KIDS/SNEAK PEEK : WEEKEND OF WILD FUN BEGINS AT THE ZOO.

The weather may be cooling off, but activities on the family scene are really heating up. This weekend alone, there are myriad activities aimed at kids and parents. Most are free.

A deal with appeal: At 9 a.m. Saturday, the Chiquita Banana company will give away 1,000 breakfasts in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Zoo on Zoo Drive in Griffith Park. The meal - cereal, milk and a banana - comes with a free bowl. Anyone who shows up with a Chiquita banana sticker gets discounted admission to the zoo. Of course, it's first come, first served.

A day for L.A.: Once you've snacked on bananas and checked out the zoo, mosey over to the Griffith Park merry-go-round for ``Kids Day L.A.,'' a massive free event aimed at alerting families to various services available in the areas of social services, health, education, recreation and the arts.

Entertainment includes African drums and dance by Yoruba House; a chamber ensemble from the American Youth Ensemble; Mexican folk dances by El Proyecto del Barrio; Flights of Fantasy Story Theatre; ``I Do Dance, Not Drugs'' by the Lula Washington Dance Theatre; and ``The Electrical, Chemical Brain,'' an interactive theater piece by the California Museum of Science and Industry.

Other highlights include visits from the puppets of KCET Channel 28's ``The Puzzle Place'' show and exhibits by various groups. ``Kids Day L.A.'' takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Really big shows: Two new huge-screen IMAX films - one featuring buffalo, the other penguins - open today at the nonprofit California Museum of Science and Industry in downtown's Exposition Park.

``The Great American West'' features the breathtaking landscapes and magnificent vistas of the territory east of the Mississippi. Directed by Reed Smoot, it sweeps from the stark rock formations of Monument Valley to the snow-capped Grand Tetons.

The film tells the story of the West from the days of explorers Lewis and Clark through the pioneers, the Gold Rush and the transcontinental railroad. It is narrated by Jason Robards and uses the diaries of real people.

The second new IMAX film tells a different tale - one of animals living in a region that is still largely uninhabited by people. ``Survival Island'' is all about South Georgia, a remote island in the Great Southern Ocean of the Antarctic.

Written and narrated by BBC broadcaster David Attenborough, ``Survival Island'' shows the world of the polar summer, when penguins, seals and albatross arrive in South Georgia for the breeding season. In this hostile environment of snow and ice, millions of new lives begin.

``The Great American West'' will be shown daily at 11 a.m., 2 and 5 p.m. ``Survival Island'' plays at noon, 3 and 7 p.m. Admission is $6.25 for adults, $5 for kids 13 to 17, $4 for children 4 to 12, and free to children under 4.

The theater is at 700 State Drive. Paid parking is available in the museum parking lot.

See them, hear them: Blue Palm, a husband-and-wife comedy duet that points humor (and lessons) at kids, premieres its new family show ``Five Senses'' at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Central Library, Fifth and Flowers streets, downtown.

The free show looks at sight, sound, touch, taste and smell from a wacky perspective (for example, ``Touch'' is an interactive can-can routine; ``Smell'' is a skit about a perfumed princess who falls for a malodorous servant).

For more information, call [phone].