Crafts for Kids: Easy Homemade New Year's Noisemakers

Let your kids ring in the new year in style by shaking up some homemade noisemakers. Even if your kids are tucked in bed before midnight, these noisemakers will be fun to make and even more fun to play with on New Year's Day!

Easy Homemade New Year's Noisemaker #1: Paper Plate Shaker

A paper plate shaker is a very easy noisemaker to make and a fun one to decorate. Since the paper plate is white, all your kids have to do is draw on the plate to decorate it. Of course, they can get way more fancy than that, if they want.

The first thing you need is a paper plate. You can use a regular size paper plate for a large shaker, or a small dessert size paper plate for a mini shaker. Fold the plate in half and staple is closed almost all the way around, leaving a small space open. Drop some dry beans or rice through the hole then staple the plate closed.

Decorate the plate any way you like. You can write the year on the sides of the plate or you can add stickers, gems, buttons, bows... whatever you like. Another thing you can do is add streamers along the edge to add movement while you skate the noisemaker. You can see one sample of how this noisemaker can look if you click here.

Easy Homemade New Year's Noisemaker #2: Water Bottle Shaker

A water bottle shaker is another easy noisemaker to make. Just take an empty water bottle (or soda bottle) and fill it with a handful of anything that will make noise, like dry beans, rice, popcorn, even coins or jingle bells, if they will fit through the hole.

Screw the cap on and decorate the bottle as desired. You can paint the bottle or cover it with paper. You can glue on streamers and stickers or whatever you want. See this image for one example of how a water bottle shaker can look. Whoever made that noisemaker used mosaic art to decorate the bottle. It looks like the bottle is covered in confetti!

Easy Homemade New Year's Noisemaker #3: Toilet Paper Roll Shaker

To make a toilet paper roll shaker, staple one end of an empty toilet paper roll (or paper towel roll), fill the toilet paper roll about half full with anything noisy, like dry beans, rice, popcorn, staple the other end closed, decorate, and you're done!

If you want streamers on your toilet paper roll shaker, you can glue strips of crepe paper, or even toilet paper, to the inside edges of the roll before you staple the ends shut. You can also twist some of the strips of crepe paper around the tube and secure with glue, tape or staples.