Arizona Museum for Youth

Now that all the season finales are over, I am embarking on my one month of no TV for the kids and I. TV has become too commonplace in our house and is always on. I think that we miss out on learning opportunities and using our imagination when the TV is on. So I thought it would be good to try a little experiment and fill our days with non-TV stuff...music, museums, creative play, crafts, books and library, water play. Any other ideas would be appreciated! :) (Just to clarify, we can watch one movie a day, but no TV.) So today we went to the Arizona Museum for Youth. I love this place!! It is so cute, and such a good place for kids AND adults. They have an Under the Sea exhibit right now and Cade loved it. It was so fun to watch him look at the art, and find all the Nemos. He would go up to a piece and look at it, for almost a minute. I could see his brain taking it in. He especially liked the mermaids (go figure). I was surprised that he wanted to look at the art. I was expecting to have to chase him around and keep his hands out of everything. Myla liked looking at the art as well. They had all kinds of mediums there. And at different spots through out the gallery they had a craft the kids could make. It was so fun!

They also had Artville, a place where kids under 4 could play. It was very hands-on. This is Cade in the submarine looking out at everyone. There was a slide, a little "theatre" where the kids could put on costumes and act things out, an arts and crafts room, a little kitchen playroom, a garden. There was so much to do.
They also had a little area for the babies where there were different colors and textures. Myla loved it.
My favorite thing is to watch Myla and Cade play together. This is them acting like doggies. Really, Cade is acting like a doggy and Myla is giggling and crawling after him.