Today’s post is by Doris Sanui, Fairytale Town’s Assistant General Manager. Doris is attending the International Attractions and Amusement Park Association Convention this week in Orlando, Florida.  

I’m here this week in Orlando, Florida, home to many amusement parks, water parks and more! This year, Fairytale Town is proud to take part of the International Attractions and Amusement Park Association (IAAPA) Convention that takes place at the Orange County convention center. All types of parks, such as zoos, water parks, play parks and family fun centers, unite under one roof. As we shuttle in and out of the many education classes, we also have the opportunity to meet others from parks and share ideas. I’ve met people from all over the nation as well as other countries!

Besides all the presentations on topics like food, retail and customer service, I also attended a presentation featuring three CEO’s from three very successful companies. They each shared their knowledge and experiences with having a successful workplace. Here I’d like to quote one presenter’s teaching: “Always have fun, having fun!” I couldn’t agree more! Not only does this apply to work but in everything we do, and it’s such a perk to see that especially with all our families that visit Fairytale Town.

The other great part of this trip is the expo. Here, vendors and suppliers showcase their best products. Rides, play sets, zip lines, jungle gyms and more are all available for the testing.

Can’t wait to bring great ideas back home to Fairytale Town!

Not all play is fun. Some of it is scary.

I remember this each Halloween as the talented Fairytale Town staff begins to build sets and decorations for our annual Halloween program. This year’s theme was Grimm Fairy Tales. The team worked diligently to create over-sized cauldrons, papier-mâché wolves, witches lairs, and all sorts of other sets and props for the three-day Halloween extravaganza. This year, more than 5,000 people attended to take part in trick-or-treating, puppet shows, seasonal craft activities, photo souvenirs, and plain old Halloween fun.

Why do people enjoy scary play?  Is it because it taps into our darker sides? Is it because we like the surprise behind a scare? Or is it because we feel exhilarated once we’ve survived a fright?

Other kinds of play can be scary too.

‘Risky play’ is often considered scary by parents and teachers, but a recent Play England study concludes that risky play is important for children. The study quotes a number of play providers who highlight the benefits to children of taking risks. ‘Risk-taking increases the resilience of children,’ said one. ‘It helps them make judgments,’ said another. ‘It lets them test their boundaries and learn about their potential as well as their fears and abilities.’ Some risky play the research says should be encouraged includes fire-building, den-making, water sports, paintballing and climbing trees.

So, once you’re done with the ‘scary play’ of Halloween, let your children engage in a little bit of risky play as well. One can gain a great deal of perspective from the top of a tree!

The Fairways to Fairytales Golf Tournament was founded in 2003 to honor David Blaylock. David was an accomplished financial planner with Smith Barney and an involved member of the Fairytale Town Board of Directors. He was slated to be President in 2003 but died suddenly in November of 2002 at the young age of 48. At his funeral, his friends and colleagues in the financial services industry remarked that the only time they saw each other was at funerals, and they should get together more often for camaraderie and fun.

Dave’s widow, Nina, and Smith Barney colleague, Cathi Johnson, took those remarks to heart and came to chat with me in the spring of 2003 about putting together a Golf Tournament in Dave’s honor to benefit Fairytale Town. The first Tourney was held that fall at the 9-hole Land Park Golf Course.  After the Tourney, golfers and their families wandered over to Fairytale Town for a reception and awards. Dave was fondly remembered, toasted to, (roasted a bit as well) and celebrated. It was – and continues to be – a meaningful way to remember a wonderful man, spend time with old friends and colleagues, and benefit a worthy cause.

As time has marched on, the Tourney has evolved. After a few years it moved to an 18-hole course to accommodate more golfers, and has become a friendly competition among the brokerage firms in town. Not all of the golfers have connections to David Blaylock any more, but they all share things he valued – time spent with family and friends, the game of golf, and supporting community causes.

This is the 10^th year of the Tourney and the last year Cathi Johnson will head up the effort.  She has done an incredible amount of work over the years to make the game of golf meaningful and fun.  The Fairways to Fairytales Tournament has raised more than $90,000 for Fairytale Town during its 10 year history.

