If midnight's too late, how about noon?

For many, this special weekend will be extended through early Tuesday when the clock hands move to 12 and the new year begins. This year, families can keep their pots and pans in the cabinets, because several family-friendly places are hosting fun-filled activities to help children ring in 2008 with a bang.

Penn's Landing, often host to loud fireworks and wide-eyed visitors, will host a New Year's Eve Party on Ice beginning at 11 p.m. Monday. The party, presented by the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co., will feature traditional fireworks plus free balloons, noisemakers and photo keepsakes, with free psychic readings and entertainment by Mummertime.

For families who want to wrap up the New Year's celebration a little early, the Please Touch Museum will offer the Countdown to Noon! beginning at 9:30 a.m. Monday with crafts for children to make their own 2008 calendars, followed by a Please Touch Playhouse production of

North Wind

at 11 a.m., and a Mummers' Strut Parade with Alice and the Mad Hatter at 11:45, all leading to the museum's first countdown at noon. Magician Tommy McDonald will perform on the gallery floor. Then the celebration will begin all over again, with another Mummers Parade at 12:45 p.m. and a second countdown at 1 p.m., ending with the staging of

North Wind

at 2 p.m.

Staff members at the Garden State Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill also recognized early bedtimes and post-fireworks traffic when they created New Year's at Noon. The museum will open at 9:30 a.m. and, as the hour of 12 nears, children will find top hats and tiaras on their heads as they prepare to count down the last minutes until noon. Complete with streamers, confetti, and a large Countdown Clock, the countdown will be repeated at 2 p.m.

A "high-energy" concert for kids will be offered at the Arden Children's Theatre, where Frog and Toad, played by Jeffrey Coon and Ben Dibble, will help kids celebrate with food, a dance party, noisemakers, and a balloon drop at noon. The party will last into the wee hours of the afternoon with actors from the theater's productions and numerous activities to ensure kids sleep well for the babysitter during their parents' late-night celebrations.

Disney.com and Radio Disney AM 640 Philadelphia invite families to attend a holiday concert Disney-style on Sunday at Jingle Jam 2007.

Held at Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, the concert tour stop will feature performances by Keke Palmer, star of the hit Disney Channel Original Movie

Jump In!

, and Drew Seeley, recording artist and actor known for his work on both the

High School Musical

and

The Cheetah Girls 2

soundtracks. Aly & AJ also will perform songs from their sophomore album,

Insomniac

.

Hasbro will bring its popular Hyperslide tabletop game in "larger-than-life" scale with game demonstration stations for kids, and Hasbro's MiO pup Lounge will offer kids an interactive experience with a futuristic Fido providing companionship and nurture.