Help Port Discovery ring in 2024 with our annual Noontime New Year celebration!
Take a family photo in front of our New Year’s Eve backdrop. Make your own confetti cannon or number template. Write or draw your resolution on our Wish Tree. Watch a comedy show and make your own jokes or listen to stories and play musical instruments. Participate in a sensory exploration. And don’t forget to countdown to noon! This year, we will also offer a sensory friendly countdown.
All programming activities will end by 3 PM. Thank you for your understanding!
Museum Wide Activities
- New Year Around the World Scavenger Hunt : A self-guided, museum-wide scavenger hunt geared for older children and families. Seek out special markers within our exhibits and answer riddles about how different countries celebrate the new year.
- Countdown to Noontime (Base of the Climber, 2nd and 3rd Floor Balconies) : Gather at and around the SkyClimber for our communal countdown to 12 noon! Featuring dance music, guest volunteers, and a confetti-raining finale. Afterwards, toast the afternoon with juice and cookies.
- Countdown to Noontime: Sensory Friendly Version (The Atrium) : A communal countdown designed to accommodate individuals with sensory sensitivities. Featuring low audio games, no noise confetti, and a silent countdown with guest volunteers.
1st Floor Activities
- Welcome Aboard Photo Area : Stop by our photo area and take family pictures in front of our New Year’s Eve backdrop. A variety of photo props will be available for kids and their adults.
- STEAM Confetti Cannons (Studio Workshop) : Make your own confetti and confetti cannon from a variety of recyclable materials. Then test your creation while exploring physics, engineering, color, and shape.
- Colorful Countdown Numbers (Studio Workshop) : Select, color, and decorate a number template that you can use to help countdown to noon at the museum or the new year at home.
- The Wish Tree : Write or draw messages and resolutions for the new year to attach to our wish tree.
- Top-Hat Headbands and New Year’s Eve Glasses : Accessorize your New Year’s Eve outfit by making your own mini top-hat headband using party cups or New Year’s Eve glasses using pipe cleaners.
- “All-Star Cabaret”: Captain Lyra’s StaRRRsearch (The Playhouse) : The All-Star Cabaret is a series of shows featuring the museum’s favorite characters. In “Captain Lyra’s StaRRRsearch”, the pirate Captain Lyra will re-tell one of her nautical adventures. Starring you! Audience will use props, prompts and their own unique talents in this interactive, dramatic arts experience.
- “All-Star Cabaret”: Teddy & Peake’s Comedy Routine (The Playhouse) : The All-Star Cabaret is a series of shows led by some of the museum’s favorite characters. In “Teddy & Peake’s Comedy Routine”, the puppets Teddy and Peake will perform a comedy show for all-ages. Witness different styles of comedy and get the opportunity to tell some jokes of your own.
- “All-Star Cabaret”: Gee-Pop and the Fizz’s Holiday Spectacular (The Playhouse) : The All-Star Cabaret is a series of shows led by some of the museum’s favorite characters. In “Gee-Pop and the Fizz’s Holiday Spectacular”, Port Discovery’s “Once Upon a Time” grandparents will sing classic holiday tunes and engage in wacky hijinks.
2nd Floor Activities
- Popsicle Stick Noisemakers : Ring in the new year by constructing your very own noisemaker. How many different types of noisemakers could you make using popsicle sticks?
- Sensory Exploration Table : Explore and engage in sensory activities at one of our tables. Discover cool substances you can touch!
- Discovery Tales (The Oasis) : A story time for our younger visitors. Listen to books, play musical instruments, and participate in scarf play.
- What Time Is It? : Explore time with a variety of activities. Construct a clock and learn how to tell time and discover the relationship between reading a clock and fractions. Make your own clock book of time!
