It was nearly noon, not midnight, and the ball that hung three stories high looked more like a cross between a pinata and a helium balloon than the giant one in Times Square that grown-ups have come to know and love.
But to a crowd of more than 1,900 - many sporting tutus, face glitter and brightly colored party hats - the setting at the Maryland Science Center could not have been more perfect for ringing in the New Year, kid-style.
It was the second annual Midnight Noon, a bash the museum calls a New Year's celebration for those whose bedtime happens long before the ball in Times Square makes its descent, and all the right people were excited.
"I like the band; I like the show," said Ajani Harper, 8, above the din as Milkshake, a local rock band for children, built toward the magic moment with a series of power chords.
Museum officials got the idea for Midnight Noon three years ago, after sponsoring a different New Year's event, Night 365, for several years.
The old party, which started at 8 p.m. and continued past midnight, gave museum members a chance to see the traditional Inner Harbor fireworks display from the warmth of an indoor setting. But organizers realized the party did nothing for the many parents who don't like the idea of their kids staying up past 12 o'clock, even for New Year's.
"We really hit on something with this," said Todd Scott, a museum spokesman. "This idea has been incredibly popular."
The first Midnight Noon, unhampered by the sort of icy conditions that hit the region Thursday, drew 2,700 people last year.
But Thursday, the center still seemed packed. The price of admission included the run of the place, and lines were long in the Brown Bag room, where children made party hats out of construction paper, and at the face-painting station on the second level.
In Newton's Alley, a collection of interactive exhibits that "reveal the marvelous phenomena of matter, energy ... and motion," pint-size partiers seemed as ambivalent as many grownups do about the passing of another year.
Nine-year-old Jackie Chu, visiting with her parents from Burlingame, Calif., said she's looking forward to 2010 because "a new year means a new beginning." But she hadn't given much thought to resolutions.
"I'd really rather get back to playing," she said, returning to a game in which one maneuvers a ball atop an updraft of hot air.
Near the Human Body exhibit, Noah Seth, 8, of Baltimore, said his mother, Alexis, usually lets him stay up until midnight for New Year's, and that he was probably going to do just that.
But the St. Paul's School third-grader couldn't wait until then to celebrate the only time of year in which he's allowed to consume his favorite beverage - egg nog. "It's sweet. It's creamy. It's the only thing I like better than chocolate shakes," he said.
His lone resolution: to get more exercise.
Back in the lobby, Ajani's sisters, Shaudi and Sierra Harper, 11 and 9, respectively, gyrated to the music, members of a mosh pit of 300 kids and parents crowding the stage. Neither seemed eager to bid farewell to a year that had been good to them.
"I got lots of new stuff - toys and clothes - for Christmas," Shaudi said a bit nervously. "I hope that kind of thing continues."
At 11:55, Milkshake - a band that got its first Grammy nomination this year - pounded out " Fingers and Toes," an original whose lyrics include counting to 10.
That gave lead singer Lisa Mathews, decked out in her trademark tutu and black boots, a chance to lead a group rehearsal of the New Year's countdown.
And soon the red-haired vocalist, a mom herself, was leading the real thing as the ball, bearing the number "2010," slowly fell.
"Five ... four ... three ... two .... one!" she shouted. Scores of children counted in unison. Flashes went off. Tiny fingers reached skyward as confetti fell.
"Happy New Year!" they cried, ringing in a new chapter of their young lives, and it didn't even seem odd that it was only noon.
