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Countdown to NYE at Home

New Year’s Eve At Home

We’ll Miss Ringing in the New Year with You!

New Year’s Eve at the Wenham Museum usually brings 100s of people to the museum for our family-friendly Kids’ Countdown to New Year’s Eve event. Together we enjoy puppet shows, hat making, face painting, balloon animals, music and movement, visits to the trains and exhibits, and of course a countdown to “midnight” at 12 PM with a ginger ale toast.

To keep the spirit of this event with you this year, below we’ve shared a few things you can do at home to celebrate the day. For those without young children, we encourage you to join in the fun as well.

And, if you have a moment, we encourage you to make a year-end donation to the Wenham Museum.  We’re only $3,000 away from meeting our Dec. 31st milestone!  Help make sure the museum is here for you today and always. Thank You!

Here’s to 2021 and brighter days ahead!

At-Home Activities

Dance Like No One is Watching
Kick things off with this Spotify playlist!

Make a Crazy Hat

Find a large piece of paper (like a piece of wrapping paper or newspaper) to make your hat.  Leftover gift bags are also great for hat making because they are nice and study!  We used a gift bag in our example below.

  1. Cut the gift bag down one side.  Cut off the bottom and remove the handles.  You should have a nice big rectangle – this may be enough material for 2 hats, depending on the size of the gift bag.
  2. Our bag was large, so we cut it in half.
  3. Take one half, and fold it in half.  Put the fold at the top, and the open side at the bottom.
  4. Fold in the top corners to make a triangle.
  5. Fold up the bottom on either side.
  6. Now, you have a hat that is ready to be decorated!

Decorate your hat with things that you have at home, like leftover bits of wrapping paper, ribbons, construction paper, stickers, ink stamps, things from your recycling bin, or other things you can find at home.  Coloring with crayons, markers, or colored pencils is also a great idea.  The more decorating, the better!  If you’d like to make more hats, think about making them for the grown-ups at home or for your favorite stuffies or dolls.

Make a Paper Bag Puppet

Use a paper lunch bag or gift bag that you may have on hand.  In this classic craft, the bottom/flap of the bag becomes the “mouth.”  Decorate your paper bag puppet by making a face, eyes, hair, clothes, and more!  Your puppet could also be an animal, monster, or mythical or made-up being.

Just like when you were making your hat, use leftover bits of wrapping paper, ribbons, construction paper, recycling, or other things you have at home to decorate your puppet.  Just coloring with crayons, markers, or colored pencils is also great.  Use glue, tape, or staples to attach things to your puppet – whatever you have is fine.

Then, use your puppet to create a puppet show.  Come up with a story or an adventure that your puppets can act out.

Countdown to “Midnight” 

Just in case you won’t be awake when the clock strikes midnight, pick your own time to ring in the New Year!  Or, celebrate with people in other time zones like London (7 PM EST) or the Azores (8 PM EST).   Count down from 10 and celebrate the hope and possibilities that the New Year will bring.  We’ll be having a ginger ale toast in your honor!