At the DuPage Children's Museum, it was their 23rd Bubble Bash.
Whether it was a bubble or confetti drop, the museum had a little bit for everyone, selling 850 tickets for the event.
And it gave parents a chance to wear their kids down a bit so they can have a night to themselves.
The DuPage Children's Museum knows how to put on a show.
"I want to do it again!" Lizzy Brocker said.
"We started downstairs, where there was hot chocolate, some different, like, experiments. There were catapults that they were doing, like launching the cotton balls across the room," mother Nancy Brocker said.
For the Brocker family, the tickets to the Bubble Bash New Year's Eve event were a Christmas gift from a family member.
"We wake up at 6 a.m. no matter if we're in school or not. So noon is perfect for us. Oh, because as parents, it's like midnight for us," Brocker said.
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"Our goal here is to get kids really excited, burn off a lot of energy. So that hopefully you go home, you put your kids to sleep," said Shamra Fallon, with the DuPage Children's Museum.
The countdown took place at noon, and 8-year-old Andrew Temps burned that energy on the dance floor.
"I am into breakdancing," Temps said.
The dancing was one aspect, but each room had something different.
Another event in Glenview at the Kohl's Children Museum had a DJ-led disco party, complete with custom party hats and noisemakers.
Wherever families found time to celebrate, the goal was to kick off the new year the right way.
"We want to move into the new year with positive intentions. We want to work with our kids. We want to learn. We want to grow here at the museum," Fallon said.
The fun does not stop here.
The DuPage Children's Museum has winter activities that include an indoor skating rink that will be open through February.