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Play Date
Arizona offers plenty of ways to keep the fun going – both on and off the baseball field. From easy-to-navigate desert hikes to hands-on museums, here are 10 local adventures perfect for families.
Mesa’s Arizona Museum of Natural History is an active scientific and research institution with collections of preserved fossils, unique minerals and cultural objects. Discover exhibitions on dinosaurs, Ice Age giants, the history of the Sonoran Desert and a peek into the peoples – past and present – of the Southwest.
Visit the AZMNH Website
Wander through Scottsdale’s Butterfly Wonderland, the largest butterfly conservatory in North America, to see thousands of fluttering butterflies in a rainforest paradise. Don’t miss the 3D-theater showing a monarch migration or the Butterfly Emergence Gallery where these incredible winged creatures emerge from their chrysalis.
Click here to plan your visit
At the Children’s Museum of Phoenix, located in the city’s downtown, hands-on exhibits cater to the developmental stages of a child. For example, children 0-3 years old can engage all five senses in the safe-space Baby Zones while older kids create masterpieces in the Art Studio and get their hands dirty in the Children’s Garden.
Come PlayIn Scottsdale, splash around at Great Wolf Lodge, an 80,000-square-foot indoor water park. You can book overnight accommodations at the lodge or purchase a day pass to soak up rides such as Crooked Creek (a lazy river), Alberta Falls (four stories of twists and turns in a tandem tube) and Talking Stick Treehouse (a water fort full of interactive features), to name just a few.
Plan Your Stay
Experience the Wild West at MacDonald’s Ranch in Scottsdale. First, saddle up for a guided horseback ride, then meet the friendly goats, sheep and miniature ponies at the petting zoo. Finally, conclude with a sunset hayride into the Sonoran Desert where a cowboy cookout awaits – complete with dinner, a bonfire and live entertainment.
The premier Horseback Riding Stable of Arizona
or locomotive enthusiasts – aka, kids who love trains – the 30-acre McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park in Scottsdale is a thrilling way to spend an afternoon. Hop aboard the Paradise & Pacific Railroad, a reproduction of a Colorado narrow gauge railroad that chugs throughout the park, take a spin on the 1950s carousel or let the little ones burns off energy at the park’s Western-town-themed playground.
Check out the websiteTune into the world of music at Phoenix’s Music Instrument Museum, where thousands of instruments from all over the world are on display, including from such artists as Elvis Presley, Madonna, Johnny Cash and Prince. And it’s been said that a family that plays together stay together – good news for visitors to the museum’s Experience Gallery.
A world of music awaits
Visit the largest aquarium in the Southwest for an underwater adventure with all manner of sea creatures: penguins, stingrays, otters, sea turtles, sharks and more. At OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale, guests are invited to meander the exhibits at their own pace, then stop by the on-site restaurant to fuel up.
ARIZONA’S TOP-RATED and LARGEST AQUARIUM!
In Phoenix, Papago Park offers 14 miles of easy to moderate desert trails, including the iconic Hole-in-the-Rock Trail, a fun scramble up red-rock boulders. Round out the day by casting a line into the park’s seven acres of stocked fishing lagoons.
City of Phoenix Papago Park Website
See more than 600 species of exotic and endangered animals at Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium & Safari Park in Litchfield Park. With nonstop action, such as an interactive safari experience that takes you through aquarium tanks and daily shows featuring sea lions and parrots, visitors of all ages will find something here that inspires.
Plan your trip to the Wildlife World Zoo
