Kids' Stuff >>

• Best Rollerblade Park
  The Wedge
  El Dorado Park
  2311 North Miller, Scottsdale
  480-312-2483
  Arizona State University's campus is the most righteous place to blade, but the cops chase hard-core bladers away because they chip a little cement off benches and tables on daredevil slides and jumps. If you're tired of the hassle, the place to go for unlimited blade action is the Wedge.... More >>
• Best Place to Party With the Kids
  Gameworks
  Arizona Mills mall
  Priest and Baseline, Tempe
  480-839-4263
  How would this go over at your household? "Mommy and Daddy are going to go out for a drink. You kids fend for yourselves." Now try this. "Let's go to Gameworks." With all the latest and greatest in electronic gaming as well as a full bar and restaurant upstairs, Gameworks has everything you... More >>
• Best Place for Your Child to Get in Touch With His Inner Old MacDonald
  Duncan Family Farms
  17203 West Indian School, Goodyear
  623-853-9880
  Happy Meals do not grow on trees. Still, that horticultural fact of life comes as news to many of the young city slickers who visit this West Valley agro-attraction. "Many of these kids don't have a clue," reports Kathleen Duncan, who, with her husband, Arnott, operates the working farm that... More >>
• Best Place to Learn How to Teach Art to Children
  Art Masterpiece Program
  Phoenix Art Museum
  1625 North Central
  602-257-4356
  If you like the idea of art, but aren't exactly sure which end to tell your kid is up in a museum or gallery, this program is the one for you. Its six weekly courses in art history -- held this year from September 20 to October 25 -- deliver the fundamentals of major art movements and works. The... More >>
• Best Miniature Golf Course
  Scottsdale Family Golf Center
  8111 East McDonald, Scottsdale
  480-991-0018
  Who knows why windmills and garishly painted plywood castles became the standard props for miniature-golf courses? But this is one Lilliputian links that bucks that trend with an Old West theme that has your balls rolling toward holes named Devil's Arch, Fool's Gold and Gravedigger's Gulch.... More >>
• Best Inexpensive Place for Water Park Fun
  Chandler City Pools
  1475 West Erie,
  1400 West Summit,
  600 East Fairview,
  250 South Kyrene
  480-782-2733
  Fancy water parks are fun, but can be pricey. We'd rather head to Chandler's aquatic facilities, which offer similar features at a pittance. You'll find thrilling slides, high dives and lap pools for all ages, spraying toys and smaller slides for younger swimmers, beach chairs, shade and grass... More >>
• Best Place for Kids to Get Professional Balls
  Arizona Fall League Baseball
  Phoenix Municipal Stadium
  5999 East Van Buren
  602-392-0225
  (and other locations)
  You know how it goes at baseball games: A chip shot off the bat. A beer-soaked scramble in crowded stands. And the biggest dog comes up with the ball. But during autumn Fall Ball, kids can hunt and gather all the stitched orbs they want. The stands are rarely more than half full. Most of the... More >>
• Best Place to Get a Cake With Your Kid's Face on It
  Fred Meyer
  4707 East Shea
  602-801-3200
  (and other Valley locations)
  Novelty birthday pastry has come a long way since the days of a cupcake decorated to look like a clown's head. If you doubt it, check out the computer-cake technology that now allows you to serve an iced facial replica of the birthday boy or girl. Every bakery department in the Fred Meyer... More >>
• Best Restaurant for Kids
  Restaurant Mexico
  120 East University, Tempe
  480-967-3280
  The charm of the Mex, as longtime patrons call it, is that it comes without noisy gimmicks and distractions. There's a stash of wind-up toys for children to take to the tables, and a lineup of hand-crank gumball and candy machines to keep their minds on finishing the meal. Waitresses are relaxed... More >>
• Best Pizza-Place Gimmick
  Organ Stop Pizza
  1149 East Southern, Mesa
  480-813-5700
  At first glance, there's something vaguely creepy about seeing hundreds of people eating pizza while staring at a guy bathed in colored stage lights as he plays an antique organ the size of a basketball court. It's sort of Chuck E. Cheese's meets The Phantom of the Opera by way of Honey, I... More >>
• Best Skateboard Shop
  Sub Society
  1250 East Apache, Suite 104, Tempe
  480-804-9560
  This shop is the epitome of what's so beautiful about the sport and its enthusiasts. It's independently owned by three skaters in their mid-20s who have put their emphasis squarely on the tools, not the fashion, of skateboarding -- more gear than clothes. And you won't find snowboarding or,... More >>
• Best Place to Take the Kids Gaming
  Game Depot
  707 South Forest, Tempe
  480-966-4727
  Are you sick of watching your kids blasting away at video games for hours on that $5,000 computer that was supposed to be an educational device -- but is actually nothing more than an expensive joy stick? Then unplug the PC and take 'em on down to Game Depot, where an assortment of challenging... More >>
• Best Place to Have Fun Learning With the Kids
  Mesa Southwest Museum
  53 North Macdonald, Mesa
  480-644-2230
  Most city history museums are a hodgepodge of stuff somebody gave them when the city's first rich white people died. No context, no narrative, no fun. Just lots of Victorian finery. The kids last maybe 30 minutes. At the greatly revamped Mesa Southwest Museum, though, all that dull old stuff... More >>
• Best Place to Take the Kids for a Hot-Weather Picnic
  Desert Breeze Park
  660 North Desert Breeze Boulevard, Chandler
  An outdoor picnic in the dead of summer? Hot damn! First, pack a picnic lunch with lots of cold beverages. Then suit up the kids in their swimming gear, grab the sunscreen and head for Desert Breeze Park. Ignore the lovely lake surrounded by trees and picnic tables. Instead, head to the... More >>
• Best Place to Put Your Kids in the Spotlight
  Herberger Theater Center's Volunteer Usher Program
  222 East Monroe
  602-254-7399, extension 176
  Got a stage-struck young'n? Can't afford the tickets to see every show in town? How does seeing them all for free sound? Downtown's busiest theater has the best volunteer program around. They are always looking for new folks willing to tear tickets and lead patrons to their seats. Volunteers as... More >>
• Best Place to Prepare for the New Millennium
  Laser Quest
  3335 West Peoria Avenue, Phoenix
  602-548-0005
  (and 2035 South Alma School, Mesa, 480-752-0005)
  These sprawling, two-level facilities go into the category of "Only in America!" You plunk down $6.50 for 20 minutes, then hang a brightly colored pad that resembles a flotation device around your chest and shoulders. Laser gun in hand, you step into a maze, try to get your bearings, and start... More >>