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County Fair fun for kids

Little girl is helped from the carousel by her mother.
Little boy shooting hoops at the county fair.
The county fair fun includes games that are addictive and hard to win. This basketball game is no exception.

County fair fun and games

“I want to play  basketball! It’s my sport!  I can do it.  It’s easy!  Not sure why I keep missing… I just need to make a basket.”

”I want a snack.  Can I have popcorn?  Is there chocolate?  I really like chocolate.  Look — chocolate cookies!  With sprinkles”

”They have Star Wars hats!  And Pokémon!”

“Can I get a princess cape?  Or a purse?  Maybe a backpack.  It goes with my earmuffs and my shoes.”

The county fair fun has a beautifully detailed and atmospheric carousel.
The county fair fun includes a beautifully detailed and atmospheric carousel.

What to ride at the county fair

”The cars are my favorite. Will you go with me?  Or the train.  That’s my favorite too.  Look! The carousel — I love the horses.  Maybe there’s a unicorn.  If there’s a unicorn, I want to ride it!”

“What ride can I ride?  Is there a maze?  Maybe a slide.  I don’t know if I like the slide.  My leg hurts from the slide last time.  What’s that spinning ride?  Is it scary?  I don’t know what ride I want to go on.  Not the rollercoaster.  That looks too scary.  I didn’t like the Ferris wheel last time.  Oh I can’t decide.  Definitely not the roller coaster.”

Little girl is helped from the carousel by her mother after a county fair fun ride.
After riding the carousel, it is time to leave to the immediate requests to “do it again.”

”I want to do the bungy jumpie.  There’s the bungy jumpy!  We can wait!”

“I could ride the cat.  Or the leopard.  There’s even a dragon.  It doesn’t go up and down though.  It’s better when it goes up and down.  The horse with the flag!  Or the roses!”

 

"Unicorn popcorn": multicolored candy popcorn frozen by nitroglycerin.
The theme at the county fair was candy and the unique food items were unicorn themed. This was “unicorn popcorn”: multicolored candy popcorn frozen by nitroglycerin.

Nitro popcorn

“I see rainbow-colored popcorn!  Is it on fire?  It’s smoking!  Why does the popcorn do that?”

”Unicorn popcorn?  Do unicorns eat popcorn?”

”Can we buy a unicorn?  I always wanted a unicorn.  Or an otter.”

”Is it almost lunchtime?  Are we eating here?  I want to eat here.  The popcorn was really good.  I’m hungry.  Maybe we can get a snack? I like hot dogs.  Can we get strawberries?  And some candy.  Unicorn candy to go with the unicorn popcorn!”

”I want a hamburger.  No cheese.  No mustard or onions or pickles or tomatoes.  I don’t want any salad.  Strawberries are good. Or pears. Or watermelon.  But not that other melon.  I like oranges and apples too.  Can you cut them up?”

A slice of county fair fun for kids: enjoying the carousel in altered color.
A slice of county fair fun for kids: enjoying the carousel in altered color.
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Conversations between Kids on the Swings

Flying high on the swings.
Conversations between kids while chatting and twisting the swings.
Kids chatting and twisting the swings.

Playground conversations between kids captured in kid-attracting sunlit candy tones.

Recent conversations between kids while playing at the park.

“Is that a dog?  I like dogs.  But I like cats better.  Especially our cat.  He’s so cute!”

“I think it is a dog.  Maybe it’s a coyote.  Do you think it’s a coyote?  Don’t they look like dogs?”

“Maybe it’s a horse.  We see lots of horses.”

“It’s because of the stables.”

“I like the trails and the hills.  Mostly the flowers.  And the butterflies.”

“I found some cool rocks.  Think we can polish them?  Also, I have a really good stick.  I want to save it but not inside.  Do coyotes like sticks as much as dogs do?”

 

Conversations between kids while also teaching how to twist the swings.
Conversations between Kids while also teaching how to twist the swings.

Discussing the best swinger

“I’m the champion swing twister in my school.  In my class at least.  This is how I do it.  You have to twist like this and then it goes for a really long time.”

“I like twisting too.  The swings on our playground are different and don’t twist as well.  Matthew twisted himself into the swings and fell down and didn’t even cry.  Then we had to go back inside so I didn’t try it and then I collected sand toys later.”

“Usually this works for a really long time.  I think these swings are different. But I still like swinging.  And the trails.  Maybe we can go to the pool later.  And have some ice cream.  We still have ice cream, right?  Ice cream is my favorite dessert.”

Conversations between kids: how many ways to use the swings?
More conversations between kids: how many ways to use the swings?

Conversations about Numbers and dogs

“I’m good at lots of things at school.  I’m really good at reading but my favorite subject is math.”
“Yeah, me too.  I’m good at math.  1 plus 4 is …. 5.  3 plus 5 is … 7.  No, wait — it’s 8.”

“Yeah well, I can multiply.  I like multiplying by 5.  It’s really easy.”

“I haven’t learned that yet.  But I can draw cats really well.  Especially smiling cats.  They like jumping.  And sleeping.”

“I still think we should get a dog.  I would walk it every day.  Maybe twice a day.  Or some fish.  Could we take the dog to the pool?  Dogs like to swim?  I’m a really good swimmer.  I’m faster than Josh.  Sometimes I run faster than he does too.  And I can build ninjas with legos better.  And faster.  Maybe we could build a city later.  And a car and an airplane.  Something cool that looks like a robot.”

“I’ll make a kitty to ride in the car.  Who is purple and can drive.”

 

Flying high on the swings.
Flying high on the swings.

Gatorade and Popsicles

“I’m higher than the house!  Higher than the whole world!”

“When do we go home?  It’s hot and I want to read my book.”

“I’m so high I’m in the sky!”

“I’m tired of drinking water.  Can I have some Gatorade when we get home?  I hope we have the orange kind.”

“I’m too high!  I need to get down!”

“That’s my favorite Gatorade.  The blue kind.  Also blue Popsicles.  No actually, the orange ones.”

“Thanks for getting me down.  I love swinging so high.  I was so high I could see the clouds and the bees.”

“Maybe I’ll have a blue Popsicle and orange Gatorade.”

“I like pink Gatorade.  No, pink lemolade.  Do we have lemolade?”