'CANDY LAND' THEME FOR TARGET FREE FAMILY SATURDAY EVENT AT NATIONAL MUSEUM ON FEB. 12

The Japanese American National Museum will holds its first Target Free Family Saturday program of 2011 with the theme of "Candy Land" featuring activities connected to sweets as part of the free event set for Saturday, February 12, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Target Free Family Saturday series occurs most months at the National Museum in Little Tokyo and provides opportunities for families to work together on fun activities and to create unique items. This month’s activities include sampling candy (for children only), a demonstration on making Japanese mochi and hands-on arts and crafts related to sweets.

At noon, an international candy buffet by Sweetlips Design will be available while supplies last. The buffet is for children only. Fueled by a fiercely creative imagination and driven by intuitive artistic and technical skills, Sweetlips, under April Cantelos-Canlas, creates a multitude of memorable, one-of-a-kind event experiences as individual and unique as each of her clients. No two projects are ever exactly the same. For more information, go to www.sweetlipsdesign.com.

That will be followed by Kidding Around the Kitchen, which from 1 to 4 p.m. will have the supplies to teach family members how to make a Valentine Day’s fruit kebab with a strawberry rose on top. Kidding Around the Kitchen brings a "hands on" cooking experience and lesson to the classroom in which the kids actively participate in the preparation of recipes. The result of their cutting, measuring cooking and then eating their creations is more than simply a lesson in health. For more information on Kidding Around the Kitchen, go to www.kiddingaroundthekitchen.com.

Also from 1 to 4 p.m., participants can take a photo and put on a chocolate lollipop (which supplies last). At 2 p.m., the historic Fugetsu-Do confectionery shop will provide a demonstration on how to make mochi, the sweet rice treat from Japan. Fugetsu-Do, a three-generation family business, was founded in 1903. For more information, go to www.fugetsu-do.com.

Throughout the day, several crafts activities are available. Visitors will be able to embellish and fix a box of candy-inspired decorations, make a wearable treat by constructing a candy lei, and learn how to make an origami candy dish at Ruthie’s Origami Corner.

Generously sponsored by Target, these special Saturdays are filled with fun activities giving families unique ways to learn, play, and grow together.