Save $$$ this summer with Museums for All.

Sometimes it can be hard for families who are low income to go out & have a fun time with the family simply because of ticket prices, so knowing about awesome programs like Museums for All can be extremely helpful to know. What is Museums for All? It is a program that hundreds of museums across the United States participates in to help provide families on SNAP/EBT benefits with free or reduced prices for museums in their area. 

Every state will have a different number of museums that are participating so they have made it easy for you to locate which museums in your area are included. You simply need to visit their website & select your home state to see a complete list of participating museums. For example Arizona has eleven different museums that participate in different areas of the state. A few of our favorite spots to visit are on the list along with some other options we haven't visited yet. In order to receive the discount, you'll need to show your SNAP card + ID that matches the name on the card at the box office where you purchase tickets at each museum. 

Once you've located a museum you'd like to visit you can then check out that museums website for official information on the discount through Museums for All. For example, the Arizona Science Center provides tickets for $3 per person for SNAP card holders. Normally tickets are almost $22 for adults & $16 for children so using this discount is huge, especially for families that have more than one child or adult who will be visiting at one time. These savings can then be put towards visiting another museum during the summer, towards weekly expenses or getting to go out to lunch. 

Some museums also offer certain days during the month where it is free to visit for the general public, which is a great option but it can get a little crowded, so Museums for all may be a better option if you want to avoid more people than usual.

Even if you don't see your local museum or even zoo on the list provided by Museums for All, I highly suggest looking around their website anyways for any discounts they offer. There are many zoos and more that offer the same type of discounts for SNAP card holders that you can take advantage of. If you know someone who could benefit from this program that might not have heard of it I encourage you to pass this post along to them. 

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. 

**This is not a sponsored post, nor did I receive anything in exchange for this post. I know how tough it can be when you are struggling and I always love sharing ways to help families & individuals save some extra funds while still being able to explore and have fun.**

Get hands on with the critters at the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch!

 

School is out for summer, which means it is time for summer trips, swimming and more! If you are going to be near the Tucson, Arizona area there is a fantastic destination that offers fun for the whole family. What place am I talking about? I am talking about the Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch (Located at 17599 E Peak Ln. Piacho, AZ 85141. My family and I stopped to visit it on our way home from a trip to the Kartchner Caverns State Park. We enjoyed it so much that I wanted to tell all of you about it. 

I've driven past it before on my way to Tucson, but never stopped so while we were down in the area I looked into everything they offered. Once I saw you were able to hand feed and interact with a number of different animals, I knew it was something we needed to stop and do with the kids. At the door they have two different options, option #1 is $12 which comes with food for all of the animals except for the stingrays and option #2 is $15 which includes food for everything. We went with options #2, they provide you all of the food at once expect for the stingray food as it is pieces of what looks like squid that needs to be kept cold so they give you a coin to trade in at the end when you reach the stingrays. You can purchase additional food if you'd like.

There are several different areas where you can feed a number of animals, and many of them will let you pet them as well! Our kids have a blast and so did we, we all had different areas we loved so we ended up hanging around some of the areas a little longer than others. They have deer, rainbow lorikeets, goats, a ton of ostrich and more. 

While many of the animals were fun to feed my absolute favorite was feeing the Rainbow Lorikeets, you are able to go inside of the enclosure with them. Once inside you just hold the food in your hand and they will come over to sit on your arm/hand and will open the container themselves and start eating. I loved it so much, we ended up buying extra food cups and staying in there a bit. Feeding the stingrays is also an exciting and memorable experience, it feels so funny having them come up and eat out of the palm of your hands. They have no teeth so it is just a light suction that sucks up the bit of food from in between your fingers. 

My kids really enjoyed feeding and petting all of the bunnies, there are so many of them and they are completely unafraid of humans. I was impressed that not one of them tried to bite or get aggressive with us while we were feeding them. All of the animals were fun to feed in their own way and the ranch spices things up by giving you different ways to feed them such as a delivery system for the goats, a goat kissing wall and more. It was fun hand feeding all of the animals - aside from the Ostrich, they have a special cup you pour it in. Although I am not going to lie, it freaked me out feeding the ducks, they have a sign showing how to feed them next to their swimming area. You make an open fist  leaving a round opening between your thumb and pointer with the food inside of your palm, so they can put their break into the opening and eat. I was worried they would nip on the soft skin near my thumb on accident or that their hard beaks would hurt, my husband actually had to help hold me hand because I was nervous hahaha. Everything turned out just fine, didn't hurt at all.

