A carnival for the kiddos

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Coming off a successful inaugural event, the Kids Carnival will be back in Sandpoint on Saturday, Aug. 24 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at The Granary near Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters.

The event, co-sponsored by Creations for Sandpoint, Evans Brothers and Journey Pediatric, promises to be a fun-filled carnival day with a variety of games for kids at only 25 cents per play. There will be mini-marshmallow launching, a duck pond, giant bubbles and more. Also on the slate of activities are art projects for tweens, Creations’ famous face painting and raffle drawings with lots of prizes.

Money raised during the Kids’ Carnival will go to support Creations’ new indoor treehouse and 7- to 12-year-old discovery play area currently in the works at their location inside Cedar Street Bridge.

“We received a grant to create that treehouse in October,” Creations owner Shery Meekings said. “But it’s the things around the treehouse that we need the community’s support with.”

Meekings said the treehouse will be upwards of 25 feet tall and feature two slides, a climbing wall, an interactive play area and glow-in-the-dark features inside the tree trunk.

As part of the discovery play area, Meekings said Creations plans to offer a wide variety of educational tools for kids and parents.

“We want to create the whole space as a children’s museum, but geared toward the Pacific Northwest,” Meekings said.

There will be tree identification games, a fiber optics piece explaining constellations, as well as an exhibit from the Bonner County Gardeners Association exploring varieties of plants that grow in North Idaho.

Meekings said it’s important to offer a wide variety of educationally fun tools for parents, too: “There’s a lot for parents to learn, and that’s the whole point. Parents can engage further with their children. That’s what we’re all about.”

Kids Carnival • Saturday, Aug. 24; 11 a.m.-1 p.m.; FREE admission, games cost 25 cents each. The Granary, located between Evans Brothers and Matchwood Brewing Co., creationsforsandpoint.org.