To welcome 2024 the Children’s Museum of Manhattan is hosting a big New Year’s Eve party, where a D.J. will be spinning family-friendly tunes and attendees will make their own party hats. But the main event will be a countdown. The crowd, consisting of parents and their children, will count down “10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one” before throwing confetti into the air, shaking noisemakers and watching a ball, made of mylar and decorated with sparkles, descend from the ceiling.

It won’t technically be 2024, since countdowns will be happening at 12 p.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. (Families are able to choose which time works best for them.) But that won’t stop anyone from hugging and wishing one another a happy new year, said Leslie Bushara, who heads programming at the museum. The museum has thrown similar parties in past years, attracting over 1,000 participants throughout the day.

“Our families tell us that they don’t really care if they are celebrating at midnight,” she said. “It’s more about having this tradition with their children, and then being able to tuck them into bed safely afterwards.”

Family-friendly institutions as well as private households across the world are staging New Year’s Eve countdowns hours before midnight, at a time that is convenient for them. Parents, wanting this New Year’s Eve tradition for their kids without upsetting bedtime routines, like the early countdown option then tucking their kids into bed before heading to their own parties or getting an early night’s rest. (Many said their kids couldn’t stay up until midnight even if they tried.)