They also have a gift shop, and a shooting gallery where the kids can have some fun. You can also use their pressing machine to make a souvenir pressed penny to take home, it was open during the time we were there but they also have monster truck tours. We thankfully went on a day when there were not a bunch of people so we were able to take our time and really enjoy the experience. In total we were there for about two hours altogether and we can't wait to go back again, it was well worth the money spent to feed the animals. 

I will be sharing some photos and videos from the ranch including showing how some of the animals are fed over on my blog Instagram page and Photography Instagram page, so stop by and check them out! I will be putting different photos and videos on each through the next week.

Besh-Ba-Gowah Museum - A educational and amazing stop in Globe,AZ!

We live in beautiful Arizona and it feels like such a waste to know that there are so many unique and interesting places to explore and not go visit them! My children are at the age where they are able to hike with us for an hour or two and not get tired, and they have a growing love for adventure as well so we've been taking advantage of the lower number of tourists and limited capacity at various destinations in our home state. 

I have been working with the state parks department to visit some of the different parks in our state, and along the way we've been stopping off at other attractions. I plan on sharing many of these wonderful locations with all of you, if you are local to Arizona and need a weekend getaway or day trip you should check out some of the places we've stopped or if you are outside AZ and everything re-opens again you should stop on your next trip through our state. This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by the park, this is a destination we decided to check out on our own and enjoyed enough to share with you.

Today I wanted to share a spot in Globe,Arizona that I found online prior to taking our trip out to Safford. The destination is called the Besh-Ba-Gowah Archaeological Park & Museum. It is the location of a prehistoric Salado masonry pueblo that sits atop of ridge overlooking the Pinal Creek, it is located on two acres of land and it is home to an actual prehistoric ruin site that has been partially re-constructed. It is closed on the weekend so we decided to see it on our way back home during the week. Finding it was quite interesting and was a mini adventure all on it's own, it is tucked away inside of the town itself so you'll drive through two small neighborhood streets to reach your destination that is tucked away next to the local community center. 

Due to covid precautions the museum currently has limited the capacity of people allowed inside of the indoor museum to allow everyone to have their space from the other visitors. There is normally a fee to visit, however it is currently being waved. When we arrived there were only three other cars, two of which were leaving so we showed up at the perfect time. The first stop was inside of the museum, everything featured in the building was excavated inside of the ruins themselves. 

The museum had dozens of arrow heads, bows, pots, jewelry beads and more that were fascinating to see. They also provided quite a bit of information on each item, had a miniature re-construction of how everything would have looked when it was first built and they offered a movie for anyone wanting to watch it. The gift shop was packed with local goodies all of which were fun and unique such as feathers with paintings on them, scorpions in magnets, local honey and more. After seeing what they had to offer inside and using the bathroom we went outside to begin exploring the ruins. 

There are no tour guides, everything is set up so you are able to explore on your own. You'll find many signs along the way describing different rooms of the pueblo and offering insight on what life was like during that time period. I've visited ruin sites before, however this one ranks as one of my favorite. The site is huge, there is a lot of space to walk around in and they incorporated some beautiful dessert life along the way.

In the back of the ruins is a large two story building, we were excited to find that you were able to enter the building. We were able to walk through the two larger rooms which lead out to the other side of the building where you'll find another path to walk along. There were several spots along the way that were perfect for taking a few photos, they even have a bench places out in front of an interesting looking cactus cluster so you can take a nice family photo. After visiting if the kids still have a lot of energy there is a small park right behind the center where the kids can run around a bit. We didn't see any close places to stop for a bite to eat so you'd have to head into the town of Globe to locate a restaurant. 

We had a lovely time when visiting Besh-Ba-Gowah, it was educational and it is always amazing to see how people lived during different times in history. I also loved that they had a number of bird feeders so you had a chance to see some of the local birds. If you are ever near the area or traveling through I recommend stopping by their facility, you can take your time or if you are in a hurry you could see everything in 30-45 minutes. 

Stop by The Crayola Experience in Chandler during your kids spring break! + GIVEAWAY!

Many schools around Arizona are about to be out for spring break, so what is there to do to keep the kids entertained while still social distancing? Aside from spending some time in the great outdoors there are several options around the valley that will allow you to stay safe while still having fun. One of those options is the Crayola Experience which is located inside of Chandler Fashion Center. Due to covid they had to close down for a little while, however they recently celebrated their grand re-opening on March 3rd and have several safety protocols in place to keep their guests safe. Tickets are $17.99 online or $19.99 if purchased at the gate, they also offer annual passes for guest who would like to visit several times through out the year.

