Children’s Healthy Fun Fair

Children’s Healthy Fun Fair 2016

Before I tell you about the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair, let’s take a look at what else is coming up at the library this week!

Tues. Mar. 1, 10 am – noon: The LifeStory Institute Presents: Memoir and Family History Writing Workshop – Charley Kempthorne, writer and teacher, will conduct this workshop, which is free and open to all. Registration is required as space is limited! Register by calling 620-626-0180 or going to our website: http://lmlibrary.libcal.com/event/2490233

Tues. Mar. 1 at 6 pm and Thurs. Mar. 4 at 11:15 am: Storytime! We’re reading some classic Dr. Seuss stories in honor of his birthday and doing a Seussian craft.

Thurs. Mar. 3 at 6 pm: A special evening Dr. Seuss Storytime! Enjoy some favorite Seuss books and make a Seuss-inspired craft!

Now, let’s talk about the Thirteenth Annual Children’s Healthy Fun Fair! This year’s fair will be held on Saturday, March 5, from 10 am – 1 pm in the Agriculture Building at Seward County Fairgrounds. It’s FREE and it’s a lot of fun for the whole family! Children ages birth to sixth grade and their parents are especially invited to the fair, as are women who are pregnant.

This year, we have a lot of great things lined up for the Fair! New this year, United Healthcare is bringing a “Community Baby Shower” to the fair. Pregnant mothers will be able to learn about prenatal, post-partum, and well-baby checkups. They will also be able to learn about services available to their children, once they are born. United will also be giving gifts and a snack for pregnant mothers.

Russell Child Development Center will be handing out some fun things for the kids! This includes rubber ducks and various other items.

The Health Dept. and Safety Council will be giving out information on car seat safety and they will raffle 4 booster seats for children 4 – 8 years old.

Seward County Fire will have a fire truck display outside, weather permitting. They will also be handing out coloring books and badges.

Seward County Emergency Management will be handing out coloring books, the new revised disaster response guides for adults, and other items dealing with how to react to both natural and manmade disasters. They will also have pictures of recent storms in our area.

USD 480 will have their alphabet fishing booth, where children can fish for the letters of the alphabet, and get a piece of sidewalk chalk with suggested motor activities for children. They will also be giving away books for kids! They will also have The Newcomers Center taking pictures of the children, and kids can decorate a frame for it.

Also new this year, Southwest Kansas Diaper Bank will be displaying and handing out information about diaper need, how to help with that need, and how people can receive help with getting diapers.

Genesis Family Health together with Life Time Smile will be performing oral screenings.

Southwest Medical Center will have information about X-Rays, a demonstration of the effects of smoking on the lungs, a hands-on hand hygiene activity, and a general information booth.

Kansas Talking Books will have a booth highlighting the service, which provides free audiobooks to borrow to patrons with vision issues and children with certain reading disabilities. They will also have some fun give-a-way items for kids!

The Library will have some tabletop games to play and free books for kids, plus information for parents!

We hope that all pregnant mothers along with children ages birth – sixth grade and their parents will join us on March 5, between 10 am and 1 pm at the Ag Building on the Seward County Fairgrounds for a fun time of exhibits, demonstrations, activities, give-a-ways, and more!

Your A+ Guide to the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair

Don’t forget that the 12th annual Children’s Healthy Fun Fair is on Saturday March 7th from ten to one o’clock in the Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds. If you are planning on going to the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair (and if you have kids under the age of about 12 and love fun, free things in Liberal on a Saturday morning, then you are planning on attending), you may need a guide to get the most of everything the fair has to offer. Here are some tips on what to do.

Eat a good (but not too heavy) breakfast. Sure, there will be healthy snacks at the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair for families, but you definitely have to have a good breakfast. That will give the whole family enough energy to play games, walk around and interact with all of the 20+ groups that are coming to the fair.
Wear good shoes. The Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds isn’t huge, but you may end up taking a couple of laps around it. Plus, you may decide to visit the Home Show in the Activity Center, which is happening at the same time, and decide to go to that as well!
Get a bag. Right when you walk into the Fun Fair, there will be a table. Pick up a bag to store all of the stuff that you pick up. You may be tempted to just put it in your purse or pocket, but by your third or fourth table, you will probably regret that decision. There really are some great giveaways!
Come early. The Fair opens at 10:00, so come then to beat the crowds. Last year, more than 600 people came to the fair (and that was with bad, snowy weather). This year there will probably be a lot more! If you can’t make it right at ten, don’t worry. The Children’s Healthy Fun Fair lasts for three hours, until one o’clock.
Ask questions. Everyone who has a table at the fair is super friendly and will try to answer any questions that you have – you just have to ask. Most of the times, if we don’t have an answer, we will try to get back to you or give you our contact information. By asking questions, you will be able to see some of the services that these agencies have to offer in the area.
Ask your kids questions. The Children’s Healthy Fun Fair is aimed at children, so asking your children questions about what they are doing and why they are doing a specific activity is a great way to teach them healthy habits. I hope that parents come to the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair and learn about great habits together.
Don’t forget the annex. You may think that you are finished with the fair, just because you have finished a lap around. Don’t forget that there are several organizations in the annex of the Ag Building – just follow the signs.

The follow-up. Once you get home, review all of the information that you collected, contact any agencies that you wanted to get in touch with, and (hopefully) continue to live a healthy lifestyle with your whole family! I will see you at the fair on Saturday, March 7th. If you have any questions about the fair, contact me at Liberal Memorial Library at 626-0180.

Mark your Calendars for the 12th Annual Children’s Healthy Fun Fair

Last year at this time, I was nervous about the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair because I really didn’t know what to expect. This year, I’m less nervous about the logistics of planning the fair. Now, I am nervous about getting the word out about the fair and getting more people who may not know about the fair involved. I wonder why there aren’t more families that know about the fair that don’t take advantage of the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair.

Before I get ahead of myself, I really should give the details of the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair. This year, the 12th annual fair will be held on Saturday, March 7th from 10 AM to 1 PM in the Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds. Best of all, everything is totally free. Last year just over 600 people visited the fair, and this year, I hope to get even more children and their families into the fair. What is the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair? Well, the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair is not just about health. It isn’t just row after row of boring booths that kids won’t be interested in. What makes this fair different than other fairs is that the information is aimed at the children more than it is aimed at the adults. The goal is to have fun, get educated on how to live a healthier life and learn about some of the great services that are offered in the community. While the goal of the fair is education, of course, all of the different booths try to get kids and their families involved in the learning in active ways. Many of the booths are not only going to have brochures and information, but they will also have games, giveaways or food.

It’s hard to write about the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair because it’s hard to describe what the children who go get out of it and it’s also hard to describe what the agencies who put on the fair get out of it. The kids who come to the fair have so much fun learning about healthy habits. Southwest Medical Center has a booth every year that tries to show kids what exactly is on their hands (and will finally allow your children and yourself to see whether or not just rinsing your hands will get them clean). Kids (and their parents) seem grossed out to see how dirty their hands are. A lot of booths have games and activities for children to do, promoting a healthy lifestyle.

The groups that have tables at the fair are all excited about sharing what their organization does with young people. Last year, the Library promoted the Family Place Library program at the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair and were super excited to get a lot of new families involved in the program that we met at the fair.

We hope to see you at the Children’s Healthy Fun Fair on Saturday, March 7th from 10:00 to 1:00 in the Ag Building of the Seward County Fairgrounds. Remember, the fair and everything at the fair is completely free, so come on down and enjoy the information, giveaways and activities that are planned! For more information about the fair, contact me at 626-0180.

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