Family Survey of 2011

I was searching around on the internet the other day, trying to find something fun to do with the kids on New Year's Eve.  I always start with the Crafty Crow, since it's packed with lots of ideas and has links to many great blogs on the side bar.  Sure enough, I found something on Teach Mama, via the Crafty Crow, that I thought was just perfect for a new family New Year's Eve tradition:  filling out a survey about our year.

I typed up a sheet full of questions and printed out seven copies, yes- I filled one out for Maeve too (her New Year's Resolution is to sleep through the night - every night!).  After dinner, we sat at the table and filled out our answers.  Then, one by one, we went around the table and said our answers out loud to each question.  It was fun to hear the different answers and to see how they were different from what I predicted from everyone.

I am punching holes in these and storing them in a three ring binder labelled New Year's family surveys.  Each year, I will add a new tab, with the year on it, and put our new papers in.  It will be fun to see how each person's answers will change, how the handwriting will change, how different our resolutions will become, how personalities start to develop.

Here is a sample of one of my favorite's for the year, Owen's.  I love that he wants to be SANTA when he grows up:

I also love the zebra he drew.  I added the drawing of their favorite animal on the back, because I love to save copies of my kids' drawings.

Hazel's was fun too, she's just learning how to write, so it will be neat to compare to next year, to see if she can do it all on her own (she had help from Owen and me too).

It's not too late to do a survey of your own.  What questions can you ask that will be interesting to learn about every year?