Breakfast with Santa

The Inland Center Mall in San Bernardino kicked off the holiday season with their annual Santa Breakfast. The Inland Center Mall opened its doors extra early on Nov. 8 to welcome over 340 children and their parents to a free Santa Breakfast event. Every year the Inland Center Mall hosts a breakfast with Santa where kids of all ages come together and enjoy a free breakfast. With the help of the Molina Healthcare who sponsors the event, the mall is able to provide food and activities free of charge for all participating children. At the mall’s food court, Santa arrived as the kids finished their breakfast full of joy and ready to take pictures with all the children. While parents took pictures of their little ones with Santa, others engaged in craft making with Kids Play, a company devoted to bringing arts and crafts to events all around Southern California. Patty Schwartz and Rose Tibbels, workers from Kids Play said they have been doing this every year for 20 years. They both expressed that despite having to wake up a dawn, it was always a pleasure to see the happiness these kinds of events could bring. Kids Play organized an ornament-painting workshop where kids could create their own holiday ornament. Children as young as 3 years old to preteens of 12 and 13 years of age, all participated and customized their ornaments with different colors, glitters, and winter themed stickers. There was also a face-painting booth that was made available by the All Ways Entertainment crew. The face-painting artists dressed up in elves costumes and provided kids with their choice of facial or body art. Inspired by the holiday spirit, the artists drew deer antlers, Santa hats, and even a few of the Disney characters from the movie Frozen. While some parents where new to the area, there were others who had attended the event for past 2 or 3 years in a row. Parents agreed that it was a great way to start off the holiday season. Besides, “Who could pass up a free breakfast for the kids?” said Maria Romero. Breakfast with Santa only lasted about 2 hours but the fun did not stop there. The mall had organized a “Track Santa” scavenger hunt. Kids were given a map that guided them through the stores in the mall and led them to Santa. At the participating stores, children would receive small goodies like candies and stickers. When they finally found Santa, the kids would receive goodie bags with jellybeans and other sweet treats.