From PEOPLE Magazine Click to enlarge
Brooke Shields handed out plastic balls. Models manned a hairstyling station. And Whoopi Goldberg held court at a ball-throwing booth ("The Lakers should be looking at you!" she told one sharpshooter). At the 6th annual Kids For Kids celebrity street fair and carnival held by the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation in lower Manhattan April 25, stars got reacquainted with their inner child while raising more than $1.6 million for medical research. "A lot of people come here because our children are our most important asset," said writer-director Paul Michael Glaser, whose late wife, Elizabeth, launched the foundation in 1988. Whoopi was more succinct: "Anything with kids is fun."

Indeed, the real stars of the day were the 350 youngsters under age 16—including 100 kids with HIV or AIDS—who tried games like Star Dart and Pop-A-Shot to win prizes of toys. At one stall, MTV veejay Carson Daly helped divas in training tape music videos. At another, Katie Couric distributed rods for a lightning-strike game. Many celebs, including Christie Brinkley and Christian Slater, brought their kids along. "I was home changing diapers before I came," confided Slater, toting 3-week-old Jaden, his son with TV exec Ryan Haddon. His laid-back attitude fit the mood. As Food Network chef Bobby Flay put it: "It's the only charity event where everyone comes dressed in jeans and T-shirts—and leaves their egos at home."

Julie K.L. Dam
Joseph V. Tirella in New York City