What Are The Top 10 Best Things to do With Kids in Scottsdale?

Scottsdale is truly a fantastic place with world-class shopping, restaurants, and art. It’s absolutely amazing, but what are you going to do with your kids? I’ve been there, but you’re in luck because I’m going to cover the top 10 things to do with your kids while in Scottsdale. I’ve got a five and seven-year-old and we’ve explored everything! We’ve also been around this valley for a lot of years working as a real estate brokerage in Scottsdale Arizona, so we have seen it grow tremendously!

Wolf Lodge Gluch Group

1. Wolf Lodge

This place is ridiculous. Prepare for your kids heads to explode when they walk in. It’s incredible, and it’s the closest thing we have to Disneyland in Arizona. It’s got an indoor water park with some outdoor elements as well. It’s great for any time of the year, even in the summer when it’s a thousand degrees and you wouldn’t even want to be outside at a water park. They also have putt putt golf and little climbing walls. We took my daughter there for her seventh birthday and it was amazing. It’s not the cheapest but it’s a really special time if you don’t’ mind spending some money. 

2. Butterfly Wonderland

This place is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a butterfly wonderland! Sometimes they’ll land on you and you end up having these really magical moments. Plus, you’ll always end up with incredible pictures. You’re not going to end up spending six hours there, it’s about an hour-long adventure, and the cost is moderate. It’s a great place to check out, especially if you’ve never been there before.

3. Odyssey Aquarium

This is kind of a bigger thing. There’s a lot to see. You could certainly spend hours or a whole day there if you want to. There are lots of fun and educational activities for kids to do as well.

4. Top Golf  

This is for older kids. What’s cool about Top Golf, beyond the golf, is that you can eat there. So, if you just need a place for lunch where your kids are going to be entertained while you’re eating this is a great place to go. You could even take little kids there and they can kind of knock balls off the upper deck. The cost is on the moderate side. It’s not super cheap, but it’s fun and entertaining. Plus, it’s gorgeous on a nice day!

McCormick Stillman Railroad Park Gluch Group

5. McCormick Stillman Railroad Park

This is a free one; although, they’ll find a way to take your money too if you want. We do a big Gluch Group family day picnic here every year. Four or five hundred people come, from our past clients to friends and family. It’s really fun. This is definitely the best park in Scottsdale, especially for kids. It’s got a real working train, and an old locomotive that the kids can run around and play in. They’ve also got traditional park stuff with playgrounds and fields. And for just a few bucks, you can ride the carousel or the train. It’s not going to break the bank, and it’s particularly good for nice days, but not super hot ones. 

6. Go see a ballgame spring training

Now the season kind of changes every year, but it’s really, really fun. There are several ballparks in Scottsdale that you can go check out and see your favorite team. It feels smaller and more intimate than a big game. It’s really fun. It’s a family favorite that we highly recommend. 

7. Kierland Commons & Scottsdale Quarters

The Kierland Commons is a really beautiful shopping area on the West side of Scottsdale road, the Scottsdale Quarters are on the East side, and there’s a little bridge you can cross between the two. These are two really cool shopping areas with a lot of high-end shops, kids stores, and great restaurants. There’s also some outdoor space for kids and they have little water things with splash pads and the like. And since it’s outdoors, it feels a little less constrictive than the indoor malls like Scottsdale Fashion Square. So, it really neat place to go do your shopping with the family.

8. Scottsdale Civic Center

This is right in Old Town Scottsdale, and it’s just a really beautiful park. They’ve got a little fountain that makes it feel kind of cooler on hot days and there’s a lot of grass. In a lot of the parks in Phoenix, especially in the summer, the grass gets kind of brownish, but they take really good care of it here. It feels lush and green all year round. There are also a few little restaurants nearby where you can grab some food for a little picnic on the grass. It’s one of our family’s favorite things to do. We grab some food, go sit over in the Civic Center, and let the kids run around while we eat. Plus, it’s free! Except, of course, for the food.

Phoenix Zoo Gluch Group

9. Phoenix Zoo

Okay, okay, okay, I know this is in Phoenix and I’m cheating, but it’s really close to Scottsdale. This zoo is great, and it doesn’t have a super strong desert vibe. They have these little jungle areas for the animals, and you feel like you’re in another world while you’re there. Plus, it’s very affordable and is a great experience in the winter.

10. Desert Botanical Garden

Again, this is in Phoenix. I know. It’s very close to the zoo and while it’s not likely to captivate your three your old, it is incredibly pretty. They’ve done a great job of cultivating really cool plants and you can walk on the various trails. They even have a really great restaurant there as well as various events throughout the year, so it’s worth checking out their website to see what they have going on. Especially around Christmas, they’ll do these luminaries that are really beautiful.

So those are my top 10 things we’ve enjoyed as a family. I hope that helps you and your family find something really great to do in Scottsdale. If you’d like to learn anything more about our real estate team in Scottsdale or what we do to help people buy and sell properties in Scottsdale and the surrounding areas all over Metro Phoenix, shoot us a message. We’d love to chat with you and see how we can help you out.

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