Bubble Bash returns to DuPage Children’s Museum

Instead of a ball drop, bubbles will fall for one New Year’s celebration.

And instead of a countdown to midnight, the collective “3 ... 2 ... 1” will countdown to, um, noon?

Well, that’s so the older members of the family can observe the new year with the kids at the DuPage Children’s Museum in Naperville.

While the bubbly stuff won’t be falling into champagne glasses, soap bubbles will burst out of bubble machines like confetti and surround the crowd on Saturday Dec. 31.

“They love bubbles,” said Alison Segebarth, the museum’s director of marketing and membership. “They’re pure and clean, just like the kids. It’s magical.”

It’s all part of Bubble Bash, an annual event from 9 a.m. to noon that fills to a capacity of 900 people. Naperville Mayor George Pradel will cue the cascade of bubbles after leading the early countdown.

This year’s theme, “All Aboard! Next Stop 2012,” features train-related activities to highlight the museum’s exhibit, “Trains — Get on Board.”

Kids can make conductor hats and noisemakers and decorate a model train with paint and glitter.

Families can pose for pictures against a train backdrop and listen to storyteller Ben Webber dressed in a conductor costume. And for those hoping to dance into the new year, the rock ‘n’ roll band The Boogers will be performing.

“It’s multigenerational fun,” Segebarth said.

Reservations are $20 per person for members of the museum and $25 for nonmembers. They are available at http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/.

If you go

What: Bubble Bash

When: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 31

Where: DuPage Children’s Museum, 301 N. Washington St., Naperville

Cost: $20 per person for members of the museum, $25 for nonmembers

Info: (630) 637-8000 or http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/