All right! Your parents are thinking of moving with you to the Glendale and Peoria area! It's a kid-friendly area that's buzzing with a lot of fun things to do! Here are some cool places you might want to ask your parents about, so that they can take you there sometime. And if you and your parents move here, there are lots more interesting places we can tell you about in and around Glendale and Peoria!
 
 

Toddlers Movement

Toddler Swimming (Glendale) If you're between 6 months and five years old, the Red Cross has a Learn to Swim Program for you! Safe with your mom or dad, you can get the feel of the water, splash around and have fun in a Water Acclimation class. Under-Three Swim Class (Glendale-Peoria) If you're 6 - 36 months, splash around in the pool with your mom or dad in a Parent/Tot class while they learn how to get you ready to swim. Bring a diaper to swim in! Toddler Gym Class (Glendale) If you're 3-6 years old, have fun doing gymnastics while you get strong, flexible and well coordinated! Grab a leotard or some shorts and a t-shirt, and come on down to the Mini-Flyers class! Toddler Tumbling (Glendale) If you're potty trained and older, ask your parents to take you to the Beginning Tumbling class at the Onstage Dance Academy. You get to tumble to your heart's content with other toddlers like you!

 

Walks, Hikes and Field Trips

Sensory Garden Walk (Glendale) Walk in Elsie McCarthy's beautiful garden, with lots to see, hear, touch, and smell. Elsie loved gardening, and even though she couldn't see, she still had a lot of fun using her other senses, and you will, too! Petting Zoo and Kiddy Train Ride (Goodyear) Do you like to pet animals? Ask your mom and dad to take you over to Duncan Family Farms in Goodyear. They have a petting zoo and play yards, and you can even go for a kiddy train ride! You can help your parents pick organic vegetables and they can buy lots of yummy food there, too! Fun with Bunnies (Phoenix) If you're 2-5 years old, you and your mom or dad can have a fun breakfast with bunnies in the Enchanted Forest at the Phoenix Zoo! See what bunnies eat, sing bunny songs, play bunny-hopping games, and take a plush toy bunny home with you at the end of your fun bunny day. Breakfast with Tortoises (Phoenix) If you're 2-5 years old, have breakfast at the zoo in the Enchanted Forest with Tucker, Diesel, Speedy, and Jazz. They're baby Galapagos turtles, and you'll meet their humongous mom and dad, too! You and your parents get to sing songs about tortoises play tortoise games and make a craft tortoise at your fun tortoise breakfast.

 

Exploring Language

Stories, Poems and Fun Things to Do (Peoria) If you're 3-5 years old, come with your mom or dad to the library on Wednesdays for Story Time. Besides stories, you get to listen to poems and do fun activities! Toddler Stories. Puppets and Finger plays (Peoria) If your 18-36 months, bring your mom or dad to Toddler Time at the main library on Thursdays. You get to listen to stories, sing songs and action rhymes, do finger plays and watch puppets! Toddler Stories, Songs, and Finger plays (Glendale) If you're 18-36 months old, you and your parents just have to check out Toddler Time at the Glendale Public Library! You get to listen to stories, sing songs, do finger plays, and make things! And this class is just a toddler-friendly twenty minutes long!

 

Fun Birthday Party

Wild Party (Phoenix) If you're 3 or older, have your birthday party outdoors at the Phoenix Zoo! You get to stay for an hour and a half, and your parents can relax, because the Party Host does all the work. You and you friends get to make a nature craft and eat yummy cake and ice cream!

 

Kids

 

Arts and Crafts

Origami, Etc. (Glendale) If you're 8-11 years old, join the Fly Away program at Glendale's main library. You get to do paper folding and other really fun craft activities! Clothes Design for Teens (Glendale) IInto fashion? Learn how to design clothes! Check out the catwalk at modeling shows, make your own sketches and you'll be on your way! Airbrush for Teens (Glendale) Learn airbrush techniques! Airbrush on paper, shoes, and t-shirts. Create sports logos and try your hand at airbrushing model cars!

 

Outdoor Sports

Outdoor Skating (Glendale) Love to skate? Bring your skates to the SK8 court, where you can skate the ramps in a cool environment made for skaters like you! Track and Field (Glendale) Born to run? If you're 7-14 years old, check out the Hershey National Track and Field Youth Program. Compete in local meets, and if you win, go on to the district finals and state championships!

 

Gymnastics

Gymnastics (Glendale) If you're 6 or older, it's time to tumble! There are plenty of fun beginning and intermediate gymnastics classes for girls and boys at the Deer Valley Flyaway Gymnastics Center. Gymnastics Birthday Party (Glendale) You and your parents will love this! The party staff will set up your party in the gym, decorate, and help serve refreshments. You kids get to play on a 40-feet-up tumble trak, and other cool gym equipment!

