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Crock Pots and Flip Flops | Things to Do Phoenix

Things to Do Phoenix

Best Free Online Kid Apps

Best Free Online Kid Apps

Here’s a list of the Best Free Online Kid Apps to download today for your screen time! If you are home all day because school is canceled then get busy downloading. The great part is they are educational, free and fun. Plus, they have NO ads and tons of options to choose from! Independent play allows the kids to make their own choices on what they want to play and you don’t have to help them…Win-Win. The best free online kids apps will help you stay sane while we stay home. I use these options in my screen time for my daily schedule. Click Here for my daily schedule if you are looking to add a little structure to your day!

List of Best Free Online Kid Apps

Khan Academy Kids– This app is built with ages 2-7 in mind. There are hundreds of games, books and coloring pages to choose from! They focus on early literacy, math, emotional feelings and reading. If you have an older kid check out Khan Academy.

Duck Duck Moose Apps– More great apps from Khan Academy! Type Duck Duck Moose into your search in the App Store and ALL the options will pop up. They have so many different options depending on what your kids enjoys. Pick a few since they are FREE . My kids love Moose Math, Build A Truck, and Trucks! They have Princess Fairy Tale Maker and Fish School which are fun too. Actually every app they make is a hit. Here’s the link but it works best if you just go to your App Store and search.

PBS Kids Games– Educational content from all your favorite characters at PBS. Daniel Tiger is the favorite in our house but there are plenty to choose from. Content you can count on since PBS is making it! Link- https://pbskids.org/apps/

Scholastic Learn at Home– Scholastic is offering a free at home school with new curriculum everyday during the shut down. Pick your grade and go! Link- https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

Here are some new options we have found!

Splash Learn– Easy for kids to follow along independently with fun games with either math or reading. My son (5) really enjoyed the new games. You pick your grade level and it offers different content for math and letters. They offer a daily lesson in math and reading for free! You can’t win the big prize at the end unless you subscribe. But I just made tickets to give him each time the purple screen pops up and told him that he won the lesson. After he gets 5 tickets he gets a prize!

Starfall– There is a free option that has some good learning activities. You can also pay to upgrade but we are using the free version. We do the alphabet lesson everyday!

Filed Under: Things to Do at Home with Kids, Things To Do Phoenix Tagged With: best free online kid apps, best online kid apps, Educational Kids Apps, Free Kids Apps, Khan Academy Kids, Kids Activites, Kids activities at home, PBS Kids, Scholastic at Home, Things to do at home, Things to Do Phoenix

Candytopia

Enter a real life Willy Wonka Candy Factory at Candytopia! This pop up at Scottsdale Quarter is magical kids (and adults) dream turned come true. Everything is made of candy with actual candy you eat in each room! There are 9 themed rooms with interactive candy created exhibits. Each room has a different theme like chocolate and gummies. There is candy to collect in each room so make sure to bring a bag to collect it all since the kids will be busy running from room to room. I was happily surprised at how much my kids loved Candytopia. I thought it was going to be more of art exhibit but it’s so fun.

My kid’s favorite was the confetti and marshmallow room! But they had a blast in each room.

Candytopia is only here for a limited time and will close on April 13 so make sure to grab you tickets for this sweet experience! I recommend going during the week and at the earliest time possible.

Admission

  • $28 for adults
  • $20 for kids 4-12
  • Kids 3 and under Free
  • Located at Scottsdale Quarter next to the Splash Pad.

Filed Under: Things To Do Phoenix Tagged With: candytopia, Phoenix Kids, Things to Do Phoenix, things to do scottsdale

Children’s Museum of Phoenix

Children's Museum of Phoenix

The Children’s Museum of Phoenix is one of the best places for kids young and old. There are three floors of interactive, hands on exhibits! You could spend an entire day on just the third floor but I’m going to break it down by each floor. Each area does have a dedicated baby zone with age appropriate toys and activities so this is perfect if you have different aged kids to keep everyone happy! 

Don’t forget every First Friday of the Month– Free Admission from 5-8pm

There is usually a special exhibit that is free with admission. They have done foam fun the past two summers. They turn the entire outside into a giant foam party and then sock skating during the winter. In addition, they offer so many free classes to do with your baby and toddler. Make sure and check their museum calendar HERE a few days before and sign up for all these free extras.

