Ohio Valley Filk Fest 24

Parental Responsibility

Guests of OVFF should be aware that OVFF Children's Programming is not a baby-sitting service, and that legally we cannot take responsibility for your children. We also count on parent and guest volunteers to help supervise and assist in running activites.

We would like to thank the many wonderful people who have provided this service in the past, and hope the community will continue to support us in our attempts to make OVFF a wonderful experience for filkers of ALL ages.

Kids In Tow
Kids in Tow will, of course, be with you or another designated adult at all times. For additional security, in case of accidental separation, you may want to consider equipping the child with a photo of his or her adults. This might be a laminated card diaper-pinned to clothing, a t-shirt with an iron-on transfer, a button, a temporary tattoo, or anything else you can imagine. The reason for suggesting photographic identification is the possibility that not everybody at the convention will know you by name.

Kids in tow are welcome to enjoy the KidSpace facilities with their own adult. Please remember, however, that most of KidSpace is designed for school-aged children and we cannot guarantee that it is free of choking hazards.

Registered Children
Registered children, like adults, will wear membership badges while attending convention activities. Just to be safe, consider filling out the back of the badge with names and contact numbers (mobile phone, ideally) of adults who are prepared to deal with anything from discipline problems to medical emergencies. Also consider adding the number of the child's hotel room.

Allergies
In general, children in KidSpace independently are expected to be able to manage their own allergies and routine care; if this is not the case, they should have an adult on hand for their safety. Any life-threatening food allergies must be conveyed to the children's programming co-ordinator as soon as possible, but at this point the best we are likely to be able to do is warn you away from certain things. The co-ordinator of children's programming uses a service dog to mitigate the effects of a disability. As such, the dog will be present in the KidSpace area almost all of the time. If your child needs medication to control dog allergies, please plan ahead.

Drugs
Drugs and other medical interventions are wonderful things. If you intend your child to have such things in the KidSpace area, they must be under your child's physical control at all times so that no other child can accidentally access them. If this is impractical, medication should be retained by your child's responsible adults or be left in the hotel room. KidSpace staff cannot be responsible for any child's medication or therapy.

Swimming
KidSpace staff will be running two pool parties this year. Although there will be adult supervision at the pool parties, there is no certified life guard.

If your child is a weak swimmer or a non-swimmer, consider packing your own assistive technology. This includes water wings, PFDs, or swimsuits with flotation materials included. We suggest that, at a minimum, a child in the pool alone without assistive technology should be able to float on her or his back for some time without panic and should be able to swim a short distance to the edge of the pool. Suitable swimming attire is required for anybody who will be in the pool.

Behaviour
Children whose behaviour threatens their own safety or the safety and reasonable enjoyment of other children will be required to have a responsible adult with them when in KidSpace. This adult will be expected to coach the child to control problematic behaviour patterns. Children who cannot safely participate in KidSpace even with this support may be excluded.

Children with Disabilities
If your child has a disability that might affect his or her enjoyment of KidSpace, please contact Bookwyrm to discuss what reasonable accommodations can be provided or integrated into the KidSpace setting. Remember that the earlier you contact us, the more adaptations are likely to be readily achievable.

Contests

Name That Grundo!
You may have seen this creature around KidSpace. It's a type of Neopet called a Grundo, and has been hired as a mascot.

Currently, it has no name, nor are we even sure whether it's a girl or a boy. One of this year's contests is to name the mascot. The name must be clean, and not taken by any other pet on the Neopets system. The winning name will be decided on Sunday, and the winner will receive a hat and t-shirt featuring the mascot. Whatever its name is.

Grundo copyright 2000-2008 Neopets, Inc.
All RightsReserved. Used With Permission

Nanofiction
What is nanofiction? Nanofiction is very short fiction ­ exactly 55 words! Give it a shot, and enter it in our nanofiction contest.

Each entry must contain the following four elements: 1) a setting, 2) one or more characters, 3) conflict, and 4) resolution. Plus of course, the whole thing can only be 55 words long, not counting the title, which must be no more than 7 words long.

Judging will be on Sunday; winners will get prizes!

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Schedule

Drop-In; Friday, 14:00 ­ 21:00
The entire drop-in activity roster has changed this year. We have colouring, costumes for dress-up, board games, and books to read! For toddlers, we even have a few toys that are safe for kids under three! Drop-in will be open from two on Friday (though if you show up that early, you might be put to work helping set up!)

Craft: Badge Decorating; Friday, 15:00
Tired of being stabbed when the pin back of your badge pops open again? Come in early and decorate a badge holder that clips on rather than pinning. We have glitter, jewels, stickers (lots of alphabet stickers), beads, and more to make your badge holder unique!

Craft: Hat Decorating; Friday, 17:00
At the Dormouse Tea Party, hats are de rigeur. You forgot your hat at home? Oh no! Whatever will you do?

