New Year’s Eve is all about staying up until midnight to watch the end of the old year as we begin a new one with our closest family and friends. However, not all of our family members can stay awake to watch the ball drop. These important people in our lives are our kids. In my case, it is my toddler. She goes to bed around 7:30 p.m. and frankly, no parent wants to wake a sleeping toddler and invite them to a party at midnight. But this doesn’t mean we have to leave our child out of the fun altogether. The Hands On Children’s Museum has parents and our littlest partygoers covered.
The Hands On Children’s Museum hosts their annual Noon Year’s Eve party on December 31, allowing children of all ages to ring in the new year with cities from around the world. The festivities begin at 10:00 a.m. and conclude at 3:00 p.m.
“We used to have one ball drop at noon,” explains Communications Manager, Jillian Henze. “In 2014, we debuted the drop at every hour and celebrated with cities around the world. It was such a hit and we’ll have a ball drop every hour again from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. accompanied by a non-stop dance party with a live DJ.”
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The activities aren’t limited to your standard music and dancing. The museum coordinators have gone above and beyond to make Noon Year’s Eve an event to remember. On tap for this year, includes freezing ice cream with liquid nitrogen, ice science labs, face painting, a photo booth, noise maker crafts, silk screening, and cupcake decorating.
“This year’s special guests and activities have a mad science theme,” describes Henze. “Families can still enjoy our annual activities like snapping an adorable photo in the photo booth. Then they can hop into the lab to mix up some chemical reactions.” HOCM’s Dr. Science will be on hand to help kids experience a variety of experiments in the museum lab.
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Beginning at noon, the museum will even host very special frosty guests with an exclusive Meet and Greet. Two Frozen ice princesses will be in costume ready to take pictures and talk to guests. When the clock strikes 2:00 p.m., the princesses will have to return to their castle so be sure to get to the museum early.
Along with all of the special Noon Year’s Eve events, kids can explore the 150 varieties of hands-on exhibits available at HOCM. The activities here range from the forest to the Puget Sound, many of which highlight our community in a kid-friendly way. Some of our family favorites include the giant Light Bright in the Emergency exhibit and the Airways Maze in the Move It exhibit.
“Noon Year’s is a festive way to ring in the New Year with your little ones and still have them in dreamland by bedtime,” adds Henze.
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Say goodbye to 2015 with a bang and join the fun at HOCM. The museum suggests registering online in advance since Noon Year’s Eve as it tends to fill up quickly. The cost for members is $8 for each child and accompanying member adults are free. Non-member child cost is $10 with a non-member adult for $4. The party begins at 10:00 a.m.
The Hands On Children’s Museum is located at 414 Jefferson St. NE in Olympia.