8th Annual Wai‘anae Coast Keiki Spring Fest April 29, 2013

On April 26, 2013 Partners in Development Foundation’s Ka Pa‘alana Homeless Family Education Program participated in the 8th Annual Wai‘anae Coast Keiki Spring Fest. This FREE and FUN event featured service providers and programs that service families with keiki ages 0-5 in all communities between Kahe and Ka‘ena Point.

Children and caregivers had an opportunity to participate in and learn more about preschool services, kindergarten registration, community resources, parent and keiki activities, hearing/vision screening, dental check-ups, and much more. Representatives from the Honolulu Fire Department, Book Mobile, Ka‘ala Farms, Vision Bus and Ocean Safety were on hand giving demonstrations and helpful tips. New York Life provided a station where children could make their own identification cards. Door prizes, snacks, and even lunch was provided free of cost. Families went home with bags of goodies and priceless smiles.

At the Ka Pa‘alana table, keiki had a rare opportunity to stimulate their senses by playing with Insta-Snow. The children were so engrossed in the activity that parents inquired about this phenomenon and asked, “Where do you buy that?” While many enjoyed the Insta-Snow, other caregivers completed Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) for a chance to win one of several Ka Pa‘alana gift baskets. The questionnaires are age-specific and designed to help parents check their child’s development. Although the gift baskets were nice incentives, many parents completed the questionnaire to gain more information on how their child is progressing in areas such as: communication, gross and fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social skills. Parents who were interested in learning more about how they can support their children’s development signed up to have
Ka Pa‘alana Home Visitors and Assessment Specialists follow up with them at a later time.

Mahalo to all the families that came out to enjoy this day and took advantage of the many benefits this event had to offer, and to the service providers and the Keiki Spring Fest planning committee that made this event a successful one.