The Everything Kids Expo – hosted on Sunday, November 9 at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum – was chock full of goodies, games, music, shopping and more educational yet fun activities for the hundreds of families from across Brooklyn and Queens, who came to enjoy an afternoon together.
“This is the longest she’s ever stood still,” chuckled Melinda Gonzalez, a Bed-Stuy mom of two-year-old Ana, who was practicing balancing a red clown nose on her face and head, with help from visiting clown Tanya from the Big Apple Circus.
“We come [to the museum] often and this event was a nice surprise,” said Derek Yee of Whitestone, Queens, whose three and one-year-old daughters danced along to the music of the Kidville Rockin Railroad band, who were brought by one of the Kids Expo vendors, Kidville Williamsburg.
“Music enriches the lives of everybody and inspires them to make music a part of their lives,” noted musician Alec Gross.
“This is important to enhance the life of children, even if for just one hour,” added Kidville Williamsburg owners Lorraine and Galo Erazo. “My oldest son has autism and he was taught with lots of interaction and floor time, literacy games, and play and learning that go together. We know it works because our other two boys benefitted from a halo-effect of being around his sensory and other therapies.”
Health and safety were also on the agenda, with HealthPlus giving out goody bags of health insurance information and trinkets, PM Pediatrics offering useful gifts like portable hand sanitizer, and Hanson Place Orthodontics showing kids how properly to brush their teeth and take care of their smiles.
“We wanted to be a part of the community and reach out because we believe that every child deserves a beautiful smile,” said Yo Thaler, marketing coordinator at Hanson Place Orthodontics.
Other exhibitors included Kumon, Bright Horizons, Green Mountain Energy, Smoochie Baby, Girl Scouts, Glam Mom NY, WellCare Health Plans, the Noel Pointer Foundation, Park Slope Day Camp, Luna Park, Matchpoint NYC, Sensory Heights.
The event was sponsored by the Brooklyn Home Reporter, Brooklyn Spectator, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, National Grid, PM Pediatrics, The Modern Family Center, Frankie’s Carnival Time.
One lucky family also won a 4 night/5 day stay to Cancun, donated by The Creative Group, LLC.
