Groton — Several dozen parents, grandparents and children crowded into the Groton Public Library on Thursday to celebrate "Noon Year's Eve," a kid-friendly spin on the holiday that included seasonal games and prizes.

Kids from the library's "Volunteen" program helped set up — bending glow sticks into bracelets and running activities like the bingo table. At 11 a.m., children from infants to about 8-years-old poured into the building with their parents and moved between each activity. The sound of makeshift noisemakers quickly filled the air.

Children decorated party hats, made noisemakers, played seasonal bingo and marked the last 10 seconds of the morning with a countdown and balloon drop.

Mike McCarthy brought his two kids, Karlaina, 7, and Kaden, 2, to play a bingo game that featured a seasonal theme.

"I want to win a prize," Karlaina said, when asked what her favorite activity was. Prizes, including stuffed animals that Kohl's donated over the summer, included several Goofy dolls.

"Obviously the kids can't stay up too late, so it's good way to celebrate the holiday," McCarthy said.

Others at the bingo table included Alexa Paddock, who brought her children Braelyn, 6-and-1/2 and Bryson, 2-and-1/2, to see what was going on.

She said they were looking for activities they could do as a family, and the age range between the children makes it difficult to make everyone happy.

"This is the first year we've done something with them on New Year's because we usually don't find a lot of kid-friendly things," Paddock said. "So this is a new fun thing ... She has a better attention span, he has a way shorter attention span, so anything arts and crafts she likes and anything more movement (related) he'll do so. Once they do the balloon and dancing, he'll do that."

Children's Librarian Tracy Torres, who has worked on the event since it began, said that the library sought to find activities for children during each day of the holiday season and that families appreciate the event, which provides an alternative to late-night celebrations.

"We try to use the whole week when the kids are out of school," Torres said. "I think they have a good time. We get a lot of positive feedback because it's something they can do as a family in the middle of the day in a safe environment."

While there were a lot of activities to try, many of the children eagerly awaited the balloon drop, like Stanley Teneyck, who was making a hat with his grandmother.

"I'm excited ... everyone gets a balloon," he said.

When it was time, children eagerly gathered in a dense crowd in the center of the room and yelled each number in the countdown until the balloons were released. They grabbed balloons and jumped up and down.

One girl in the group wasn't able to nab a balloon in the confusion, and when the drop finished, she was empty-handed. But Stanley Teneyck, who grabbed two, made sure she wasn't left out.

n.lynch@theday.com

@_nathanlynch