Activities When It's 111 Outside

Here are some things we do: Mesa Children's Museum, Phoenix Children's Museum, Toy Town (in Ahwatukee), MyGym "free play" ($5 to play for an hour), storytime at any local library (check their web sites), the Zoo very early (7 am), indoor playground at Tumbleweed Rec Center in Chandler on Tues and Thurs mornings, any indoor mall, the new Sea Life aquarium at AZ Mills (going for the first time today), and we've enrolled in classes through the Chandler or Tempe Parks and Rec. Also, check out activemoms.com for a calendar of events around the Valley. There really is a lot to do, with varying times that should fit your schedule.

You need to visit my site geared specifically to this age group! I recently wrote an article on this very topic!...
http://www.mytimecalendars.com/archives/926

There's lots of stuff to do during the summer! It would help if your 10-month old took naps in her stroller though so you could get out earlier. My 3-year old loves the bounce places-- Bounce Jungle in Chandler and Jump and Shout in Mesa. Jump and Shout has toddler time on Wed for $5. Call and make sure they are not closed for a party though. There's also the AZ Museum for Youth in downtown Mesa-- they have a baby area inside Artville where your 10-month old could crawl around as well activities for your 3 year old, all in the same room. There's also the AZ Museum of Natural History in downtown Mesa if your son is into dinosaurs. You can get free passes at your library. We love to go to all the splash pads-- there's one at San Tan Mall, Mesa Riverview, Tempe Beach Park, and Espee Park in Chandler. We also do as someone else mentioned the mall play areas at Superstition Springs and Fiesta Mall, the carousel at Superstition Springs, Phx Children's Museum (that place is crazy though), and Tumbleweed. You could also do swim lessons at one of the indoor pools. We go to Aloha in Gilbert. If you live in Chandler/Gilbert, check out Gymboree Play and Music or Little Gym. You can even just hang out at a McDonald's play area-- my daughter could spend hours on their big climbing structures. Have fun!

I would also recommend www.activemoms.com, you subscribe (its free) and they email you the schedule each month. Every day there are suggestions of things to do with your kids and it is all based in the valley. I also recommend the same suggestions as a lot of the moms here: AZ Museum for Youth in Mesa, just for the day and they also have classes you can enroll in, Phx Children's Museum downtown, Sea Life Aquarium- although be prepared to WAIT OUTSIDE for 45 mins the first time-we've been 3 times already (got the yearly membership)...once you have a membership you can skip the line and go right to the front. Once you are inside though, it is not crowded...people are constantly moving so it doesn't get overwhelming, book stores and libraries have storytimes all the time and occasionally puppet shows, magic shows, etc, head to a farmer's market, the zoo does night camps for kids or else like another mom said very early in the morning is cooler (or you could just head there and hang out at the 2 splash zones right in the zoo), and the biggest suggestion I could give is to utilize gilbert parks and rec dept or Chandler parks and rec...unfortunately the summer session just started this week so you might be too late, but there are awesome classes for all ages and they are very reasonably priced. If you are really savvy, sometimes you can arrange a class for your little one (mommy and me) at the same time as a class for your 3 yr old at the same location so you aren't just waiting around for the 3 yr old's class to end trying to entertain your baby. Oh, we just went to Superstition farm for a class through parks and rec, but I noticed they do tours for anyone for a fee. It was pretty fun, I have to say...my kids loved it. Splash pads and public pools are all over...Mesquite Groves is a really fun pool, and they have a toddler area with smaller slides where the footing is all rubberized. Freestone Park is fun, get some duck feed and feed the ducks or they also have a little train you can ride around the lake and a little merry go round, ferris wheel, etc but the train and other rides only run on I think Fri, Sat, Sun. Mccormick Stillman Railroad park in Scottsdale is fun, they have a train also that runs year round, there is a little ice cream shop you can get a scoop at, there's also a merry go round there, a little store to buy train related toys, etc. Oh, also the Great AZ Puppet Theater does puppet shows for preschoolers and Childsplay at the Tempe Center for the Arts also does plays for young children. There's actually lots to do if you just have the right links...have fun!

I was also going to suggest Arizona Museum for Youth. It's a great place. I think the libraries have a story hour. The Chandler library downtown has a great children's area on the 2nd floor. I also think some bookstores, Barnes n Noble, Borders and/or Bookmans, do a story hour as well. Many of the city parks have water play areas. You could go to mall and let the kids play in the play area. Toy Town is great, I second that one too. :-) Have fun!

Check out Arizona mesuem for youth (downtown mesa) and bounce jungle. I take my 2 year old to both those places