Brainwashing your kids for free! And not so free.

This Saturday, the Kids Day for Conservation event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Benton County Fairgrounds. It's a worthy event, geared toward raising good little environmental stewards. Plus, it's fun and absolutely free. Kids can try their hands at rock-climbing, snake-handling, archery and so on, all the while soaking up knowledge about good environmental practices through osmosis.

In addition, the new fall class offerings from Oregon State's Saturday Academy for junior high and high school kids have been announced. That's definitely not free, but with classes like Drawing Cartoon Characters and Fish Printing and Dissection Lab, there's bound to be something for everyone. Scholarships are available for those who need 'em.