AKRON — The Akron Zoo was packed with families celebrating New Year's Eve earlier than most. 

What You Need To Know

  • Along with seeing some of the animals, there were plenty of activities going on

  • The ball dropped at noon

  • The nature conservancy from Cuyahoga County National Park was there teaching children about conservation

Linda Cross, chief operating officer for the Akron Zoo, said the event is a great way for kids to get their energy out and see the ball drop at noon instead of staying up until midnight.

“We just thought like something fun for families to do because a lot of times on New Year’s Eve you know parents find a babysitter and they go do their thing and a lot of kids can’t stay up that late to watch the ball drop so this was kind of a nice alternative to a nice family event we drop the ball at noon so the kids have the opportunity to participate. We have some confetti so we shoot off the confetti cannon and we give kids confetti. The confettis actually shaved soap so it just dissolves and it’s environmentally friendly,” Criss said.

Along with seeing some of the animals, there were plenty of activities going on. The zoo have been hosting this event for about eight years now.

“We have some music playing for a little dance party. We have costume characters. We have a craft, we have all kinds of fun games that kids can play. We have a scavenger hunt so they go around the zoo and find some clues and when they turn in their scavenger hunt they get prizes,” Criss said.

The nature conservancy from Cuyahoga County National Park was there teaching children about conservation.

“We also are doing a time capsule and so you can write a conservation message and then we’re putting it in a time capsule. In the spring we’re going to burry the time capsule it’s a little rough to put something in the ground right now and we also have some conservation games so kids can learn about conservation,” Criss said.

Criss said the zoo plans on continuing the tradition in the years to come.