Fairways to Fairytales is a wonderful legacy to David Blaylock.  It brings people together for an afternoon of play, provides a touching way to remember a wonderful man, and makes a lasting contribution to children in our region. I know Dave would be proud of Nina, their daughters Elise and Mallory, and his friend and colleague Cathi, who have worked so hard to make this possible.  I know all of us at Fairytale Town are grateful to have had Dave’s involvement here and for the incredible support his family and friends have shown us.  We are honored to be part of his legacy.

Last Sunday was National Grandparent’s Day.  The purpose of the day is to celebrate all that grandparents bring to our culture, their families and, perhaps most importantly, to their grandchildren.

Grandparents have a special place in the heart of their grandchildren. Not only do they have a common enemy (those pesky parents!), they have that special bond of unconditional love. Grandparents bring more to the relationship than love. Being two generations removed from the child, grandparents connect grandchildren with the past and family history.  These connections are important to children as they help build perspective, compassion and identity.  Of course, grandchildren are important to grandparents as well, helping them see the world from a new point of view and reciprocating their unconditional love.

On Grandparent’s Day, grandparents received free admission at Fairytale Town so they could come out and play with their grandchildren.  Many used the excuse to bring three generations of family members here to play. Children were able to make special posters or pins for their grandparents. It was delightful to see how excited the kids were to make the crafts and present them to their special person.  I am pretty sure that their efforts will be hung on refrigerators and saved in jewelry boxes for many months.  And it was fun to see the different generations playing in the park.  I’m certain each generation created playful memories that will last a lifetime.

Labor Day signals the end of summer, and it is already here!  A national holiday since 1894, it was created as a day of relaxation and festivals to honor workers. It’s sort of ironic that it now prompts a back-to-work/back-to-school mentality.

It doesn’t have to!

There is plenty of time in the day to include play. As a former boss used to say, “There are 24 hours in a day. Eight hours to work, eight hours to sleep and eight hours to play.”  (Somehow he never took into account commuting, cooking, eating, cleaning and doing laundry. But even so, you can always squeeze in a little bit of play every day.)

For children, the best play is free play. That is, play that’s not organized by an adult. Adults facilitate free play by providing materials, space and time.  Kids can get a lot of imaginative and creative play out of sticks, empty boxes, and fabric pieces, as well as art, building and gardening materials.

So as you get supplies and schedule activities for the school year, throw in some whimsical play items and be sure to schedule some free time every day to play!

“If music be the food of love, play on!” – William Shakespeare

The Children’s Concert Series at Fairytale Town offered a great ‘menu’ of music for families — children’s entertainers, rock-and-roll bands, folk artists and classical music. The concerts were enjoyed by audience and musicians alike.

I also enjoyed seeing the artists set up for their shows. I watched as they lugged their instruments to the stage from their cars. Saw them set up the sound equipment and heard them do sound checks. Witnessed the rituals they went through as they prepared to perform for a live audience. (Common activities included singing scales, doing tongue twisters, eating, plucking strings, leafing through sheets of music, and pacing.)

Of course setting up the day of a show is just a sliver of a musician’s labors. It takes a great deal of time and energy – not to mention talent – to write lyrics and music. Instruments have to be cared for with regular cleaning and attention. Then there are hours and hours of practice and rehearsals…

All this work for the joy of playing music together.

Play on!

The weather was perfect for the opening performance of the Fairytale Town Troupers’ Sinbad & Aladdin: The Arabian Knights.  Those who gathered to watch the show on the Mother Goose Stage were treated to music, dancing, colorful costumes, swordfights – and a fire breathing dragon.

The show was the culmination of many weeks of work by the Troupers. Fairytale Town’s Theatre Arts Specialist John Lee wrote and directed the play. The troupe of children ages 5 and up met after school and on weekends to rehearse the show. I often saw them rehearsing in the heat of the day on the outdoor stage as I left for the evening.

The show involved more than the children themselves. Their families had to make arrangements to get them here in time for rehearsal and to pick them up afterwards. Costumers had to make costumes. Our talented Animal Keeper Jim Hernandez was inspired to retrofit the dragon to breath fire. Music had to be recorded. The sound system had to be set up and tested. The swordfights and dances had to be choreographed and well-rehearsed.

Everyone’s hard work paid off. At Saturday’s performances, both the audience and the performers were enjoying the show.

The Fairytale Town Troupers have four more performances of Sinbad & Aladdin this coming weekend. I hope you can catch a show. You’ll see the results of their hard work at play.

