Arizona Science Center Visit

This weekend we visited the Arizona Science Center for a birthday party. Above is the entrance.

They are located at 600 E Washington St. Phoenix, AZ 85004.  

This eye is looking all around in a giant telescope when you get down to the main lobby inside. The microscope ahead also has eyes. Up ahead is where you purchase your tickets.

Off the main lobby is the gift shop (under the blue sign) and the Lab Cafe (to the left) which serves hot grilled food as well as snacks and beverages including bottled Starbucks coffee drinks.

This is a sky bicycle you can ride. It is along the hallway after the planetarium,

Above is the bicycle docking station. Ahead is more exhibits. We were there for a party so mainly saw the party area, the outdoor water exhibit play area, made bottle rockets and launched them and ate in the lab cafe. It is a very large building so this was a great start for our 2 young kiddos. We can branch out to more rooms next time.

The show playing the day we were there was Can we live on Mars? Tickets were offered with the party but the kids had so much fun in the water area we didn't make it in for the show.

This is a view of the side of the planetarium facing back toward the hallway on the way to the lobby.

This is the outdoor water play exhibit. It had plastic balls like those from a ball pit that the kids can navigate using all kinds of water and air systems across the whole creation. It is a good way to cool off but they got pretty wet so it would be helpful to bring a change of clothes.

This was out front lining up to launch the bottle rockets using a tire air pump and water.

The orange thing in the sky is the bottle rocket flying. This was a fun project for the party where the kids decorated a paper to put onto their rockets and then got to launch them outside. 

Inside the Freeman Gallery is a good mix of activities for all ages including a nice little playspace for little ones ages 4 and under with building blocks and a miniature house to play in.

This is looking across the Freeman Gallery. There is an antique wagon, giant Map of the Phoenix Metro area and many details on how houses are built. 

This is also in the Freeman Gallery. 

This is a building area in the Freeman Gallery for kids of all ages. The kids that day build a little fort out of the blue foam pieces.

This photo above is heading into other galleries including ones about the body. We didn't make it in there on this trip but are excited to try it out next time.

At the Lab Cafe we had chicken fingers and fries and a cheese and green chili quesadilla with salsa and sour cream. The food was cooked to order and very quickly made. It is a fun little cafe with a good variety of sandwiches, salads, hot dogs and other grilled items. Our son has a peanut allergy and was able to find good options he enjoyed and that were safe for him.

If you park in the Heritage Garage on 123 North Fifth Street you can walk across the courtyard up to the Science Center. Bring your parking ticket inside and get it validated for a discount on the parking rates. We were there on a Sunday from 10:30am to 2:30pm and only had to pay $5 instead of $12 for the parking. 

This is another view of the front entrance.

This is a view of Heritage Square and the courtyard out in front of the science center with lots of room for the kids to run around.

This is a different angle of the grassy area out in front of the center. This is where they launched their rockets.

This is a view on the way back to the Heritage Square parking garage. It is to the left right behind the palm tree so very close and you don't have to walk across any roads to get into the science center. 

(This was not a sponsored post.)