Fun at Kaleidoscope at Historical Crossroads Village

Every year our local newspaper features a children's play day at a local tourist attraction called Historical Crossroads Village.  The event is called Kaleidoscope and our family has attended it each year with our children and then our grandchildren for probably at least 25 years now.  This year my husband Larry and I  took our 38 year old handicapped daughter Tracy and our 3 1/2 year old grandson Jamell.  The event is free for the entire family with a coupon from the newspaper but the catch is that you can only get in free by bringing one or more children.  Thus the need to borrow a grandchild to be able to go! 

The village is a recreation of an 1800's village from our area, complete with an old train called the Huckleberry Railroad and a large paddle wheel boat called the Genesee Belle.  Both are available for rides for a price.  There are also restored 1800's rides like a carousel, ferris wheel, Venitian swing, pony carts, and a miniature train for the little kids.  The village is scattered with small restaurants and a few vender's carts selling things like roasted nuts.  The downtown area has shops with souvenirs, jams, jellies, toys, games, towels, aprons, postcards, etc.  In the middle of downtown is the Opera House where shows are offered, such a magic shows and folk music shows. The buildings in the village include an old time bank, barber shop, print shop, tin and leather shop, carriage shop, blacksmith shop, cider mill, grist mill, ice house, sawmill, dentist's office, stores, barn, meeting hall, warehouse, doctor's office, and several restored old houses.  Near the barn there are cows, sheep, and chickens.  There are demonstrations of cow milking and sheep sheering and chicken feeding.

For Kaleidoscope, there are many children's activities set up. These include face painting, balloon making, painting pictures on large sheets of paper, making newspaper hats, parachute play, getting arm tattoos, fun with bubbles, story telling, and musical entertainment.  Our grandson and the other children at the play day were having a great deal of fun, smiling, giggling, and hopping up and down excitedly.  It was a very hot day, in the 90's and humid, but that didn't slow down the kids.  It was amusing to watch the kids on the rides such as the rather fast carousel.  Some kids were having great fun, laughing and squealing in joy, and others had looks of terror on their red, tear streaked faces.  Our grandson got a little bit scared on the ferris wheel but he didn't cry and said he enjoyed the ride afterwards.  He loved the other rides.

After our fun at the village, we went to a restaurant to eat.  When we got home, one very tired grandson went right to sleep for a nap and slept for hours.  He'd had a lot of fun but he was just plain worn out!