What are they doing to keep everyone safe during these interesting times? First they are limiting the amount of guests allowed in the building at one time, and they are doing temperature checks at the front desk which are being done by a trained EMT. Activity stations have been limited as well, some of them have had a spot or two shut down for the time being to keep families separated. Masks are required and at this time they are asking that you only bring in see through bags (you can ask for one if needed). While there we also noticed several staff members wiping down all the machines, and helping keep everyone six feet away from one another. During our visit there are a few other families, but we never felt like we were too close to another family or being over crowded, it was a delightful and quiet experience. 

The Crayola Experience can be a lot of fun for children of all ages and even adults! Let's go over some of the fun activities they have to offer you during your visit. Once you get through the ticket station you will be handed a clear plastic bag that has tokens, a pack of crayons and two chalk sticks. Normally they have art supplies out for you to use, but to prevent cross contamination they have given you a set of your own to use and keep. We've found tokens vary from bag to bag, some of ours have two while others had three, if you want to purchase more than that they have a coin exchange machine, each token costs $0.50. When you first enter the building you will be greeted by two big round machines, each machine has four stations where you can create your own crayon label. 

To use the label maker you will select a color you'd like, this time around the only options were green, pink and orange. Standing in front of the color you want you will insert one of the coins found in your bag you were given at the entrance, then it will ask you to select a symbol you'd like on your label. They have a nice selection to choose from, I went with a star as you can see above. It will also let you name the crayon, I named mine after my blog! Hit "Print" when you are happy with how your label looks and it will spit out your label along with a naked crayon. Next stop at the station next to these where you place the label and crayon, then pull downwards on the handle and it will apply the label to the crayon. Tada! Look at how cute the crayon turned out. 

The only other station that takes the coins is a vending machine that has a variety of model magic baggies. They have a few tables set up where you can sit and play with the model magic, however we decided to just put ours in our bags and safe it for when we arrived home. We bought a few extra coins so the kids could each get four colors. My son had a blast playing with the model magic when we arrived home. From here you can explore the rest of the facility. Directly next to the vending machines is a small area with three tablets spaced six feet apart that kids can play with. Across from the tablets you'll find two areas where "Be A Star", this spot is a lot of fun. 

Why is this spot such a fun stop? You get to create your own coloring pages where you are the star of the show. Who wouldn't want to get a printed page of themselves as a coloring page? You will get to select which background you'd like, strike a pose and get your photo taken. There is a printer directly next to this station so you don't need to go anywhere to pick up your print. Take a family photo or let the kids take a few snap shots on their own to color in when they get home. 

You will also find two crayon melting stations. The first station an attendant will have you select two different colored crayons and instruct you on how to use the machine, each crayon will be added in one at a time. As the crayon is melting there is a spinning paper directly under it where the wax will land, you can use a control to adjust how fast or how slow it will spin giving you a different splatter pattern each time. The attendant suggested I do one that looked like my hair, so I happily agreed and think it turned out great. 

The second station is right next to the spinner and you'll have your choice of one crayon color. It will be inserted into a different machine that will melt it, dripping it into a car shaped mold. Depending on the color of crayon the person before you used, you might end up with a multicolored crayon like I did above. It is a exciting experience getting to see the crayon made right before your eyes. 

If that wasn't enough excitement they also have a area where you can color in a magical create, scan it to a computer and have it come to life on the screen or you can see a fashion show featuring a outfit you colored in yourself. If fashion shows aren't your thing, you can also see a race featuring a car you designed yourself. 

There is also a large chalk wall, a giant light up peg board, a interactive wall that makes it look like you are walking through melted crayons, arcade games that give tickets you can trade for prizes, a gem mining station and more. Due to the safety protocols in place the crowd was much smaller than the last time we visited, we could actually walk around and enjoy the experience more with the smaller lines. We thought they did a fantastic job keeping everything clean and safe for everyone visiting, the staff were friendly, helpful and seemed to be in high spirits while interacting with everyone. We didn't experience any issues while on this trip, and I honestly can't think of anything but great things about our trip.

Before you leave they will ask if you want an arm band so you can come back later in the day if you are just heading out for lunch. The exit leads into their retail store located next door, you'll find dozens of colorful gifts and souvenirs available for purchase, and you'll be greeted by a giant wall of crayons. 

