Back-to-School Fair Prepares Kids

The fourth annual Back-to-School Fair attracted 2,500 visitors to the Glazer Children's Museum on Saturday to provide kids with school supplies and a playful atmosphere.

Parents and kids were lined up around the block along Ashley Drive in downtown Tampa on Saturday morning to take advantage of Tampa Bay Parenting Magazine's gifts to area youths. A goodie bag of pencils, organizers, rulers and packets with information about after school programs was a bonus for the kids, who enjoyed bouncing from play aparatus to entertainment exhibit.

"Our goal is to give families a way to learn about programs in their schools, activities after school or tutoring programs," Tampa Bay Parenting's Director of Events Krayl Funch said. "It gives us an opportunity to bring out our partners in the community as well as advertisers so they can be a part of it."

Representatives from local businesses that cater to kids were on hand to provide entertainment and educate parents about a variety of topics, from healthier diet choices to after school entertainment options.

This is the first year the event has been held at the Glazer Childrens Museum, a relationship that the magazine benefited from for this event.

"We've had a great relationship with relationship with the Children's Museum since they opened but we're very happy to have held this event here because people came from Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas County," Funch said. "This is the most successful Back-to-School Fair we've done yet."

For parents, the chance to get out with their kids to do something fun and receive a free bag of school supplies made deciding what to do with their Saturday easy.

"It's good to get out with the kids and do something they enjoy instead me just going fishing," father of two Andre Days said. "I think it's good that they're doing this and any excuse to bring the kids to the Children's Museum is good for me because they love coming here."