Once again it was driven home to me how much hard work it is to play.

I know play is work. Whenever I go to work, I hear the sounds of blowers and mowers as our brilliant grounds crew makes the facility clean and magical for our guests. I see our talented program, guest services, marketing and development crew put out information and materials so out guests will have everything they need to make a life-long memory.

I know this – and see this nearly every day. And yet…

The hard work of play was made abundantly clear to me at an off-site outreach program the other day. My job was to play with the kids while their parents visited with my colleagues to learn more about the programs we have at Fairytale Town. I played a bean bag toss game, jumped rope, played two-square and fooled around with streamers. I used my brain a lot as I played, determining which games were most age appropriate and engaging to each child. I used my body a lot too – jumping quite high, quite often to make sure we didn’t hit any of the adults in our competitive game of two-square and bending down repeatedly to pick up the tossed bean bags.

I had a blast. Three hours later I was exhausted and so sore I could hardly believe it!  No doubt about it – I need to get out and play more often, if only to improve my two-square game. The kids I played with that evening have inspired me to do so.

You probably need to get out and play more often too. And if you decide you need to work on your two-square game, you know where to find me.

Friends taking a walk on the Crooked Mile

May is quite a month! It’s National Bike Month, National Fitness Month and it also boasts National Screen Free Week.  Below are a few suggestions for celebrating the month.

Take the kids out for a bike ride.  According to the League of American Bicyclists, as soon as a child can hold their head up and fit into a helmet, they can be a passenger on a bike. Until they are age 5 or so they should ride in a child’s seat or trailer.  Children need to have basic motor skills before they can operate a bike on their own.

Take a walk.  Taking under 5,000 steps a day is considered a sedentary lifestyle. It is recommended that we take 10,000 steps. So get out and walk! With a friend, the kids, the dog – or enjoy a 500-step getaway by yourself.  If you don’t want to use the time to chat or reflect, count the number of trees you see, the number of cars you pass, or find shapes in the clouds or the stars.

Play Hopscotch. This simple game can be played with several players or alone, by a wide range of ages and needs little or no equipment. Many playgrounds have painted hopscotch courses, you can make your own with chalk on the pavement, or with a stick in the dirt.

No matter what you do this May, make a point to get out and play!

The Children’s Theater

About 15 educators of children ages 3 through 12 met at Fairytale Town’s Children’s Theater last night to learn about reading aloud effectively. CSUS Children’s Literature Professor, Francie Dillon, led the workshop titled, Giving Voice to Children’s Literature. A similar workshop for parents will take place on May 3.  The program is free, but reservations are required and can be made through rsvp@fairytaletown.org.

At the teacher’s workshop, Dillon shared information on the importance of reading aloud and demonstrated useful tips on how to use your voice to make books come to life.

You could say she taught us how to play with words.

It’s a good reminder that play comes in all forms. Word play is just as important to a child’s growth and development as active play. Word play helps children develop communication skills and vocabulary, and also a sense of humor and love of language.

Below are three examples of how you can use words playfully.

– Rhymes are a great way for kids to begin playing with words. Through rhyme children can learn about individual letter sounds. Take advantage of this opportunity by substituting rhyming words in a favorite book. For example, if P.D. Eastman’s Are You My Mother is a favorite, substitute Brother for Mother from time to time. Your child will enjoy correcting you, and you can use the opportunity to talk about the different letters and their sounds.

– Children also love to use new words.  In conversation or during play, use as many words as you can to describe or identify something. For example, in conversation the word silly can become goofy, crazy, wild, or even inane. This helps children build their vocabulary and learn about context and meaning.

– Acting out words and stories is also a great way to bring them to life.  You can ask your child to show you their happy face, sad face, sleepy face, etc. You can also cast family members to play roles while reading a book together. The activities help children learn meaning and expression, and help them gain confidence is speaking and reading.

Children’s Masterpieces

So, before or after some good physical play, engage your child in some fun word play as well. As Francie demonstrated at last night’s workshop, you will both enjoy it!

Note:  The tips above are not taken from Dillon’s Giving Voice to Children’s Literature workshop. Please attend the workshop on May 3 to learn more about reading aloud effectively. Details are at www.fairytaletown.org.