🎆 New Year's Day
January 1 Grades K–5
New Year’s Day, January 1, starts the new calendar year. People celebrate at midnight on New Year’s Eve and make resolutions for the year ahead.
📅 Next dates
- Thursday, January 1, 2026
- Friday, January 1, 2027
- Saturday, January 1, 2028
📖 The story
People have celebrated new years for over 4,000 years. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar made January 1 the start of the Roman year, named after Janus, the two-faced god who looked back to the past and forward to the future.
In New York’s Times Square, a giant ball has dropped at midnight since 1907 while crowds count down: 3, 2, 1 — Happy New Year!
✨ Traditions
- Counting down to midnight
- Fireworks
- New Year’s resolutions
- The Times Square ball drop
- Parades like the Rose Parade
✂️ Activities
Time Capsule
- Write your favorite food, friend, song and your height today.
- Add a drawing and seal it in an envelope.
- Open it next New Year’s Day!
Resolution Star
- Cut out a big star.
- Write one goal on each of its five points.
New Year's Day quiz
Which month is named after the god Janus?
Where does a famous ball drop at midnight?
What is a resolution?
💭 Let’s write
What is one resolution you could keep all year?
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