Alexandra Shimeck sat on the grass behind Moorpark College’s Child Development Center and watched with a smile brighter than the noonday sky as her son Teddy, age 6, slipped with shining eyes down the slide on the hillside.

For Teddy, Discovery Day is four hours of fun at school. For Shimeck, she has found a place where her son, who has cerebral palsy and underwent brain surgery, feels comfortable. Teddy attends Moorpark College’s childcare program. For both, Discovery Day is an event where kids and parents can be imaginative and laugh together.

“There are all kinds of creative things you can do with your kids,” said Shimeck. “Things you wouldn’t think of on your own.”

The semi-annual event raises money for the Moorpark College Child Development Center. It is geared toward children ages 2 to 10 years old. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children, and all money goes toward supplies for the center. Discovery Day includes activities such as “gold mining” in a sandbox, “fossil hunting” in ice, and playing with homemade wooden toys by toymaker Gene West.

West has been bringing his toys to Discovery Day for free since the event began in 1990. Parents stopped to wonder at his tiny painted wooden contraptions as often as their children, showing the wide appeal of West’s creations. The toymaker also travels to libraries, senior centers and convalescent homes.

In addition, the Sunshine Band, which includes Moorpark College astronomy professor Clint Harper, performed from noon to 1 pm. Harper, who also serves as the City of Moorpark’s mayor pro tem, plays guitar in the band. The Sunshine Band’s kid-friendly tunes drifted among children splashing with water toys or sinking their fingers into cornstarch and water mixtures, aptly labeled “Goop.”

Although students and staff organize most of the activities for the event, Discovery Day was the brainchild of Child Development Center Coordinator Linda Cravens.

“Well, it was my idea,” Cravens said with a chuckle. “I wanted to have a fundraiser that was family focused and appropriate for children.”

Cravens also teaches classes in Child Development. Moorpark College’s center provides a campus service for students with children, and also serves as a lab school where students majoring in child development can have hands-on experience. It is among the top five percent of child development centers in the country.

Jack Bruce, age 3, hammers a golf tee into styrofoam while learning about using tools at Discovery Day. (Casey Garrison)