Here are 10 great activities to do with your child while in Phoenix, AZ.

1. Rawhide
   Walk the dirt streets of this old west town located in the southern part of Phoenix. Rawhide offers a wide variety of activities for kids including a train ride, a stagecoach ride, gold panning, burro rides and more. Daily gunfights and stunt shows provide entertainment for the whole family. Rawhide also features many shops and a steakhouse where you can order anything from rattlesnake to rocky mountain oysters.
   http://www.rawhide.com
2. Challenger Space Center
   This museum is dedicated to exhibits focusing on space and science. Exhibits include a Columbia Shuttle Memorial, A meteorite exhibit hosted by Arizona State University, a satellite model and more. The center also includes a 10ft model of the space shuttle Atlantis.
   http://www.azchallenger.org
3. Makutu’s Island
   This large 20,000+ sqft indoor playground, located in Chandler, AZ offers a fun adventure for kids and adults alike. Centered around a large tree, Makutu’s Island offers tunnels, caves, slides, ropes and other structures for kids to climb on. There is a café and arcade on site as well.
   http://www.makutusisland.com
4. Castles and Coasters
   The only real amusement park in Arizona, Castles and Coaster offers a couple of roller coasters, a log flume and various other amusement park rides. There is a large arcade within the castle, 4 miniature golf courses and go karts.
   http://www.castlesncoasters.com
5. Arizona Renaissance Festival
   During the months of February and March, the Arizona Renaissance Festival sets up shop in the far east valley. The festival is famous for its jousts, comedy shows, and turkey legs. There are many shops and exhibits for the whole family to explore. Guests can participate in various activities including archery, glass blowing and more.
   http://www.royalfaires.com/arizona
6. Arizona Science Center
   The Arizona Science Center is located in downtown phoenix, located in the heritage and science park. The science center offers various permanent exhibits including construction, body and health, forces of nature and my digital world. The science center also has a large screen theatre as well as a planetarium. Various exhibits have passed through the science center on tours around the country.
   http://www.azscience.org/
7. Golfland/Sunsplash
   A giant water park/ miniature golf park located in Mesa, Golfland/Sunsplash offers many different water slides, a wave pool, a lazy river and more. Golfland offers 4 miniature golf courses, go karts, and a large arcade. The park is a great place to spend those hot summer days cooling off.
   http://www.golfland.com
8. Phoenix Children’s Museum
   The Phoenix Children’s Museum is located downtown and offers a wide variety of activities and exhibits geared towards ages 0-10. Children learn through playing with and exploring these different exhibits geared towards the arts, science business and more.
   http://www.childrensmuseumofphoenix.org
9. McCormick Stillman Railroad Park
   McCormick Stillman Railroad Park is a great place to spend the day and enjoy the Arizona sun shine. The park offers two different train rides, a model train club, a carousel, playgrounds and plenty of picnic areas. The park also is home to full size Pullman railroad cars which you can walk through.
   http://www.therailroadpark.com
10. Phoenix Zoo
    The phoenix zoo is located in the Papago Park area and is built near some beautiful and interesting rock formations. The zoo includes a variety of animals both native to Arizona and from around the world. You can expect to see bears, wild cats, giraffes, elephants and more. The zoo contains an Arizona Trail exhibit which allows you to view animal and plant life from around the state.
    http://www.phoenixzoo.org

We are starting a new series to help plan out vacations or weekend activities. We will be listing 10 things to do with your kids for different cities. If you live in one of the cities or are planning on visitng them this will be a great reference to help plan activities with your kids. If you have any suggestions for activities please email us at info@dailydads.com.

Please check out our first city Phoenix, AZ

This past weekend my brother went to Disneyland. I also found out that a friend of ours is heading there this weekend. Both have kids around the age of 4 and a half as well as a second younger child. News of these trips triggered a memory of our trip to Disneyland back in April. Disneyland is a fun place no matter how old you are, whether you are 2 or 72, there is really something for everybody. We took our 3 year old to Disneyland for the first time in April. He was very excited to go, as was I. I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when he saw the characters and rode the rides. He is a tall kid for his age at 42″. This allowed him to get on a majority of the rides…Roller coasters here we come.

My mother-in-law came with us, so the first night, I volunteered to stay in the hotel with my son while he slept so my wife and mother-in-law could go do some of the bigger rides. They went on a couple rides including Space Mountain and Splash Mountain. The next day, my wife said there was no way that our son was going on Splash Mountain. She felt that the big drop at the end combined with getting splashed would be too much for our son. I protested profusely. Splash Mountain was one of the rides I was really looking forward to going on with him.

I never got my wish as him and I never got to ride. However being that I gave in, I was going to get my way and he was going on the other roller coasters with me. After all I love roller coasters, and with any luck he will too. Throughout the first full day we rode the Go-Go Gadget Coaster and Big Thundar Mountain Rail Road. In the afternoon it was time to try Space Mountain.

