Make some noise to celebrate 2024 with our New Year noise maker craft for kids! You can use the same template to decorate a DIY spin drum made from recycled cardboard or a paper plate shaker filled with recycled beer bottle tops.

This is super fun for kids as a New Year-themed DIY toy.

You might also like our 2024 New Year party hats

New year noise maker craft with printable template. Make a spin drum or a paper plate shaker

New year is fun and exciting for everyone, kids included. It’s that time of year when we get to re-set and start afresh, plus it’s a fun, sparkly holiday with fireworks and parties.

What’s not to love about that?

Kids are going to enjoy ringing in 2024 with a handmade noisemaker.

Cardboard spin drum noise maker craft for new year

The sound they make is satisfying enough for kids but not as loud and irritating as those plastic party whistles that drive all parents crazy.

Best of all, both noise makers incorporate recyclables into the design. If you don’t have beer bottle caps for the paper plate, you can put something else inside it that will rattle. Christmas bells would work well.

Are you ready to get started?

New Year noise maker craft

Use the same template for either craft (or make both of them!). It’s free to download when you subscribe to our email newsletter with the form below.

Spin Drum

You will need

Markers, crayons, pencils or similar
Glue stick
Large craft sticks
A piece of recycled cardboard that will fit 2 x 10cm (4″) circles on it
2 wooden beads approx 1.5cm (3/4″) in diameter
Ribbon
Hot glue gun
The printable template

How to:

Print and colour the template.

Cut the circles out and glue them to recycled cardboard using a glue stick.

Cut the circles out again to get two cardboard disks.

Place one of the disks upside down, making sure that the image is upright.

Use the glue stick to glue the piece of ribbon in place.

Glue the craft stick tip perpendicular to the ribbon using the hot glue gun.

Hot glue the second disk back-to-back with the first.

Thread a bead onto each end of the ribbon. A good trick is to use a skewer to push it through.

Tie a fat knot to hold each bead in place (I tied about 5 knots over the top of each other). As a guide, the bead should reach the centre of the drum when it hits it, so hold it over the clock’s nose to gauge this distance before tying each knot.

You’re done! To ‘play’ the drum, twist it rapidly from side to side.

Paper plate shaker

You will need:

Markers, crayons, pencils or similar
Glue stick
2 small paper plates (side plate size)
Hole punch
Curling Ribbon – 5 strands per shaker
3-4 Recycled beer bottle tops (or an alternative noisy item that is not small enough to fall through the holes made for the ribbon)
Hot glue gun – or replace with a stapler if preferred
The printable template

How to:

Colour the template.

Punch five holes in the paper plate’s edge

Thread the looped centre of a strand of ribbon through one of the holes. Pull the two ends through the loop and tighten the loop so the ends hang. Repeat for each of the holes.

Turn upside down and place bottle caps in the centre.

Hot glue the second plate on top of the first so the rims are stuck to gether. For younger kids, an adult should do this step. You could alternatively use a stapler if you want the kids to do this step themselves.

Glue the circle designs to the front on either side of your noisemaker.