ONE RUNG AT A TIME THOUSANDS ENJOY DAY FOR KIDS.

Byline: CAROL ROCK Staff Writer

The petite blond girl, wearing an orange apron and safety goggles, carefully aimed the hammer at the wooden plank, hoping to hit the nail that would hold together the toolbox on the table in front of her.

She swung -- and hit -- as other children applied globs of wood glue, most of them aided by much taller people, some in matching aprons and many intent on helping their little ones be better builders.

``Yes, most of the building is being done by the parents, but that's the whole point -- to do things together,'' said Dave Ruddy, one of the Home Depot employees who supervised the pint-sized carpenters.

The toolboxes were among dozens of projects that children and parents could do together at the first-ever ``Day for Kids'' sponsored by the city of Santa Clarita and the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club.

Traffic around Newhall Park came to a standstill at noon as families tried to find a place to park for the free carnival and festival.

City officials had hoped to attract 2,000 people but organizer Janet Zaluda said the line of people waiting for the event to open at noon was an indication it already was a success.

``We have surpassed all our expectations,'' she said. ``We figure there are 5,000 people here, easily.

``Our whole goal in putting on this event was to promote quality time between children and adults. Doing fun activities together reminds parents of the importance of spending time with their children.''

The event was one of nearly 100 activities aimed at bringing children and parents together throughout California and in nearly 2,000 events nationwide sponsored by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

Lines snaked through the park for more than 50 different activities, and booths sponsored by local businesses or nonprofits also each offered some sort of activity.

At the booth sponsored by Hip Snipz Family Salon, Barbie Michaelsen worked on braiding 6-year-old Kristina Blackledge's hair. Other stylists spent most of the afternoon spiking or spraying psychedelic colors into the kids' tresses.

``It's crowded, but a lot of fun,'' said Angela Blackledge, who waited with her daughter for 20 minutes while stylists went to get more supplies.

Like most parents, she was loaded with a plastic bag of giveaways, from stickers to crafts to candy -- all donated by dozens of merchants.

Waiting behind Blackledge, Sendhil Ramasamy and Shyam Raghavan stood with their 4-year-old daughters Madhamidha and Namitha, who were bouncing with excitement.

``This is like a field trip,'' Sendhil said, smiling. ``The kids get to mingle with new kids and we get to meet people.''

``The balloons were the best,'' Madhamidha shouted.

Namitha picked the Kellogg's Try-Athahlon obstacle course as her favorite, where mascot Tony the Tiger encouraged participants to jump and play with their parents.

The California Highway Patrol sponsored a non-vehicle-centered activity, cheering on children frantically gyrating to Dance Dance Revolution.

Food offerings leaned toward healthy, with fast-food giant McDonald's giving away fresh apples, water and exercise DVDs while Whole Foods passed out vegetable sticks and organic cotton candy.

A fan of the organic offerings was Ferguson, a skunk from the Placerita Nature Center who munched on grapes popped into his cage by volunteer Heidi Webber.

Most of the children approached his cage with trepidation, fearing a smelly encounter.

The real wild crowd was wrapped around Fergie's traveling companion, Graham the Burmese python, who spent the day surrounded by kids eager to touch the 6-foot snake.

Performances by the Santa Clarita Ballet Folklorico and the all-girl rock group On the Marquee highlighted the afternoon. In addition, each child was given give tickets for raffles for backpacks, bikes, a laptop computer, Game Boys and an Xbox.

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

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5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Dillon Smith, 5, of Saugus tries to climb a horizontal rope ladder during the Boys & Girls Club Day for Kids carnival held at Newhall Park on Saturday afternoon. Below, Lilly Firmin, 5, of Saugus smiles as she returns to the ground after attempting the rock-climbing wall during the carnival.

(3 -- 5) Lollipop the Clown, top, paints a dragon on the arm of a child during the Boys & Girls Club Day for Kids carnival held at Newhall Park on Saturday afternoon. At left, kids gather round an 18-year-old Burmese python from the Placerita Nature Center. Above, Jeremy Aguirre, 7, of North Hills is focused on building his toolbox at one of the craft booths.

Alex Collins/Special to the Daily News