Kidz Explore
We took the family to Kidz Explore this weekend. We had recently heard about this event and it seemed like a fun family thing to do on a Saturday morning. Overall, we had a decent time. However it wasn't what we were expecting or hoping for. I doubt we'll go next year.
The best part of the event was the balloon artist! The girls requested princess balloons and Spencer ended up with a flower balloon. Yeah, that cost a few bucks out of the wallet!
Here is Abby & Cinderella and Ellie & Sleeping Beauty.
Balloons were in abundance at this event. Everywhere we turned an exhibitor was handing out balloons. At least they were free and at least we were able to limit the quantity we came home with. Only to later discover that a few more may not have been such a bad idea.
Ellie decided to see how many balloons it took to make her Sleeping Beauty fly. We attached the three balloons we had and Sleeping Beauty descended slowly over our staircase with grace... instead of plummeting the 15 feet like a sky diver without a parachute.
I think both Carie and I were expecting it to be more of a "kid" event and less of an "adult" event... hence the name "Kidz Explore". Sure, the exhibitors had kids’ activities. But we were expecting it to be more grandiose kids’ activities and only kids’ activities... or things pertaining specifically to kids. After all, this wasn't the Home and Garden show.
There were many dentist offices represented, and that seemed fitting. Several of the booths had a tooth fairy handing out free stuff. I know we collected at least a dozen new toothbrushes! The booth that I liked the best had a (yes, only one for hundreds of kids) big set of chompers and a huge tooth brush for the kids to practice their brushing skills. The dental hygienists talked with the kids about how many times they should brush and for how long. Then they walked away with suckers. Just kidding!
The ladies at the Mary Kay booth, for instance, doctored up a folding chair to look like a princess chair and they kids got to put on lip gloss. Sure they had some product there, but limited to the free lotion they were offering to the parents as their children were getting pampered in the princess chair and a few gift baskets they were raffling off. That was it! They did collect leads but they weren't pushing product or taking the parents time and attention away from their kids. For an exhibitor, to me they seemed to be right on target.
There was another booth, Arbonne, who had a nice display of their products and a nice art easel in the middle of their booth... so a child could walk up, make a mark amongst many other marks, and move on. But they were using it as a tool to entertain the kids while they made a pushy sales pitch to the parents. Umm... do you see that my young child whose strapped into his stroller really isn't interested in me paying attention to you instead of him??? It felt like they, and so many other exhibitors, missed the mark. Maybe we went with the wrong intentions?
Thankfully our expectations were confirmed by another parent. They also had seen the advertisements hyping it up. They also had expectations of what it would be. They hadn't yet gone and we just saved them a wad of cash.
They did have several bounce houses scattered throughout the convention center, face painting (that we only found right before we needed to leave), and ice skating that didn't appear to be open when we arrived but discovered on our way out... and there was no option but to leave, Spencer had completely had it by that point.
Bottom line; lose the exhibits that don't directly pertain to kids and family and this event may be of interest.
The best part of the event was the balloon artist! The girls requested princess balloons and Spencer ended up with a flower balloon. Yeah, that cost a few bucks out of the wallet!
Here is Abby & Cinderella and Ellie & Sleeping Beauty.
Balloons were in abundance at this event. Everywhere we turned an exhibitor was handing out balloons. At least they were free and at least we were able to limit the quantity we came home with. Only to later discover that a few more may not have been such a bad idea.
Ellie decided to see how many balloons it took to make her Sleeping Beauty fly. We attached the three balloons we had and Sleeping Beauty descended slowly over our staircase with grace... instead of plummeting the 15 feet like a sky diver without a parachute.
I think both Carie and I were expecting it to be more of a "kid" event and less of an "adult" event... hence the name "Kidz Explore". Sure, the exhibitors had kids’ activities. But we were expecting it to be more grandiose kids’ activities and only kids’ activities... or things pertaining specifically to kids. After all, this wasn't the Home and Garden show.
There were many dentist offices represented, and that seemed fitting. Several of the booths had a tooth fairy handing out free stuff. I know we collected at least a dozen new toothbrushes! The booth that I liked the best had a (yes, only one for hundreds of kids) big set of chompers and a huge tooth brush for the kids to practice their brushing skills. The dental hygienists talked with the kids about how many times they should brush and for how long. Then they walked away with suckers. Just kidding!
The ladies at the Mary Kay booth, for instance, doctored up a folding chair to look like a princess chair and they kids got to put on lip gloss. Sure they had some product there, but limited to the free lotion they were offering to the parents as their children were getting pampered in the princess chair and a few gift baskets they were raffling off. That was it! They did collect leads but they weren't pushing product or taking the parents time and attention away from their kids. For an exhibitor, to me they seemed to be right on target.
There was another booth, Arbonne, who had a nice display of their products and a nice art easel in the middle of their booth... so a child could walk up, make a mark amongst many other marks, and move on. But they were using it as a tool to entertain the kids while they made a pushy sales pitch to the parents. Umm... do you see that my young child whose strapped into his stroller really isn't interested in me paying attention to you instead of him??? It felt like they, and so many other exhibitors, missed the mark. Maybe we went with the wrong intentions?
Thankfully our expectations were confirmed by another parent. They also had seen the advertisements hyping it up. They also had expectations of what it would be. They hadn't yet gone and we just saved them a wad of cash.
They did have several bounce houses scattered throughout the convention center, face painting (that we only found right before we needed to leave), and ice skating that didn't appear to be open when we arrived but discovered on our way out... and there was no option but to leave, Spencer had completely had it by that point.
Bottom line; lose the exhibits that don't directly pertain to kids and family and this event may be of interest.
Labels: Family
posted by Sonya at 5:07 PM
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