The Cascade Children’s Festival

We had an amazing time!

I have to admit, when we first got to the festival and set up our tiny little "The Village Preschool" tent, with our home made activities and hand outs, and then looked around us at all of the amazing activities that other organizations were putting on…well, we were a little worried.

We decided to think of ourselves as “The Little Tent That Could”.

For the whole hour before the festival started I imagined spending the next 6 hours watching children run by our tent straight for the bouncy house or face painting but amazingly enough, within minutes of opening, our play-dough table and water table were both filled with kids happily playing. Most of the children stayed and played for at least 10 minutes at a time and there were only two 5 minute periods of time when both tables were empty giving me a chance to recharge. Fortunately, the event gave me the opportunity to meet lots of really cool parents living here in bend, and our booth’s popularity reassured me that I still know what little ones love to do.

Several of the families came back to our tent more than once through out the day. It was so much fun! It was great to find out more about what our local parents are looking for in a preschool. Everyone was eager to contribute their thoughts and ideas and I will definitely remember the conversations I had with both mothers and fathers that day as I plan future activities and the weekly curriculum.

We will absolutely be heading back to the festival next year.

For now, we are turning our attention to our opening day, August 1st. We are so excited and thankful for all of the support we have received from local families as well as some wonderful providers in the area. We already have some really cool families and children enrolled and feel extra optimistic about the upcoming months.