They have a number of tins and buckets available for purchase that you can fill up with any crayons or markers you can fit inside of it for a set price. We were able to fit quite a bit in the tin we had, we filled it mostly with crayons, but we also had enough room for a handful of markers. They have a lovely selection of colors including metallics, glitters and neon choices. The tin shown above cost $18.99 which might seem like a lot but you get the tin and everything you can fit inside. We ended up with ten markers and 103 crayons, plus the tin itself, so I would say that is a pretty good deal. 

On our way out we also spotted a display of candy bars that had crayon wrappers. It was early morning, and the bars were a little more than I typically pay for a candy bar coming in at $3.49 a bar (the size of a regular Hersheys bar), however they had some pretty intriguing flavors so we let the kids pick out a bar and we each grabbed one as well. My daughter went with the milk chocolate caramel, my son selected the S'mores, and my husband and I went with dark chocolate sea salt. They are delicious! 

Above you can see some of the goodies we brought back from our trip. The eight pack of crayons was in your entry bag, the two crayons by themselves and the model magic are what can be purchase with the tokens. The spin art and car crayon are from the melting stations, the tin full of crayons and the crayon shaped piggy bank can be found in the retail store and the tickets in the middle are being used for a Giveaway for my readers!

Now that you know all of the excitement the Chandler Crayola Experience has to offer you it is time for me to give away some tickets so you can go check it out for yourself.  The tickets do not have an expiration date so you are able to go when ever you'd like! I will be mailing these out to the winners. 

Prize Alert: Five lucky winners are each going to receive FOUR tickets to take their family to enjoy a day out.

This is open to Arizona Residents! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 03/16/2021

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment telling me which activity mentioned above you think your family would enjoy the most.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer-  The Crayola Experience provided me with four tickets for our entry, a tin to fill with crayons, a piggy bank and a gift card for lunch for the review + twenty tickets to use as a prize for a giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase. 

Come explore the Children's Museum of Phoenix.

If you live in or around the Phoenix,Arizona area and have small children I highly suggest heading to downtown Phoenix to spend a day at the Children's Museum of Phoenix for a day of fun and adventure. The museum is located inside of the historic Monroe School building found on the south east corner of 7th street and Van Buren, parking is free and found on property so there is no need to park in one of the downtown parking garages. I've always thought this school building was gorgeous so I am glad it wasn't torn down and instead turned into something new, so I think it adds to why I love visiting the museum so much. The museum is filled with three floors of fun for you and your children, their goal is to engage your child's imagination during their visit. Several of the locations allow the parents to interact with their children as well which is nice for parents who want a hands on experience with their kids at the museum.

I was recently invited to join the PLAYfluencer program at the museum, so over the course of the next several month's I will be sharing highlights of the different areas of the museum along with special events and activities they offer for your children. The museum is geared towards children ages 1-10 however I think that you could go a year or two past that as well with a few of their offered programs, any older than that and I don't think they would be able to do much, as most of the museum is geared more towards the younger children. There is a ton of museum to cover so for my first feature I am going to discuss just the first floor with you/entry area with you.

When you first walk through the museum doors you are greeting by the front desk area and the gift shop, taking a left takes you into the start of the museum. You are instantly greeted by a play area and a giant play structure that children (and adults) are allowed to explore, they even have a small gated off area located near the bottom designed for babies who aren't able to fully explore on their own yet. You can also find one of my favorite features of the museum when you first walk in which is a giant wall decorated with dozens of old CD's/DVD's which look quite pretty with the light reflecting off of them.

The whole play structure is quite imaginative, in one spot you'll feel like you are in the sea when you are near all the sea creature decorations, and in another spot you're in a winged bathtub! Where else are you able to hang out in a "flying" bathtub? The structure is also quite large it reaches all the way up to the top floor, so when you are at the top you can say hi to everyone on the way up. Around the base of the climbing structure you'll find several piles of building blocks ranging in size along with some other hands on activities.

For the parents who don't want to play on the structure there are several places to sit while keeping an eye on your children. This front entry area has a long hall way that offers lockers for your belongings, a restroom area and a eating area for kids visiting on school trips. You'll also find an elevator, a large stair case that takes you up to the next floor and a photobooth for anyone wanting to snap a few photos. (this costs extra, it is the type you typically find in the mall). The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday from 9am-4pm, Admission is $14.95 per person or you can purchase a membership and visit as often as you'd like for free. (They do offer senior discounts and babies 1 and under are free).

