While parents ring in the New Year, their children have an overnight party of their own.

They may not have noisemakers and champagne to ring in the New Year, but they do have popcorn and soft drinks, movies and heated indoor pools.

“Since parents get to go out for New Year’s Eve, why should their kids have to stay home with baby-sitters?” asked Paula Falsetta, an adviser at the San Pedro and Peninsula Family YMCA, 301 S. Bandini St.

The answer is: They don’t. Both the San Pedro Y and the YMCA of Westchester are inviting children through age 12 to spend the night Saturday and celebrate New Year’s Eve.

“It’s a convenience to parents because we take care of the kids overnight, and the children have a good time because they don’t get stuck at grandma’s watching TV,” said Dave Branconier, program director at the Westchester Y, 8015 S. Sepulveda Blvd.

Parents bring their children--along with sleeping bags, swimsuits, nightclothes and toothbrushes--to the Ys on Saturday--at 5:30 p.m. in San Pedro and 7 p.m. in Westchester. They are picked up the next day by 10:30 a.m. in San Pedro and by 9 a.m. in Westchester.

While parents dine, dance or stay home for a quiet evening without kids underfoot, the children play kickball, volleyball, tag and various board games. The adult and teen-age volunteers who chaperon the parties will read stories aloud, and the children can enjoy soft drinks and snacks or swim--by far the most popular indulgence. It all ends with a pancake breakfast Sunday morning.

“Swimming is my favorite,” said 8-year-old Daniel Ray Ontiveros of San Pedro, who has been staying overnight at the Y with his younger brother, Robert, for the past three New Year holidays. “I swim like a fish.”

Some of the older youngsters help the Y staff put on the party. “They set out all the drinks and snacks for the little kids,” Falsetta said.

Lights-out occurs well before midnight, but that doesn’t stop the children from having their own countdown to the New Year. “We just set the clock forward,” Branconier said.

“It’s a lot of trouble to get them to go to sleep,” Falsetta said, adding that some would rather talk and giggle than quiet down. “We try to reason with them, telling them that others are trying to sleep.”

Branconier has found that movies help. “When you put a movie on, a lot just conk out,” he said.

Falsetta recalled one 4-year-old who, no matter how tired he got, insisted that he wasn’t sleepy. “He was up all night because he didn’t want to go to sleep,” she said.

Both Ys have been holding the overnight parties for several years, both as a community service and as a fund-raiser for Youth in Government programs, which send high school students to a mock legislative session in Sacramento in February. About $1,500 is raised every New Year’s Eve in San Pedro and $900 in Westchester. Costs are minimal because volunteers watch the youngsters.

Parents who want their children to attend this year’s overnight party may telephone the San Pedro Y at 832-4211 or the Westchester Y at 670-4316. The reservation deadline is today for both parties, although San Pedro has a “first-come, first-served” policy for late-comers on Saturday if there is room.

Fees at San Pedro are $20 for the first child and $15 for each additional child, with the age range of 3 through 12. In Westchester, it’s $25 for the first child and $20 for each additional child, ages 5 through 12.

“Even if we don’t go out on New Year’s Eve, our children go to the overnighter,” said Yvonne Phelps of Rancho Palos Verdes. “It’s a great big slumber party for them.”