Fun Stuff to Do--cheap

My daughter and I love the outdoors. We would often hike along the Salt River and look for crawdads and fish. Drive North on Ellsworth untill you hit the Salt River Tubing area. There are places west and east from there. If you keep traveling east you will also hit Saguaro Lake.
The Phoenix Zoo also has a nice shaddy area for the kids to play in. They also have water sprinklers. I would recomend getting a yearly membership to make that affordable.
The Paralita Trail is also a nice hike. East of Gold cannon on US 60. Its a dirt road for 7 miles, but it's so beautiful. After a rain you can hike on the first trail head to the left and hit a small waterfall after only about 10 minutes. It's so worth it.

The movie theater on Signal Butte and Baseline has free movies in the summer. I believe this is their last week. You can visit their website at www.dtmovies.com They also have a kids snack combo for only $3! Way worth it!

Also here is another idea for this week:

"Just For Kids" - Make Your Own Monsoon - Usery Park
Usery Mountain Regional Park
Bring your water gun, super soaker, or spray bottles to create mini-monsoons on the Merkle Trail! We’ll keep cool by spraying each other down throughout this half-mile hike. Not only will we get wet, but we’ll discover some cool things about the desert along the way! We’ll provide the ammo, you provide the water sprayer of choice. Please bring drinking water along with shoes and clothes that can get wet. This hour-long event will meet at Area 6.

Date: 7/30/2008
Time: 7:30 AM
Registration Required: No
Fee: $6 per vehicle

More Info: http://www.maricopa.gov/parks/usery/
Contact: ###-###-####

Here is another idea that lasts through the summer:

The Phoenix Zoo presents "Starry Safari" every Friday night. It is $3 per person to get in. There are water activities, animal encounters and entertainment. www.phoenixzoo.org

I hope these help. They only last through the summer, but keep their websites in mind for future events and activities.

Desert Breeze Railroad park
http://www.desertbreezerr.com/start.html

Freestone Park
http://www.ci.gilbert.az.us/parks/popups/freestone-park.cfm

Tumbleweed Park
http://events.eastvalleytribune.com/chandler-az/venues/sh...

Espee Park Spray Pad and Chuparosa Park Spray Pad
(article with addresses listed below)
http://phoenix.about.com/od/publicswimmingpools/ss/splash...

Riparian Preserve and Observatory
http://www.riparianinstitute.org/

AZ Museum for Youth
http://www.arizonamuseumforyouth.com/Home.aspx

Of course there is story time at the local libraries...

Check out the Active Moms calendar
http://www.activemoms.com/

You can also join the local MOMS Club in your area. To find the MOMS Club nearest you, go to www.momsclub.org. Each week there are activities that you can take your children to as well as get in some adult interaction with other mothers!

try checking

azactivekids.com

they have a pretty good list of things

Honestly though, during the summer, it's hard to go to the parks because all the equipment is usually so hot from the sun. Some have awnings for shade but it doesn't always help. Desert Breeze in Chandler is pretty good, tempe town lake has a great splash park but I doubt they are open much longer, the community pools are really reasonable and a lot of them have slides and other water features (brimhall on southern and higley or mesquite groves on val vista and riggs) for more info on them go to each cities park and rec dept (i like chandler's pools the best but mesa has a few that are quite fun)

The other site I check for events and such is

Eastvalleytribune.com

they have a great calender of events

My friend started this blog:

http://www.playdatesrock.blogspot.com/

There are lots of things listed there from free to cheap to a little more money. And I'm a contributer so I'm always searching and adding things...

Welcome to AZ!

Doing a community search will help you get aquainted with the local parks. Island Park in Gilbert has water/sprinklers. Pecos Park, in Ahwatukee has a water park and shaded playgrounds. Your local Moms Club can introduce you to lots of fun activities. The local libraries have storytimes and fun activities to do. We go every week, pick out books, then the kids play on their computers while I read or look at books! Below are websites for the Chandler Library system, the Maricopa LIbrary (there is one on Greenfield and Guadalupe) There is also a website for Playtopia, a park that is 2.5 acres, it has shaded playgrounds and lots to do!
http://www.chandleraz.gov/default.aspx?pageid=666
http://www.chandlerlibrary.org/
http://www.mcldaz.org/default.aspx
If you want to join Moms Club or just go to one meeting, please let me know. If you give me your email address, I can send you things to do as they come up. We also sign up for camp during the summer at Gilbert Parks and Rec. www.gilbertrecreation.com They have a list of classes out for the fall right now. Also, Jeepers, is an indoor play place and I have found it to be more reasonable than some. it has rides and arcade games. You can have pizza too. Look for cupons. Sometimes we go to Chucky Cheese and they have good deals and indoor fun. Also, a tip for next year...Harkins movies has a summer deal that is $1 per person for 1 movie per week. They are usually movies that have been out for 1-2 years, but it is still fun and cool! I was new 3 years ago and it took awhile to find things. I would like to help you so it doesn't take you so long.

Hi K.,

Nice to meet you. I live in the east mesa area in Apache Junction, we are right next to the 60. We play alot of hide and seek! My kids love it. But I am happy that my kids started school on Monday, so now i have some free time. My kids are age 7 and 3, Emilie is the oldest, and Nathaniel is my youngest. Pretty soon, we will be able to go the park in the afternoons too.

Not alot of free things to do besides the library and pool is cheap to like $1. but the scare the pools have had latley we havn't gone much.

Talk to you soon.
K.
www.partyplancompanies.com

Hi!
I really like the Arizona Youth Museum on Robson, between Main and University. It's $5 per visitor over one years old. There's a story time at Berean Christian bookstore on Stapley and Baseline on Fridays at 10:30, and it's very close to lots of fun places to eat. I've also heard that Barnes and Noble at Val Vista and Baseline has a storytime, I believe on Thursdays, but I'm not sure about that.

The library & several book stores have story time. I have a meet up group for families. We plan things for mom's, dad's, play dates, & couples events.

http://couples.meetup.com/562/

Try Desert Breeze Park in Chandler. They have a water spout park, alot of moms hang there.It is great fun in the summer. There is also one in Tempe, but I cannot give you the name of it It is north on Rural I think? Someone else may be able to tell you. There are also 2.00 movies at the SS mall and check out Pollack Cinemas in Tempe.

Also since you work from home I am having an event WEd night and can email you the info if you would like. That way you could meet more moms working from home..

Good luck,
C. W

Hi K.! Welcome to the area! Keep your eye on www.showup.com. Its a website that has all the local phoenix and surrounding area activities and events. There is even a tab for "free". Also, a lot of people are looking to save money everywhere they can. A good place to start is with home/auto insurance. I'm an independent agent and have been able to save most people AT LEAST $100 per month so if you want me to look at that for you, let me know! Have fun and try to keep cool! F. www.AgentLady.com

I don't know what your definition of cheap might be but...

Jumping party in Mesa is great. They offer monthly jump passes for the whole family for $70, or on Thursday nights it's just $5 per kid from 3-7. You can bring your dinner with you and make a night of it. Adults are free.

www.jumpingpartymesa.com

oh yeah, and on Wednesdays, Wildflower Bakery at Val Vista and Baseline does a kids thing for free. it's at 3:00 or 3:30...just call and ask