6 ways to have fun at the All Kids Fair in Melville this weekend

The annual All Kids Fair returns to the Hilton Long Island in Melville on April 6 after three years at Samanea New York in Westbury.

"It’s much more self-contained, so it’s easier for people to navigate," expo director Barbara Kaplan says of the hotel venue. "Everybody there is there for the event. This is our space."

More than 80 vendors are expected to have booths touting their summer camps, play places, after-school programs, birthday party venues, activities for children with disabilities and more. Free sample classes, for kids up to age 15, will be offered in martial arts, chess, fashion design, fencing and more. The fair typically draws more than 2,000 people, Kaplan says.

Two bounce houses, face painters, a balloon animal creator and princess and Spider hero characters will be present. Weather permitting, an outdoor petting zoo will feature sheep, goats, bunnies and more from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Food offerings will include How U Dogin' food truck selling hot dogs and more and Emily’s Apple Puffs selling deserts such as fried Oreos. Other treats will include cake pops, Italian ices, lemonade and pretzels, Kaplan says.

Here are six activities included with event admission:

Sing karaoke style

Children can belt out Disney songs from "Frozen," hits from the "Wicked" soundtrack, even "Baby Shark" on the Rolling Raoke Mobile Karaoke Lounge party bus that will be parked at the event. Fifteen to 30 kids can fit on board, says owner Kevin Bowker, of Ronkonkoma. Bowker launched the party business last summer after he sold his transportation company. "Seven to 12 years old is our wheelhouse," he says. "We have thousands of songs." The bus windows open on one side on nice days, and the bus has air conditioning and heaters.

Delve into fashion design

The Fashionable Stylista, a Syosset-based fashion design academy, will be offering three 45-minute introductions to fashion illustration sessions back-to-back for ages second through sixth grade. Classes will be at 1:45, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. and can accommodate 12 to 16 students each on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants will design an item based on a theme and sew something on a sewing machine, most likely a pouch, says owner Marcela Pinzon. "I’m going to run it like a classroom setting so they’ll get an idea of how we do our classes and our camps," Pinzon says.

Cuddle a puppy

Puppy Party brings three-to-five-month-old Pomeranians, Shih Tzus, Yorkies and other breeds to children’s parties so kids can cuddle with them, dress them in puppy apparel, play tug of war and take selfies with them. Six pups will be at the All Kids Fair, rotating three at a time for hugs and petting, says Puppy Party owner David Dietz.

Challenge the brain

Exceed Learning Center will be offering three sessions — 1:30 p.m. chess, 2:30 p.m. Abacus Mental Math and 3:30 p.m. art. Those are geared toward ages 5 to 12 and are mini versions of classes offered by the Albertson center, says owner Olga Binyaminov.

Learn to dress like Darth Vader

The 501st Legion, Empire City Garrison, whose members dress as the villains of Star Wars, will be hosting two panels, one at 10:30 a.m. and the other at 12:30 p.m., showing people how they put together their "100% screen-accurate costumes," says commanding officer Justin Weiss, 53, of East Meadow. "Our motto is ‘Bad Guys Doing Good’," Weiss says, explaining that the members dress up and visit children’s hospitals and raise money for charities.

En garde!

Students and a coach from New York Fencing Academy will offer three 45-minute sessions at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., says Sergey Danilov, co-owner of the academy and head coach at its Port Washington location. "We’re going to be doing a presentation which will include basic moves of fencing and basic rules," he says. If there’s time, children will also be able to give it a try, he says. New York Fencing Academy gives group classes and private lessons.

By Beth Whitehouse

beth.whitehouse@newsday.comBethWhitehouse1

Beth Whitehouse writes about families, parenting and great things to do with the kids on Long Island. She’s been a Newsday editor and shared a 1997 Newsday staff Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the crash of TWA Flight 800.