Big balloon drop

A big anniversary calls for a big bash.

The DuPage Children's Museum, celebrating its 20th anniversary year in 2007, plans to wrap up the year with a bang -- and a few changes.

The museum's annual New Year's Eve Bubble Bash Blast is moving this year from the museum near downtown Naperville to the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.

"They can fit 1,800 at the Paramount," said Lynne Jele, the museum's marketing and membership director, adding that the museum's maximum capacity is about 1,000.

In years past, museum visitors jammed into the interactive museum for a morning of playing with the exhibits, dancing, music and entertainment before a balloon drop at noon signaled an early beginning of the new year.

"We're doing it a little bit differently this year," Jele said. "We'll still do our countdown to noon. The concert is interactive, so it'll still be a lot of fun."

The concert headliners will be The Imagination Movers, a musical group featured on Playhouse Disney TV.

"They are pretty popular with kids up until they're in their 'tweens.' It's a good fit for our audience," Jele said.

She said the concert begins at 11 a.m. and ends at noon with the balloon drop, a child's version of the midnight New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square.

"It's something the whole family can do together," Jele said. "It's playful, it's open-ended. Everybody has fun. Nobody gets tired or too wound up."

The event is a fundraiser for the nonprofit museum's programs. Reservations are required for the reserved seats, Jele said, which include parking passes. Tickets can be purchased at the museum or by calling the Paramount.

If you go

What: New Year's Eve Bubble Bash Blast

Who: DuPage Children's Museum

Where: Paramount Theatre, 25 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora

When: 11 a.m. Dec. 31

Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 for children, free for children younger than 2

Info: (630) 896-6666 or dupagechildrensmuseum.org