Ally Lien and Wyatt Hoefer joined in the New Year fun at the Marshall-Lyon County Library on Tuesday afternoon. Kids could compete in challenges like trying to get a cookie from their forehead into their mouth without using their hands.

MARSHALL — You didn’t have to stay up till midnight to ring in the new year at the Marshall-Lyon County Library. In the children’s library, a crowd of kids and parents gathered for their own new year’s countdown just before noon.

Children stretched out a parachute, which children’s librarian Jessica McCarlson covered in foam confetti pieces. As the clock ticked down to 12 p.m., she led them in counting down.

As the count reached “one,” the kids used the parachute to toss the confetti into the air.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” McCarlson said of the celebrations.

The countdown was just one part of MLCL’s annual “Noon Year’s Eve” event. Throughout the day Tuesday, the library held a variety of family-friendly games and activities. On Tuesday morning, people were busy making craft projects, taking part in a scavenger hunt, playing games like mini golf or doing “Minute to Win It” stunts.

In one challenge, Mila Hoefer tried to get a candy cane to slide down a long piece of string within the time limit.

“My brother helped me,” Hoefer said. Her brother Wyatt held the other end of the string, and helped get the candy cane moving when it lost momentum.

“Hold the string up as high as you can,” Wyatt told Mila.

Elise Michelson also tried some of the Minute to Win It games, but her favorite activity was one of the craft projects. “I liked making a bookmark,” she said.

McCarlson said this was her first year helping plan activities for Noon Year’s Eve. A lot of what went into the planning was just thinking about what might be fun for the kids, she said.

It was fun to see how busy the MLCL was for the holiday event, McCarlson said. It was a chance to get families to come into the library and see what it offers.

“To have people see what their library can do for them is amazing,” she said.