply
cyber monday: magazine deal for families - teach mama November 27, 2016 - 11:00 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
personalized board games: scrabble and monopoly || 12 days of smart gifts for kids & family - teach mama November 28, 2016 - 4:08 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
gifts that teach kids the power of giving: animal gifts from heifer international - teach mama November 29, 2016 - 2:10 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
must have tech gift for families-HP Sprocket || 12 days of smart gifts for kids & family - teach mama November 30, 2016 - 10:37 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
gifts for sunday school teachers or CCD teachers - teach mama December 5, 2016 - 7:26 pm

[…] New Year’s Family Interview […]

Reply
tORRANCE sHEN January 21, 2017 - 3:11 am

I never thought about it. It is a perfect and beautiful tradition to celebrate new year with the family.Thanks for the idea.

Reply
Amy February 9, 2017 - 9:27 pm

Great post, thanks for the free resources too! very useful

Reply
Emma Clark March 6, 2017 - 12:21 am

I LOVE TO CELEBRATE ALL FESTIVALS WITH MY FAMILY. WE USED CELEBRATE OUR NEW YEAR AND OTHER IMPORTANT FESTIVALS WITH FAMILY. Fantastic post.

Reply

Leave a Comment