Entertainment

These Kid-Friendly New Years Eve Specials Are Perfect For Ringing In 2019

For little kids, New Year's Eve is just like any other night of the week, in that they're in bed early and wake up in the morning without a hangover. But once the kids start growing up and realize New Year's Eve is an excuse to stay up way past their bedtime, they're going to want to participate. So, are there any kid-friendly New Year's Eve specials to help your little ones ring in 2019?

Luckily, there are a few options for keeping your kiddos entertained this New Year's Eve — and parents mostly have Netflix to thank for that. This week, Netflix released 14 kid-friendly New Year's Eve countdown specials in honor of the holiday. The 14 different specials are essentially New Year's Eve episodes of 14 Netflix kids shows, each of which features a moment in which the characters count down to midnight.

Shows with new countdown episodes this year are: Fuller House, Alexa and Katie, Prince of Peoria, Pinky Malinky, Motown Magic, Larva Island, Beat Bugs, Boss Baby, Skylanders Academy, Super Monsters, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, Tales of Arcadia, All Hail King Julien, and Spirit Riding Free, as reported by Fatherly. This is Netflix's fifth year putting out child-friendly NYE countdowns, as per a press release announcing the project in 2014.

You can find the episodes by simply searching "countdown" on Netflix. And the best part? The episodes became available to stream on Dec. 26, meaning you can tell your kid it's midnight anytime between now and the real New Year's Eve. Aka you can put one of the specials on at 7 p.m. on NYE, ensuring your children are asleep way before your party even starts. A little devious, sure. But worth it for a kid-free New Year's Eve? Hell yeah — that is, until your kids wake you up at 5 a.m.

But Netflix isn't the only place to go for kid-friendly NYE content. Additionally, Nickelodeon is airing an "interactive marathon" called New Year’s Eve Loud House Party from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Dec. 31, as reported by Kidscreen. The Loud House is an animated Nickelodeon show that's been on the air since 2016. In between episodes, protagonist Lincoln Loud will prompt viewers to use the Screens Up app to interact with the show by casting live votes, playing games, and more, to help him get other Loud House characters to his NYE party, as per a commercial on Nickelodeon's website.

And finally, if you plan on letting your kid stay up until midnight, depending on their age, they may be able to tune into some of the more traditional New Year's Eve specials. For example, there's ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve hosted by Ryan Seacrest; Fox’s New Year's Eve With Steve Harvey as well as Maria Menounos; and NBC’s New Year’s Eve, hosted by Carson Daly, Chrissy Teigen and Leslie Jones. Each of the specials will be mostly live musical performances and celebrity interviews, so they should be fairly kid-friendly.

So to all those parents hoping to trick your kids into an early bedtime with Netflix's New Year's Eve countdowns this year, I salute you.

After a very frustrating first birth experience, this Deaf mother wanted a change. Will the help of two Deaf doulas give the quality communication and birth experience this mom wants and deserves? Watch Episode Four of Romper's Doula Diaries, Season Two, below, and visit Bustle Digital Group's YouTube page for more episodes.