First floor

  • Giant Treehouse – As you walk in your eyes will be drawn up to the giant climbing structure built with  kids imagination in mind with a car and house they can climb into. It’s the ultimate climbing structure. Parents can climb to with little ones but it does get a little tight so be ready. It only has one exit and entrance so you can feel confident sending your kids in without you and knowing they can’t go far.
  • Whoosh Area- Push scarves into plastic tubes and wiggle through see-through tubes and then they shoot through the sky!
  • Building Area- This area changes periodically but it usually has wooden blocks, foam blocks or fort building.
  • The first floor also has lockers to store your stuff and a gift shop. We usually spend at least 15-30 minutes playing in the gift shop as we leave and make a list of things we want from Santa. 
Children's Museum of Phoenix

Second Floor- Children’s Museum of Phoenix

  • KIDtchen– This state of the art kitchen has kid themed cooking classes everyday. There are free classes but most of the time they do cost extra. However you always walk away with a yummy homemade treat! 
  • Fort building-This room is filled with sheets and objects to make forts or whatever you imagine. There is also a mailbox area which the younger ones love delivering the mail for quite awhile.
  • Pedal Power/Car wash-Grab a bike, time or push car and take your ride through the pretend car wash
  • Face painting- Stop at the mirrors just south of the stairs and your kids or you can “paint“ their face with washable oil crayons. 
  • Cafe– You can bring your own food or buy some delicious food from their cafe with sandwiches, pizzas, hot dogs and even a cheese plate! 

Outside-

This sprawling outside is a hidden spot that I am always surprised to find people who have been many times never visit.

  • Garden– Stroll through the garden and look at all the veggies growing and you can even try a bit if you dare. Do be carful though my son did take a bit of a jalapeño one time! 
  • Sand area– Play in the sand with kitchen tools and bowls.
  • Snake– Crawl through a giant metal snake. (As you can imagine during the summer this is too hot to play in)
  • Outside Seating for Picnics
Children's Museum of Phoenix

Third floor-Children’s Museum of Phoenix

  • Noodle forest– Walk through this “forest” filled with foam noodles. This is always the the first request to go to with my kids. It’s a fun sensory activity and for reasons unknown to me kids love it.
  • Theatre- Put on your own play with costumes and instruments on their stage!
  • Ball room– As you can guess from the name this room has different ball runs to launch balls through and makes fun sounds while they go.
  • The Market– Go grocery shopping with little carts and baskets, check out and even stock the shelves.
Children's Museum of Phoenix
  • Art Studio– paint the giant castle, make a thing-a-magig (random stuff you tape together) or do their monthly themed activity.
  • Car area– race model cars down two tracks or have a pretend race in the toothpaste and prickle themed cars. 
  • Reading nook– kick your feet up and read a book
  • Cafe/pizza kitchen– make your own pizza in the pizza oven or cook up something on the stovetop with lots of “ingredients”. 

Three and Under- Baby Room

This is a dedicated room for just kids Three and under. There is a baby zone with has age appropriate toys and plenty of soft areas to crawl.

There is a fun “tree house” with a bridge and slide. It has plenty of areas that help work with hand eye coordination.

There is a play house with a kitchen, garden and baby bedroom.

If you have older kids there is also a special “3 and Over” area which is filled with older toys to entertain them while the littles play.

We have a membership since we usually go once a week since they have so many different events, activities and is just overall fun every time we go. Hope to see you there!

Admission and Hours

215 N. 7th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85034 Free Parking on-site

Admission-$14.95 (Children under 1 Free)

Open Tuesday-Sunday 9am- 4pm Closed Monday (open on lots of holiday Mondays so check the website)

Looking for more fun Phoenix Activities for Kids?

McCormick and Stillman Railroad Park

Filed Under: Free, Things To Do Phoenix Tagged With: Children's Museum of Phoenix, crockpotandflipsflops, Free friday, Kids Activites, kids museum, phoenix childrens museum, Phoenix Kids, Things to Do Phoenix

McCormick and Stillman Railroad Park

This sprawling park has two playgrounds, a train, carousel, train museum and an indoor miniature train exhibit. Lots of the park areas are free and you can easily skip riding the train and carousel if you don’t want to spend money! It even has a real pay phone which my kid’s love calling me on.

