Local Wild Life at the Fair

While amusement parks and beaches provide great entertainment for your kids, entertainment is only one of the reasons to travel with children.  Travel is also a great way to introduce your kids to other parts of the world and how other people live.  My mother used to call it exposure.

As fun as Disney World may be, you don’t get a great sense of how different people live from an encounter with Mickey Mouse.

The next time you plan a family vacation, search for a local fair for a great opportunity to teach your children about local culture.

My family and I visited the Volusia County Fair in Central Florida this past weekend.  While we went for the funnel cakes and carousel rides, a trip through the exhibit halls reminded me of how much there is to learn at a county fair.

Prized Pineapple at Volusia County Fair

Locally Grown Star Fruit

In the horticulture hall, we saw rows and rows of pineapples, oranges and lemons.  We also found homegrown star fruit and sweet potatoes the size of my head.  The horticultural spread at the Florida fair was drastically different from the corn, tomatoes and soy beans we were accustomed to seeing at local fairs in Iowa.  It was interesting for the kids to see what kinds of plants and foods grow naturally in a different part of the country.

Florida Cows

Making Friends With Goats

We got another agricultural lesson in the livestock building.  Instead of rows and rows of cows and sheep, we saw cages and cages filled with a variety of chicken, geese and ducks.  While there were a handful of cows to see, there were ten times as many goats – and not a single sheep or pig in sight!

Of course, after you’ve taught your kids about what grows, lives and is eaten in the area, a county fair also offers plenty of entertainment value.

A mouthful of Fried Oreos!

Bumper Cars at the Fair

Local fairs are much easier on the wallet than a major amusement park as well.  An entire day at the fair for a family of four cost us just over $50 for admission, wristbands and a few pounds of fried sugar.

Photos by Britt Reints