FOR THE KIDS : It’s Art for Fun’s Sake at Festival in Ventura : The Children’s Celebration lets youngsters enjoy themselves while learning about culture.

Your kid probably never created a sand painting, made a roly-poly doll, or danced a Middle Eastern dance. All the more reason to go to the Children’s Celebration of the Arts Festival on Saturday in Ventura.

Now in its 13th year, the festival is one of the best ways to give kids a hands-on dose of the cultural arts. Best of all, though, is the price: The assortment of workshops led by local artists and the entertainment are free.

The festival, sponsored by the city, will take place in downtown Ventura’s Mission Park, on Main Street just east of Ventura Avenue, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Expect a crowd. Normally, the event draws 3,500 to 4,000 people.

You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see the huge mosque at the entrance. It was created by local artists M.B. Hanrahan and Michelle Chapin to fit in with this year’s festival theme--Art of the Eastern World.

The park will be set up with booths where children can learn how to do batik, the Indochinese art of cloth painting, or they can make a miniature kite, try folding paper in the origami tradition, or fashion a musical instrument and learn songs from Israel.

“Kids should all literally walk home with arm-loads of arts they’ve created with artists,” said Georgeanne Lees who is assisting the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs with the festival.

Kids can shuttle around to 13 different workshops in the park. Actors dressed as Aladdin and Jasmine from the movie “Aladdin” will circulate through the crowd. An artist will paint faces and Boppo the clown will create balloon animals.

Meanwhile, continuous entertainment will be provided on the stage. Among the performers are the AMAN Folk Ensemble, an internationally known 10-member troupe doing Middle Eastern dances; North African drummer Sartuse Hoard; the Ventura Klezmer Band, playing traditional Israeli music; in addition to storytellers, dancers and musicians. (The AMAN Folk Ensemble will also perform a free family concert tomorrow on the grass at Ventura Harbor Village from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.)

The Children’s Celebration of the Arts also includes an outreach program begun three years ago in Ventura schools. Through grants, artists go into classrooms and conduct workshops in many of the same activities that will be going on at the festivals.

About 100 pieces of artwork done by the schoolchildren this spring during the workshops will go on display beginning tomorrow in the Ventura City Hall atrium.

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Dorothy from the “Wizard of Oz” and Alice from “Alice in Wonderland” somehow meet up with each other in a zany kids performance now running at the Arts Council Center, 482 Greenmeadow Drive, Thousand Oaks.

Called appropriately “Dorothy Meets Alice,” this is an offering from the Young Artist Ensemble, a group of aspiring actors. The show, put on by children 10 to 14 years old, will be performed Saturday and Sunday at 1 and 3 p.m. Tickets are $4. For information, call 499-4355.

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The city of Moorpark is officially opening its new Arroyo Vista Recreation Center and gymnasium Saturday with all-day festivities. The new center is located at Tierra Rejada Road and Countrywood Drive.

The activities run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and include recreation class demonstrations, a basketball contest, art by local children, and entertainment.

Details

* WHAT: Children’s Celebration of the Arts

* WHEN: Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

* WHERE: Mission Park in downtown Ventura (off Main Street, just east of Ventura Avenue).

* COST: Free