Connor made his first Kids Day appearance in 2019 when he was eleven years old with his Doodle Art

My family’s favorite part of the Central Pennsylvania Festival for the Arts is the Children and Youth Sidewalk Sale (happening this year July 10). Often referred to as “Kids Day,” Wednesday is THE day to stroll down Allen Street to check out the nearly 300 booths filled with art, crafts and creations all made by kids!

When our kids were little, we would pull them in a wagon through most of the Arts Fest sidewalk sales. We’d scoop up a bag of kettle corn from the vendor in the Sidney Friedman Park, a hub of the festival where performances, face painting and other kid friendly activities are happening. Kids Day is always hot — it’s mid July after all — so we would aim to arrive early for the 10 AM start.

Before heading home for naps, we’d swing through the water buckets or we’d cool down with a snow cone back in the parklet.

As our kids got older, we gave them each about five to ten dollars to spend, and they’d wander from tent to tent, inspecting hand-crocheted bunnies, tie-dyed trucker hats, feathered hair pins, magic wands, slime and pastel landscapes. It always feels good to put money directly in the hands of the artist — especially when the artist is a kid.

Connor signing a print

Kids Day gives kids some real practice in making decisions about spending. My youngest would like to buy from as many vendors as she could — a tiny tub of slime here, a clever pin there, a hair tie from girls she knows from swim team. Connor would look for the most extravagant thing he could find — a sculpted clay dragon with its tail wrapped around an amethyst was one such find. Will always managed to make friends with all the vendors and talk his way into steep discounts.

The bigger thing going on here when our kids were really little was showing them the possibility of being an artist — that one day they could be the maker/creator/tinkerer behind the booth. What could they dream up to make and sell?

Our oldest son, Connor, made his first Kids Day appearance in 2019 when he was eleven years old with his “Doodle Art,” as he called it then. He used pencil, ink and alcohol markers to create vibrant characters and doodles. Arts Fest didn’t happen during Covid years of 2020 or 2021, so Connor returned in 2022 with brand new art and his same recognizable style — just leveled up with cleaner lines and more intricate designs.

In 2023, Connor brought back some bestselling works from the previous year and added a couple more new pieces. He really had it dialed in and had his best year ever.

Connor is taking the year off from the festival this year, though I see a return for next year. Rose, my ten-year-old, plans to take part next summer. We will be busy in the kitchen making a big mess until then, mixing up bath bombs and body scrubs.

Connor’s Doodle Art

Here is some wisdom we’ve gathered over the years of having a booth at Kids Day:

1. Get your application in early. There are close to 300 slots for booths and the response this year was “overwhelming” and they reached capacity earlier than usual. The earlier you submit your application, the better location you will get (closer to downtown).
2. Start producing/making/sculpting/sketching months in advance. It takes time to build inventory and to test prototypes. You need to provide a description and photos of what you will be selling in the application, so it’s not the kind of thing you sign up for without a solid plan.
3. Check turnaround time with your printer. Keep in mind that local printers get backlogged leading up to Arts Fest and may need more time than usual. We love working with Jaru Inc. They have printed all of my son’s art over the years and have been so easy to work with.
4. Save your Michael’s coupons and use them wisely. We saved big bucks on picture frame bundles with those coupons, scooping up frames here and there in advance of Kids Day. One year we were scrambling for more frames and I had to run out to get more mid-fest. Lesson learned? Get more than you think you might need — you can always return them. We found that people love art that is ready to hang.
5. Bring a cash box with lots of change. For us this was a shoe box and $25 in ones to start. Venmo has also become popular, especially with folks who aren’t carrying a lot of cash.
6. Sit back and let your kid do the work. This can be hard. They have to practice talking to people, handling money, answering questions about their art, and selling! So many great life lessons happening all at once. Let your job be to keep your kid hydrated and fed (pack a cooler — it’s a long day!)
7. Have a mix of price points. Connor always had a range from $1 items (postcards) to higher priced $25 framed prints. Depending on inventory, Connor would often lower prices as the afternoon went on. We used a felt menu board to display prices, which made changing prices easy.
8. Make deals. People love a bargain. It can be good to have some bundles listed on your pricing board: $1 a postcard or five for $3.
9. Give some freebies! Connor loved being able to give some of his art away. Kids often show up with summer camps with a handful of crumpled dollars. When they’d come up short for a small framed item they just had to have, giving them a price break was one of Connor’s favorite things to do. Framed Skateboard Guy is $8 and they only have $3? Deal. The stoked looks on the kid’s face was always worth the profit loss.
10. Booth set up: It is a bring-your-own canopy tent, table and chairs situation. You will most likely have to park blocks away and haul your stuff to the 10×10 square marked with a number 1-300 they assign you. Connor would do a demo setup nights in advance of how wanted to arrange the tables and arrange his art. Kids get so creative with their booths; some of them truly feel like mini little shops.