Kids find a place

Sure, parents may say they come to One Kids Square at the Seymour Oktoberfest just for their children to take part in the free games, crafts and activities, but Janice Read knows better.

"The parents enjoy it just as much as the kids do," she said Friday afternoon.

As executive director of Child Care Network, Read has helped organize One Kids Square, or Kinderplatz Nummer Ein in German, for many years, and each time there is something different, she said.

But there are the favorites, too, like face painting, a coloring contest, making a fall placemat and painting a pet rock.

"One Kids Square has developed into something that families have come to depend on," she said.

By the end of the day today, Read estimates, more than 500 kids will have stopped by. "It's very popular," she added.

Read credits One Kids Square's appeal to several things.

"It's a safe place for kids, and it brings families together," she said. "Plus it's free and for a family with several children, Oktoberfest can be expensive, so this is something they appreciate."

Besides being fun, the activities also help build and develop basic skills like coordination and socialization, Read added.

Josie Schneck, 6, of Seymour, didn't know much about One Kids Square before Friday.

"I've never done it before," she said of the activities, "but I liked painting the rock."

Each child could choose a rock, paint it any color they wanted and then use stick-on eyes to make it a pet rock. "I painted mine like a rainbow," Schneck said proudly, showing off her creation.

Chanel Martinez, 7, of Seymour, said she took part in the activities last year.

"I like doing all of them, because they're fun," she said, while putting the finishing touches on her multi-colored pet rock.

Read credits the idea for One Kids Square to Oktoberfest Board President Martha McIntire.

"It was her dream to have something like this for the kids," Read said. "She had been to another festival that had something similar, and decided it would be perfect for the Oktoberfest." McIntire then went to Read to see if Child Care Network would be a part of it.

"I told her of course we would, but we didn't have the money to pay for it," Read said.

So McIntire went looking for corporate sponsors. She found one in Aisin USA. The company continues to fund the event each year.

At first, Read said, she was worried parents would see One Kids Square as a baby-sitting service and just drop their kids off, but that hasn't been the case.
"The parents stay and participate with their children, which is great," she said. "We've never had a problem."

One of the new additions to the area this year is a "lactation station" for nursing mothers.

Sponsored by the local Women, Infants and Children office, the tented area offers a private, comfortable place for mothers to nurse their babies.

"We are doing more of these because the state office is trying to provide this service to mothers," Mary Jane Jamison, R.D. and office manager for WIC, said. "It gets the mother away from the crowd so she can have a quiet and comfortable place to nurse her baby."

Since the festival opened Thursday, Jamison said, several women had stopped by to use the lactation station. "We've had quite a few people using it," she said. "I don't think a lot of people are aware of it yet, though."

Besides promoting the lactation station, Jamison said WIC was also presenting a program to children later that day on how to make healthy snacks.

"One of WIC's main goals is to teach mothers and children about nutrition and to provide nutrition services to families," Jamison said. "So that is what we're doing today."

Also taking place at One Kids Square on Friday was a program on Healthy Learning and Fun, presented by Ivy Tech Community College nursing students.
This was the second year for Ivy Tech to be involved with the program. They also take part in Kids Fest.

"It's been really good practice and exposure to the community for our students," said Fawn Updike, nursing faculty instructor.

As part of the nursing division, the students work to make people more aware of community health issues, by attending health fairs and other events and festivals like Oktoberfest.

"We talk to the kids about hand washing and how washing their hands properly can help keep them healthy, especially this time of year when people start getting sick with the flu."

But of course when working with kids, it's always a good idea to do something fun, so Ivy Tech set up cornhole games and handed out prizes to all the kids who participated.

Hunter Ray Heckman, 7, and his brother Clayton Heckman, 8, were having a good time playing cornhole Friday. Although Hunter beat his brother by landing three out of four of the bags in the hole, Clayton had an explanation as to why he lost.

"He got to stand closer to the board because he's younger," Clayton said. "And he's just lucky."

The boys' mother, Melissa Heckman, said One Kids Square is a family tradition.

"We think this is the neatest part of Oktoberfest," she said. "We come every year to make a placemat, and I've kept all of them since they were like two years old."

The fun and games at One Kids Square will continue through today. Stephanie Mysak with the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts will present Crafty Fun from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Following that, Travis Sims with Extreme Entertainment will perform a grand illusion show from 4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. there will be story time with costumed guests.