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Children's Museum of Phoenix for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

The Crayola Experience is now open in Chandler,AZ!

Guess what Arizona residents? We have a brand new tourist attraction at Chandler Fashion Square. Crayola has just opened the first ever Crayola Experience here in Arizona and it is packed with fun things for you and the kids to do. My family and I went to a media opening day on Wednesday and we all had a blast,  I felt like a child again. It officially opened to the public on Thursday May 23rd,2019 tickets are $14.99 per person which can be bought online or in store, so head out to see the new location for yourself.

Above: Create your own Crayon label


Above: A few of the crayons we labeled.

What do they have to offer? They have a ton to do and it isn't just the kids who can participate and enjoy the activities, adults can participate too. When you first enter the attraction there are two machines with six stations where you can create your own crayon label, first you pick which station you want based off the color of crayon you want then you insert a coin into the machine. (Coins are not included in the price to get in,they have vending machines where you can buy coins with cash. Note: only two areas require these coins). After inserting your coin it will ask you to select a symbol, name your crayon then ask if it is how you want it so it can print. Next it will pop out a naked crayon and a label that you take over to a second station where you will add on the label yourself using the machines they have. I am hoping they change out the colors every few months so those with annual passes can get different colors. They currently have yellow, two shades of green, pink and two shades of purple available to label.

The next area you can use coins to purchase bags of play foam so you can build your own creations using the cutting tools and markers they have available at each table. Each baggie of play foam cost one coin (which I believe equals out to $0.50 each), there is enough in each bag to make one small figure, my daughter bought a bag of purple and turned it into a small teddy bear. There is also an interactive floor in this area where the kids can play games on the projector.

Following the three areas mentioned there is also an area where you can color in a animal or critter then hand it to the attendant to watch it come alive and dance on stage, They had frogs for us to color, it was neat watching them dance. A giant coloring station sits in the middle of the front with dozens of bins filled with crayons and coloring pages, where you can sit and relax while coloring. If you aren't happy with the coloring pages they have at the coloring section you can make your own with YOU as the star! They have two stations where you can snap a photo in front of the camera on the background of your choice then hit print to make a coloring page with your face on it. The create your own coloring page machine was simple to use and it took less than a minute to create a coloring page. The kids each made one together and we did one as a family. The images are black and white, they will make you look slightly cartoonish.

Above: Melted Max Spin Art

They can't fit anymore into this building can they? They sure can! Aside from everything I have already listed there is a station where you can color a picture then scan it to make it come alive on the screen, you have a choice of snapping a photo on one of their backgrounds or take a photo with your creation and email it to yourself,. Above you can see the dragons my son and I drew plus a photo of mine alive on the screen, each image actual moves for example the dragons and fairy flap their wings and move their bodies. Speaking of your creations coming to life, you can color a dress, shirt or vehicle and make it come alive on the race track or at a fashion show where you can see your creation on the big screen. Next to the creation stations is a giant light peg board, a area where you can make a 3D turtle or monkey, a station where you can make a wax hand (extra charge) and a spot where you can mine for gems.

If that isn't enough for you there is still more to enjoy! There is a molding station where you can mold your own crayon keepsake to take home, our location had either a car mold or ring mold available. They had a melted spin art area, a silly selfie station, a chalk area where you could write all over the walls, a station where you could color with melted crayons as they are melting, and a area where you could run across the screen and interact with the melting crayon rain. Almost everything here is do it yourself and very simple to use, if you do need any help there are several assistance walking around the building who are more than happy to help assist you.

Hungry? No problem, they have a cafe where you can pick up drinks or food items and if you are craving desserts they have a sweets shoppe with cookies, ice cream, fudge and more! You are bound to spend at least two hours here if you want to stop by each station so I would food plan if you'd like to eat snacks here or eat lunch in the mall food court. You can get your hand stamped before leaving so you can go eat and come back if you wish. They do have a nice clean restroom to use so you do not need to leave the store to use the bathroom. Before leaving they have a large gift shop where you can shop for crayons, markers, and crayola inspired goodies. They have a giant wall completely lined with different crayons where you can build your own pack.

So what did we end up coming home with? Each child came home with four custom label crayons, a clay model, a race car crayon they created, a custom coloring page, a melted wax spin creation and several coloring pages/creations from the other stations. I also made three of my own labeled crayons, which I had a lot of fun with. I also received a goodie bag as part of the media day which features several products from their gift shop! You can see that image above.

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Crayola Experience for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others.My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.