Party in the Park : Kids Day L.A. offers education and fun including free entry to zoo, museum.

Children take center stage Saturday at Griffith Park for the fourth annual Kids Day L.A. Celebration at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage and the Los Angeles Zoo.

Last year, 200,000 visitors attended the one-day event, which offers entertainment, information and educational programs for children and their families.

This year, a new feature will be an interactive, family-oriented play, “John and Juan,� about the history of California and Mexico. Veteran stage actors Armando Ortega and David Prather will appear in the roles of two strangers with similar names from different cultures meeting in Los Angeles.

The performance starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Autry’s Heritage Court.

“We tell stories,� Ortega said recently.

That’s a bit of an understatement. The play is actually a fast-paced variety show with many costume changes that manages to cover 500 years of Mexican-American history in 40 minutes, with time left over for a bilingual sing-along and a question-and-answer period.

Ortega and Prather have been performing the two-character show for the past four years at schools and theaters in California and Texas. Prather wrote the play, he said, out of frustration over the passage of Proposition 187, an attempt to deny public schooling and government services to illegal immigrants.

The show takes the form of a friendly contest--somewhat like a one-on-one basketball or soccer game--in which the characters compete to see who knows most about the other’s culture and history. For example, each claims that “real� cowboys originated with his particular ethnic group. At one point, the show becomes a bragging contest.

Along the way, kids learn about Montezuma, Cortez, Chumash Indians, Junipero Serra, John Sutter, Cesar Chavez, Cantinflas, Diego Rivera and even Chiclets chewing gum. The brand name “Chiclets� originated from an Indian word for a type of tree sap used as a confection in Mexico. As Ortega’s character explains, “We were chewing gum for a millennium before you Americans did.�

He gets off another good-natured jibe when his character, who speaks Spanish and English, remarks to the other, who speaks only English, “It’s good that monolingualism is a curable disease.�

Other events at the Autry begin at 10 a.m. in the Children’s Discovery Gallery, where kids can learn about a Mexican-American ranching family’s life over five generations.

Coupons for free admission to the museum or zoo for up to six children and one adult will be available all day at the merry-go-round area in Griffith Park. Mayor Richard Riordan will introduce a program of children’s theater events Saturday at noon at the merry-go-round.

Other free festival attractions include merry-go-round rides, pony rides, an inflatable play area, arts and crafts workshops, sports clinics, outdoor theater shows and information booths operated by more than 100 nonprofit children’s service providers.

At a separate Children’s Health Pavilion, parents can enroll their kids in free or low-cost medical insurance programs.

Arrive early to find parking. Use the Zoo Drive exit from Interstate 5 or the Forest Lawn Drive exit from California 134. Free parking and shuttle buses will be available from the Travel Town and Autry Museum parking lots.

BE THERE

Kids Day L.A. Celebration, Saturday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free admission to zoo and museum for groups of up to six children and one adult. Free events all day at Griffith Park merry-go-round area. (213) 485-1398 and (323) 667-2000.