Chabot Space & Science Center treats children to New Year's Eve around the world

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Hundreds of children and their parents came to Chabot Space & Science Center in Oakland Monday to ring in the new year.

It may only have been  pushing one o' clock in the afternoon, but it was getting close to midnight in places such as Kenya, Moscow and Saudi Arabia. So why not celebrate?

"Everyone celebrates New Year's Eve, so to celebrate it in a different country is kind of cool," said 11-year-old Sarah Gebhardt.

"It's teaching kids that across the globe it is new years at different times. We call that at on the hour," said Liz Austerman of the Chabot Space & Science Center

As the countdown began, the kids stood in the middle of the space center and waited for the balloon drop.

It was certainly much easier than waiting around until night time to watch the ball drop in Times Square, and warmer than watching the fireworks show along San Francisco's Embarcadero. 

"We never last long enough for New Year's Eve celebrations. So we figured we would get a balloon and let them have some fun," said Kelly Chau of Benicia.

"We wanted to find something fun to do for the day. And we were like, 'There's a balloon drop at the museum. We should go,'" said 10-year-old Evah Zazueta.

A thousand balloons came raining down. But for some, the balloons were only the second best part of celebrating the new year.

"Just because I get to spend time with my family," said one young girl. 

"Me too," said another.