The 19th Annual Toddler Fest with the Greene County Libraries Association (GCLA) is coming up this Saturday.

Jefferson Youth Services Librarian and Coordinator for Toddler Fest, Bailey Mount, says kids two to five years old and their families are invited to participate from 10am-noon at the Greene County Community Center in Jefferson. She states that there are 11 interactive stations for kids to experience, along with the main mascot of Paddington Bear. She notes that they have added a new musical instrument station.

“For our kids that can crawl and just kind of like to smack stuff, this’ll be perfect for them because we’re planning on using some of the GCLA collaborative funding to get those piano mats. I’m really excited for that one.” 

Mount also describes another new part for this year’s Toddler Fest will be an outdoor area for older children.

“One thing that we’ve noticed, we’ve tried really hard to be cognizant of community feedback and guys, it’s multi-child households. You’re going to bring your older kids. If it’s two to five (year olds) you’re not going to leave your six or seven year old home alone. And we get that and we’re responding to that by creating an outdoor area for them with some outdoor games, sidewalk chalk, obstacle course kind of situation.”

Mount adds in case of inclement weather, a modified version for the older children area will be inside the community center. She says that this event is free and no registration is required, as the Greene County Board of Supervisors are co-sponsoring the program as well. Additionally, Raccoon Valley Radio’s Big Red Radio will also be on hand to play music and broadcast live from 10am-noon.