Come in early, of course, and choose one of our selection of plain hats to decorate before the party. Whew. What a relief!

Dormouse Tea Party; Friday, 19:00
This is the tea party the adults wish they could attend! (They can't, unless they bring a kid with them.) Come in for tea (hot or iced, in several flavours), tiny sandwiches, cookies, and cupcakes. Bring your teddy bear or other doll or stuffed animal and don't forget to wear a hat!

Democracy Discussion; Friday, 20:00
Do you realise that there is no minimum age to vote for the Pegasus Awards? Listen to clips and discuss your picks with your peers. Also on the schedule: The choice of movies for tomorrow night.

Role-Playing Games; Friday, 21:00

Drop-in; Saturday, 9:00-20:00
From nine in the morning until Movie Night starts at eight, the drop-in activities will be available for kids who drop in. Play chess, or checkers, or backgammon? How about dress-up with our costumes? The Potato Head family, in the toddler corral, also has costumes; they can be a Star Wars storm trooper, Spider Man, Darth Vader, a princess, or even R2-D2!

Boomwhacker Workshop; Saturday, 10:00
What's a Boomwhacker? It's a totally tubular percussion instrument. What can you do with one? You've got me. Let's figure it out together in this workshop.

Story Time: A Funny Thing; Saturday, 11:00
A classic children's story by Wanda Gág. The Funny Thing is an "aminal" who eats nothing but dolls until the good little man of the mountains gets him to taste the jum jills.

After the story, there will be a snack of nut pudding and seed cakes, like the ones in the story. No jum-jills, though.

Cookie Decorating; Saturday, 12:00
Back by popular demand! Decorate cookies, have your photo taken with them, then eat them.

Talking to Aliens; Saturday, 13:00
Star Trek has a Universal Translator. The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Universe has a Babelfish. The Lensmen have Translation Disks. Very convenient, but you know that when we really meet aliens, talking to them won't be so simple. In this challenge, your mission is to get an alien partner to perform a series of actions using only a combination of sketches and gestures while they try to get you to complete theirs.

Pirate Pool Party; Saturday, 14:00
Swim! Frolic! Splash! Salvage doubloons from sunken ships! It's a Piratical Pool Party! Non-swimmers and poor swimmers must have one-on-one adult supervision or a parent-supplied PFD; there is no life guard on duty.

Treasure Hunt!
So last year's treasure hunt was too easy, me hearties? Try this year's, for a more challenging project. Assemble your crew and work together to puzzle out the map and locate the hidden treasure, then portion it out to those who participated. Yo-ho!

Pirate Carnival; Saturday, 15:00
Back in the main KidSpace room, there's a Pirate Carnival! There are carnival games highlighting such piratical skills as grappling another ship, using a cannonball to sink enemies, and getting a pirate up to the crow's nest . . . not to mention luck with a treasure map and craftsmanship in building your own treasure chest. Spend your dozen activity tickets wisely, and you may just take home some piratical prizes!

Pirate Pizza Party; Saturday, 18:00
To wrap up the carnival, we have an exciting Pirate Pizza Party while adults have to scrounge for themselves or sit through the Pegasus Awards Banquet. Roll out the dough and top your personal piratical pizza with plentiful plunder!

Movie Night in KidSpace; Saturday, 20:00
We heard you! Last year, you told me that it was hard to hear a movie over other kids playing, and the lights interfered with viewing the screen. No more! At eight o'clock, we close down the drop-in area, dim the lights, and break out the popcorn for Movie Night in KidSpace! What's showing? That depends on you! Fill out a ballot and drop it in the box by seven o'clock, and vote for your choice of the movies we have available.

The first of our double feature will be safe for younger children to watch. We'll have a brief stretch break while the youngest get taken up to bed by their parents, then a second film will be shown.

Drop-in; Sunday, 9:00-16:00
The same drop-in activities as Saturday are available today from nine o'clock until the bulk of the con goes off for dinner at the Mongolian Grill.

Sundae School; Sunday, 10:00
Filk conventions are educational! Learn about the history and process of ice cream, and make your own sundae for breakfast! Come on . . . milk, jam, a bit of sugar . . . sounds healthier than most kids' cereals, to me!

Contest Judging and Talk Back; Sunday, 11:00
This is when we judge the KidSpace contests. Who wrote the best 55-word story? What will we name the mascot? What was good and bad in KidSpace programming and events this year? This is your chance to tell us!

Low Gravity Simulator; Sunday, 12:00
How does NASA simulate low gravity environments on earth? They can either put an expensive plane in a dive, or work in a swimming pool. Guess which one we'll be doing?

Sorry; the ConCom wouldn't approve the budget for a private jet. On the plus side, we do have another pool party!