Six months prior my brother told me he took his daughter on it, who at the time was about the same age as my son. I couldn’t wait, this was going to be so much fun. He was big enough so I figured lets do it. So we go through the line, they check his height before we get in the coaster train. We are all good for blast off. I was so proud, my 3 year old boy was going to ride Space Mountain. He was growing up!

We are going up the lift and get into the dark room and are having a great time. Then the real fun starts, or so I thought. Once we started going, I freaked out. The ride was much faster than I ever remembered it being. I held on to my son, scared he was going to get hurt from the quick turns and g-forces on his body. All I could think about was his frail little 3 year old body not being able to handle the ride. I did my best to keep his head steady, which he was keeping down the whole time, probably not by choice. It was so loud and pitch black I couldn’t tell if he was enjoying the ride or screaming for his life. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life.

Finally the ride came to an end and I could see him again. He was not crying, not even a tear in his eye. There was however, a very blank look on his face. He just turned and looked at me. I asked him if he liked it, to which he replied with a nod of affirmation. My wife then asked him if it was scary to which he replied with a drooping face, “yes”. He reminded us many times the rest of that day how scary it was. Each time, I could only think of how I hoped he was ok. Did I push his little body too hard with that coaster? Was I a bad dad for putting him on that ride? Is there going to be any effects from that ride? I was really worried and disapointed in myself.

Here we are 6 months later. My son was absolutley fine, but I will never forget the fear I had for him while riding. My advice to anyone who wants to take their child on those rides, ride them first. If you haven’t ridden them in over a year, take a quick spin and judge at that time whether you feel it is safe for your child. Just because they meet the height requirements doesn’t mean they are ready. If I would have ridden it first, I don’t think there is any way I would have had him ride it. That being said I do look forward to riding it with him again in a couple years. I hope that as he grows up he becomes a coaster enthusiast like me. For now, however, I realize I need to think with his safety first, and fun second.

The License Plate Game.
This game can be played on multiple road trips. At the beginning of the year, print out a map of the United States, perhaps even Canada as well. Each time you go on a car trip keep an eye out for license plates from different states. See how well you do by the end of the year, or during a certain time frame of the year

Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of items to search for as you find each one mark it off your list. This game is good for all ages as you can vary the items based on the individual playing it. For example, a toddler may have to find a dog or a green car, where a teenager may have to find a Wendy’s or an electronic billboard. The first one to find all of their items wins.

Twenty Questions
A classic but still fun game. Have one person think of an item. The rest of the car’s occupants begin to ask that person a yes or no question in an attempt to find out the item that the person is thinking of. For example to start off a person could ask “Is it an animal.” If the answer is ‘yes’ the next person could then ask “Does it swim?” and so on. Perhaps make up a scoring system such as the person who thought of the object gets 1 point for every question they are asked and the person guessing gets 5 points for correctly guessing the object.

Geography quiz.
For slightly older kids, you can play a fun little geography game. The first person thinks of a place such as Chicago. The next person then has a certain amount of time to think of a place starting with the last letter of the previous place, in this case an o, perhaps Omaha? If a person doesn’t think of a place in the time allotted, they are out. Last person standing wins.

Group Story Time
One person starts to tell a story, perhaps a time limit is give of 2 minutes. Once that person is done, the next person must pick up the story where they left off. Keep taking turns telling a part of the story and see what you come up with at the end.

Know your surroundings.
Have one person look around the car and notice where everything is and what is happening. Have them close their eyes. While they have their eyes close, change one thing. When they open their eyes, they need to figure out what was changed.

Questions anyone?
Try to carry out a conversation using questions only. For example: “What’s the weather like today?”, The person can reply with “Do those look like rain clouds?” followed by “Are rain clouds dark?” and so on. See where it takes you and have fun trying to think of those questions. To add some competition determine a turn order and give each person 5 seconds to ask a question. If they aren’t able to come up with one, they are out. Last one standing wins.

The quiet game.
If there is more than one kid in the car and they don’t catch on, this can be a great game for adults. Simply see who can go the longest without making a sound. No humming, talking or singing. Set the time for perhaps a half hour and if everyone makes it treat the kids to some ice cream.

Quiz time
A couple weeks prior to your trip begin to write down questions about things that interest your kids. For example, watch their TV shows with them; ask them what they learned in school, etc. When it’s time for the trip, play a game show with your kids using the questions you came up with. Start with the easy ones and get harder as the game goes on.

Acting it out
Set up a scene and have each person take on a role. Begin a conversation and have your kids and other car occupants answer in character. The fun comes in making the characters interesting and funny, for example you could be a baseball player who really doses off every couple minutes.

What song?
This game may take some preparation by making a cd or using an mp3 player. Randomly go to a point in the song and play it for 1 second, then maybe 2 until someone guesses the song. This can be geared towards kids and adults of all ages depending on which songs you use.

References
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http://www.momsminivan.com
http://familyfun.go.com/family-travel/road-trips/feature/famf48cargames/
http://www.family-vacation-getaways-at-los-angeles-theme-parks.com/Kids-Travel-Games.html