Train-themed playground-Free

Come play with three climbing structures, sand to dig in and misters to run in when it’s hot. I love this playground because it’s safe for little kids since it is mostly enclosed except for the slides and rock wall so they can climb and explore. For the littlest conductors, there is a miniature train play structure they can crawl and slide on. There is also a train cafe where you can buy food during certain times of year.

Western Town-Free

Across the train tracks there is a two story Western-themed playground. Kids can go back in time with a pretend jail, gold mine, and even a fun wagon that you climb in.

Model Railroad Building- Free

This air-conditioned gem is more fun than it sounds! The building is filled with mini trains that are activated by a hand button. The first area is made for kids with trains pulling animated characters like Mickey through a fair, . There is even a miniature LEGO land. They change the theme based on the time of year which is also fun. Your kids will love watching their hand make their train go and ride through all the different scenes.

Train Ride- $3 per person

This 7 minute train is a blast to ride and goes across the entire park. You ride by all the playgrounds and kids love to run and wave to the train as it passes. The end is a dark tunnel you ride through which is always the highlight of the ride!

Carousel-$3 per person

Hop on and ride your horse to Disney-themed music!

Train Museum-$2 per person

These are real trains that you can walk through! One of the trains is best known for being used by every president from Herbert Hoover through Dwight Eisenhower. It is staged showing how the train was setup for the presidents with their dining room complete with china, sitting room and even the servant quarters.

Admission and Hours

Click here for their hours since they change seasonally.

$3 per person to ride train and carousel, 2 and under free

Address: 7301 E Indian Bend Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85250
Phone: 480-312-2312
Email: therailroadpark@scottsdaleaz.gov

Filed Under: Things To Do Phoenix Tagged With: Free, Kids Activites, Kids Playground, Phoenix Kids, Railroad park, Stillman and Mcormick Train Park, Things to Do Phoenix, Train park

Desert Botanical Gardens

Entrance at DBG

As you walk into the Desert Botanical Gardens you are transported into a desert oasis. With over 50,000 desert plants that you will see this is a perfect place to show your kids the native plants that Arizona has to offer. They will love to walk the trails and check out cactus, plants and even a butterfly wonderland. They just recently opened up a Kid’s Clubhouse so the kids have a designated play area. We love coming here and enjoying the outdoors. There are several trails to walk with the kids but we usually stick to two, Wildflower and Native Plants and People.

Tips and Tricks
  • Don’t Forget to Visit your local Phoenix and Scottsdale Library for two FREE passes to the Botanical Gardens, click here for details!
  • Plus the second Tuesday of every month the Phoenix Botanical Garden is FREE ALL DAY. It gets super busy so make sure to go early.
  • Bring a stroller if you have kids under 5. There is a lot of walking!
Special Exhibit- Wild Rising

Native Plants and People Trail

Stroll back through time and find all the ways that the local Native Americans, Tohono O’odham and Western Apache, used desert plants. This trail showcases several huts and building that are a favorite to play in with my kids. There are several interactive areas where you can grind your own mesquite seeds or attempt to pick cactus fruit. There are usual some Arizona wildlife on this trail too like squirrels and bunnies!

Wildflower Trail

This blooming loop is filled with wildflower and cactus. It is a shorter trail which is perfect to do with younger kids. There are tons of colorful flowers and cactus to look at and smell. 

Butterfly Pavillion

The Butterfly Pavilion is on this trail also! It’s open from March to early May and is included in your admission. This incredible enclosed garden is home to 5,000 butterflies. They are flying and landing all around you and it is breathtaking to watch. Learn about their lifecycle and how the Desert Botanical Gardens works to help keep these beautiful creatures safe in the caterpillar nursery. This is a must if you are visiting the botanical gardens in Spring.

