Friday, Saturday and Sunday are for the kids. Saturday is el Día del Niño in Costa Rica. The day is not exactly a legal holiday but festivities honoring the nation’s children will be part of school activities Friday.

Casa Presidencial is marking the day Thursday.

The Museo Nacional will have a special program Sunday.

And parents and close family members will be preparing small presents to be distributed Saturday.

The Despacho de Apoyo Social of Casa Presidencial said that some 200 youngsters would be bused from Escuela Ninfa Corrales en Quitirrisí de Mora, an Indian community west of Ciudad Colón.

They will be joined at the Museo de los Niños by 50 children from the Oratorio Don Bosco.

For many Quitirrisí children this will be their first visit to the museum, said Casa Presidencial staffers. A lunch is planned for 1 p.m. The event is being sponsored by the Asociación de Damas Taiwanesas de Costa Rica, the Fundación Programa Nacional de Cultura “Leer es vivir,” the Club de Leones of La Sabana and McDonald’s de Costa Rica.

Friday public schools and some private ones will have fiestas for the students in anticipation of the next day. The day always is Sept. 9, but this year the date fell on a Saturday.

The Museo Nacional event Sunday begins at 9 a.m. and is described as a day to celebrate the art, cultural diversity and happiness of youngsters. Of course there will be clowns and several theatrical and puppet presentations. The event will end with the sounds of the group Calipso AfroCaribe.

The most universal celebration will be in individual homes. This is not Christmas, so presents will be modest. But there will be lots of candy and other treats and perhaps a fiesta with cake and ICE cream and maybe even a piñata.

For expats, a small gift,creative but not expensive, is traditional for young family members, children of employees and perhaps children of neighbors, depending on the relationship.