By Polly Keary, Editor
For kids old enough to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve, running outside to make noise with all the neighbors is a lot of fun.
Making noisemakers for that purpose can also be a lot of fun, and a great way to fill up the evening hours until the big moment.
Here are some ideas for homemade noisemakers you can create with your kids.
Rattles
You will need:
Two paper plates or bowls
A stapler
A popsicle stick
Buttons, coins, dried beans or other noisemakers
Colored pens or paint
Optional:
Two pony beads
Yarn
A hole puncher
Place two bowls or plates upside down on the table and decorate them with colored pens or paint and let them dry. Then turn one over, fill it half full of beans or other noisy objects, and glue a popsicle stick to the edge of it. Let the glue dry, then staple the rims of the two bowls or plates together every half inch. To make the rattle even noisier, punch a hole in the rim on either side of the rattle, at the three o'clock and nine o'clock positions. Tie a bead onto the end of a short piece of yarn, then onto another. Tie the other end of each piece of yarn into one of the holes. Hold the rattle by its stick and twist it back and forth to make the beads strike the rattle.
Kazoo
Party honkers are a popular tradition on New Year's Eve, but for do-it-yourself fun, you can make kazoo-like noisemakers with just a few common household supplies.
You will need:
Toilet paper tubes or paper towel tubes
Waxed Paper
Rubber bands
A hole puncher
Let the kids color and decorate empty toilet paper or paper towel tubes, then punch a hole about an inch from the end of each one. Cut a 4x4-inch piece of waxed paper for each one. Fit each square of paper tightly over the hole-punched end of each tube, about halfway between the hole and the end of the tube. Secure the paper to the tube with rubber bands.
Sing or speak into the open end of the tube for a kazoo-like sound.
Tin Can Shaker
You will need:
Empty metal cans along with the lids
Duct tape
Coins or nuts and bolts
For a very loud noisemaker, save a couple of soup cans or even large tomato juice cans, along with the lids (watch out for the sharp edges). Wash and dry them, add a handful of nuts and bolts or coins, and use duct tape to put the lid back over the end. It's loud if you shake it in your hand, but even louder if you duct-tape a ruler to it for a handle.
Squeaker
Make a rather odd squeaking sound that is surprisingly loud with yarn and paper cups, for an unusual noisemaker.
You will need:
Paper cups
Yarn
Paper clips
Cut a two or three-foot length of yarn and tie a paper clip to one end. Poke a hole in the bottom of a paper cup, turn it upside-down and thread the yarn down through it so the paper clip holds the end from slipping through, and the yarn hangs down like the clapper of a bell. Get the yarn wet and pinch it with your fingers, sliding down the yarn. The inside of the cup amplifies the sound.
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