Santa, Mrs. Claus and several Christmas-themed activities greeted kids and their families at the Best Friends Leaning Center Monday night during the pre-school’s annual holiday extravaganza.

The event started small years ago, but has grown since, said K-leigh Crippen, the center’s assistant director.

On Monday, staff decorated the halls to look like an enchanted village and added activities such as face painting, gingerbread house making and a station to put together food for Santa’s reindeer.

Every couple of months the center opens its doors to the public for activities, however, the December event always draws a crowd, said Crippen.

“We’re expecting double the amount of people we usually see,” said Crippen. “This is a nice change of pace for families, instead of heading to the mall they can celebrate a little bit here where the kids are comfortable.”