Other Trail and Exhibits

  • SONORAN DESERT NATURE LOOP TRAIL- Hike to the top of this trail for a excellent view of the Desert Botanical Gardens and surrounding area.
  • CENTER FOR DESERT LIVING TRAIL- Learn how to incorporate eco-friendly and sustainable ways to your own garden as you walk through this trail.
  • DESERT DISCOVERY LOOP TRAIL- Check out fun cacti and succulents in unique planting patterns.
  • There are rotating exhibits that change periodically. We just saw the “Wild Rising” which showcased animal sculptures created from recycled plastic. It’s always fun to see what new things they bring to add to your experience. Check their website before you visit to see why they have happening!
Wild Rising Snail

Admission and Info

  • General Admission | $24.95 – $29.95
  • Youth 3 – 17 | $12.95 – $14.95
  • Children under 3 | Free
  • Active Military Personnel – FREE (with valid government ID for General Admission only)
  • Address | 1201 N. GALVIN PARKWAY PHOENIX, AZ 85008

Filed Under: Free, Things To Do Phoenix Tagged With: crockpotandflipsflops, Desert Botanical Gardens, Kids Activites, Phoenix Attractions, Phoenix Botanical Gardens, Things to Do Phoenix

Arizona Museum of Natural History / Dinosaur Museum

Go back in time at the Arizona Museum of Natural History. We came here for the first time for a birthday party and have been going ever since. Lots of people refer to this as the dinosaur museum but there is so much more than just dinosaurs! It is a little bit of a drive for us since we live in Phoenix but it is worth the drive.

You walk into the lobby and are welcomed by a large wholly mammoth dinosaur and a fish tank with turtles. Check in at the front desk and don’t forget to grab a baggie for panning for gold later.

The first stop is the Dino zone with a mini playground with a slide.

Next head back in time to the Wild West-

  • Pan for gold and rubies in the real mining sluice. Prepare to get your hands dirty and feet wet!
  • Mine tour- If you dare, take a tour of the Lost Dutchman mine with twists and turns and even real artifacts from the mining heyday in Arizona.
  • Visit the territorial jail- This is the real jail from the 1880’s. See how outlaws served their time back then.
  • Dig for bones- Slide down to walk into the archeological dig site. Its right past the mining sluice. Take a brush and see if you can find hidden bones.
After all the is there is still another half of a museum! Sometimes we can only make it through this half depending on how much time we have. The other half has 3 floors each with a specific theme. We usually start on the top floor and walk down the ramp through each floor. There are also stairs and elevators to get places faster.

Middle Floor- Dinosaur Floor

From the lobby you walk back in time to a three-story indoor waterfall on Dinosaur Mountain with animated dinosaurs. See a flash flood on the mountain, and watch volumes of water cascade down three stories approximately every 23 minutes! You can even spotlight each dinosaur on the mountain and learn more about them.

Dinosaur Hall is filled with awe-inspiring dinosaur skeletons. Roar along with this massive and awe inspiring dinosaurs.

Dino Hall/ Dino Wall
Ancient Cultures and Native American Culture Floor- Top Floor

This floor has amazing artifacts that I love looking at and learning about and 3 interactive kids activities.

  • Pretend bead making
  • Mayan block building and
  • Rug pattern weaving

Space Zone (That’s what I call it) /Orgins Hall

In a galaxy far, far away…or right in the museum. Check out real meteorites and see stars. My kids love to touch a real meteorite that can from space. I always love having fun while learning and this area is perfect for that mix. It also shows a number of stones and gems which for my rock lover son is great.

Exploration Zone

This area is filled with tons of hands on activities.

  • Fishing for dinosaurs
  • Reading nook with books
  • Create fossil drawing
  • Dinosaur play zone filled with play dinosaurs
  • Get up close and personal with Maya the Nothronychu (a life size dinosaur)

Address and Admission

53 N. Macdonald
(One block north of Main St.)
Mesa, AZ 85201

There is plenty of parking on the street and in free public parking areas around the Museum. Open Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 11am-5pm and Sunday 1pm-5pm. Closed on Monday.

  • $10 Adults
  • $7 Children 3-12
  • $8 13+ Students with ID
  • Children under 3 Free

Filed Under: Things To Do Phoenix Tagged With: Arizona, Arizona Museum of Natural History, Dinosaur Museum, Kids Activites, Phoenix, Phoenix Kids, Phoenix Museum, Things to Do Phoenix

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