Fun and games in the Kids' Park Fun and games in the Kids' Park (September 03, 2004)

Kids of all ages will be drawn to the action-packed Tishman Speyer Properties Kids' Park at the Mountain View Art & Wine Festival. Located in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot, at Church and Castro Streets, amusements include the thrill of rock climbing and chill of virtual reality motion theater to face painting and hands-on art -- a great entertainment value the whole family will enjoy.

Test your mountaineering skills on Mobile Rock's menacing 24-foot Climbing Wall where trained climbing technicians will be available to show you the ropes. The wall is color coded to assist climbers, from the youngest to the most advanced, make it to the top.

You and your friends will experience the adventure of a lifetime on Y3k Simulators computerized thrill ride. It combines wind, sound and outlandish motion, all synchronized to a breathtakingly large movie screen.

Classic Amusement's awesome, thrilling offerings are a kid's best friend. The Froghopper is a guaranteed stomach tickler, taking riders 25 feet in the air and bounce-dropping them like a frog. Their inflatables include the monster 30-foot-high Tsunami Tidal Wave Slide and the George of the Jungle Bouncer where kids can run, jump and bounce with their friends.

Stop by Friendly Felipe's bustling booth offering playful sand sculptures where kids scoop different colored sand into plastic, animal-shaped bottles. When finished, the bottles are topped off with animal heads, like frogs, alligators and tigers, and become a truly creative creature keepsake. Aspiring princesses can select from his beautiful selection of wands and crowns.

Kids can burn off some energy at Boomer's Magic Circus, a mobile obstacle course with a long tube to crawl through, a cargo net to climb up and down, slides and various noisemakers including bicycle horns, cowbells and punching bags.

The Mad Hatters are a group of active and retired teachers from Mountain View and members of Alpha Lambda. Drop by their booth and custom-build yourself a beautiful, beaded necklace, bracelet or hat. Hats are made out of newspaper and decorated with flowers, ribbons and decals.

Primary Plus will be offering face painting with kids getting their choice of animals, characters and fun designs. Visit the nice folks at SCORE! Learning Center to learn about their tutoring programs and show off your form at their basketball hoop shoot to win great prizes.

In addition to broadcasting live from the festival, KMVT will be partnering with Mountain View Kiwanis to conduct child safety fingerprinting, video identification and handing out information on Internet safety, bicycle safety and tips for a safe Halloween.

For hands-on art, kids can try their hand at several activities presented by the Community School of Music & Arts.

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