New Year's Eve · The host · Short · about 30 seconds
Early New Year's Countdown Toast for Kids (30 Seconds)
A mom hosting a 9 p.m. countdown for her kids and two other families wanted a toast short enough for a five-year-old to sit through, with something for the kids to do at the end.
Given by Selma, hosting an early family countdown. 72 words. The names are made up.
The toast
Okay, kids, bubble wrap on the floor. Grown-ups, find a cup.
When we moved in March, I saved every sheet of bubble wrap from every box, because I knew tonight was coming. That's our fireworks. Bastien, you get the big one. You found it behind the dryer.
Yes, it's nine o'clock. It's already next year in lots of places. That counts.
Cups up, everybody. To the new house, and on zero, stomp.
Why it works: The bubble wrap gives the kids a job and a payoff, so they listen to the whole thing. It also carries the family's year, the move, without a speech about it, and the line about the clock answers the question every older kid is about to ask.
Make it yours
Borrow the shape, not the lines. Put your own people, your own year and your own detail in each spot, or answer a few questions and get a first draft built from them.