Kauai Parent and Child Fair returns Saturday with early-childhood resources

Parents walking into Kukui Grove Center in Līhue on Saturday can leave with more than entertainment. The Kauai Parent and Child Fair runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will pack free health screenings, educational materials, a car-seat check, diaper support and access to more than 30 early-childhood agencies into one morning for families with keiki from birth through kindergarten.

The fair is built around practical needs that can add up fast for Kauai households. Booths will include E Ola Na Keiki, Kamehameha Schools, the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities, Children with Special Health Needs, the Hawaii State Department of Health, the Hawaii State Department of Education, Nā Keiki Kollective and the Little Babes Club. Families will be able to ask about early childhood education, safety precautions and services for children with disabilities while gathering information that can help with child development, childcare planning and school readiness.

Several services are designed to meet immediate needs. Hoola Lahui Hawaii will be on site with a mobile clinic, and certified technicians will provide a free child passenger safety car-seat check. The fair will also offer child safety materials and free resources tied to health screenings and educational handouts, giving caregivers a chance to update their own information while checking whether a child needs follow-up support.

Diaper costs remain another pressure point for many families, and the fair will connect them to the Aloha Diaper Bank in partnership with Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies. Free diapers will be available, but families must complete an online application first. That makes the fair useful not just as a place to pick up supplies, but as a place to start a process that can ease a recurring household expense.

The event also carries a longer Kauai history. It grew out of Aunty Jeannie Odo’s vision of connecting families with keiki ages 0 to 8 to early-childhood education resources, and it was inspired by the former DOE Sequenced Transition to Education in the Public Schools program that once ran at Kukui Grove Center for 17 years before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the fair drew 200 families representing nearly 1,000 community members across Kauai, underscoring how many island households now treat it as a one-stop stop for early-childhood support.

Saturday’s fair will also include keiki entertainment all day, with performances from Punana Leo Keiki, Kauai Dance House, Showtime Characters, the Kapaa Middle School Choir and Gaither, plus free open play at Little Babes Club sponsored by Family Hui Hawaii. An event passport will give families a chance to move through the booths and win instant prizes, including gift certificates for Kilohana Plantation Railway, the Pineapple Shack, The Beach House Restaurant and a Napali Snorkel Sail for two from Holo Holo Charters.