Kidz Expo Starts New Fox Cities Family Tradition
On Saturday, April 8th, the Appleton Fox Cities Kiwanis Club embarked on a new family tradition in the Fox Cities. As a replacement to a popular family outing called Quarry Quest, the Kiwanis club now looks to fill a void for families looking for fun on a Spring Saturday. The Kidz Expo is a free family event that looks to bring fun, be educational, and help kids be adventurous.
Held at Fox Valley Technical College, the theme of the inaugural event was: Active Kids. With over 30 exhibitors, 8 different costume characters (including the Disney Princesses), fire trucks, squad cars, military vehicles and construction vehicles, there was much to do for attendees.
The events of the day were the following:
Fun: Interactive activities for children and parents: face painting, inflatables, pictures with favorite costume characters, crafts, balloon animals, diaper derby, tot-zones, selfie stations, peeps contest, and on-going entertainment throughout the day.
Education: Exhibitors sharing products, services and information will have engaging, interactive displays or activities – making it fun for families to participate.
Brief Seminars/programs: Kids nutrition, Yell & Tell about water safety, scouting, Karate demonstration, YMCA programming, learning about our earth, fire safety and more.
Adventure: Have fun with activities such as games, science projects, treasure hunt, inflatables, an exercise course and even a real fire truck.
Attendance for the first time event was estimated in the 3,000-4,000 range according to Paul Shrode and Jean Long Manteufel, the Kidz Expo committee co-chairs.
"As an organization, we have always had an interest in serving youth in the community, trying to make this a much better community for families and for children in particular," said Paul Shrode, a member of the Appleton Fox Cities Kiwanis Club and co-chair. "(The Kiwanis Club was) looking to do something in the time of year when there doesn't seem to be much to do for families, and thought that a kids expo is an opportunity. We've seen some of them around the country. We did a little research and there are some great ones out there, and thought the Fox Cities could use something like that."
For more information on this year’s event, visit our website at www.FoxCitiesKidzExpo.com or check us out on Facebook at “Fox Cities Kidz Expo”