 

Martial Arts

Tang Soo Do (Glendale) Check out this cool Korean Martial Art! You'll learn techniques that will help you express your whole self. If you're 6 or older, there's a Tang Soo Do class for you!

 

Aquatics

Red Cross Swim Classes (Glendale) Glendale Parks and Recreation Department has seven public pools, and two of them have water slides! If you're 6 years or older, you can choose from seven levels of Red Cross Learn to Swim classes at three different pools!

 

Dance

Mexican Folk Dance (Peoria) Do you love to watch happy and colorful Mexican folk dance? Learn how to do it at the Estrellas de Peoria Ballet Folklorico, and become part of their folklorico family! Hip-Hop Class for Teens (Glendale) Learn all the cool hip-hop moves and even some choreographed routines! After you learn, you can perform at local events and participate in the Teen Talent Show! Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Etc! (Glendale) Gotta dance? Head on over to the On Stage Dance Academy, and choose a fun class in ballet, tap, jazz or hip-hop!

 

Theater and Performing Arts

Teen Poetry (Glendale) Come to Teen Poetry Night! If you're 12-18 years old, come and read your own poetry (or the works of other poets) in a coffee house style setting. Or just kick back and listen to other poets! Theater Arts (Glendale) On Stage Dance Academy has lots of performing arts classes for kids of all ages, and helps you audition for commercials, musicals and dance videos! Chess (Glendale) Learn cool chess strategies and get into competitive chess. You'll soon be playing in tournaments! The SEP has after school chess clubs and programs throughout the Glendale School District.

 

Public Library

International Stories (Glendale) If you're 5-10 years old, head to the Foothills Branch library for the Passport-on-a-Plate class. Fly in your imagination to a different country each month, hearing stories, doing crafts, and receiving a treat from that country.

 
 

Parks and Playgrounds

Junior Park Ranger (Peoria) If you're 5-9 years, this is the class for you! You'll learn about park management and ways to solve park problems. You'll graduate as a Junior Park Ranger and get a Junior Ranger badge! Desert Survival (Peoria) Be prepared to survive in the desert! In this class you'll learn how to work with others, stay calm if you get lost, use a compass, build a shelter and a fire, and signal for help in this very cool class at the Desert Outdoor Center. Sports Fields and Courts in the Park (Glendale) Play ball! With your family and friends, check out all the soccer fields and the softball and volleyball courts at cool Sahuaro Ranch Park!

 

Natural Science

K12 Microbiology (Peoria) In the Aquatic Life class, you get to act like a microbiologist! Observe living aquatic life and animals, and check out live specimens under a microscope. K12 Biology: Bugs (Peoria) Want to know more about bugs? Take a science class at the Desert Outdoor Center. Listen to the bug presentation and then go find bugs in nature and identify them! Animal Care at the Zoo (Phoenix) Do you love animals? If you're 7 or older, you can find out a whole lot about cool zoo animals! You and your parents can take a tour of the Zoo Animal Care Center and listen to stories about the animals. You'll find out from a zoo veterinarian how they take care of the animals, and what kind of medication they give to sick ones.

 

Hiking and Camping

Desert Trail Hike (Peoria) Learn animal signs, history, ecology, geology, and the names of plants as you hike a desert trail! If you're 5-7 years old, your hike will be about desert colors, shapes, and sounds. Zoo Camping, Hiking, and Train Tour If you're seven or older, camp with your parents by the main lake at the Phoenix Zoo, and wake to the sound of spider monkeys! You'll see awesome animals up close, a guide will take you on a safari hike, and you can take a private Safari Train Tour!

 

Kid-friendly Places to Eat

Italian Food (Glendale) For some delicious pizza or pasta, head on over to kid-friendly Bistro di Napoli and check out their kids' menu! Mexican Food (Glendale) At Chevy's Fresh Mex, the food is great, and they provide crayons and you get to color! You also get to work tortilla dough, and watch tortillas being made. Salad and Pasta Bar (Peoria) Kids love Sweet Tomatoes, where you get to choose your own foods from the salad and pasta bar. Most everything there is healthy, too! For dessert, check out the yummy frozen yogurt!

Well, kids, that's all we have space for right now! But these cool places in and around Glendale and Peoria are just the beginning! They're just a few of the really fun things you toddlers, kids, and teens can do in the Glendale/Peoria area! There are lots more, because Glendale and Peoria are super kid-friendly places to live!