KidsOutAndAbout Weekly Newsletter |
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Fri, Apr 17: Kids Adventure Storytime Event: Meet 11-yr-old Author Bella Olson (Phoenix 4/17)
Sat, Apr 18: 5th Annual Scottsdale Children's Business Fair
Sun, Apr 26: Día del Niño: Embrace Your Inner Heardling | Heard Museum
Sun, Apr 26: 2026 Peace of Mind 5K
Thu, Apr 30: Homeschool Explorations: Kids Eco-Engineering (For students 6-11)
Fri, May 1: First Friday with Hoop Dance Legend Jones Benally | Heard Museum
Sat, May 2: Scottsdale Sparkle Spring
Event at the Arizona Boardwalk
Sat, May 9: Desert West Night Market 2026
Sat, May 9: Girls in STEM: Deep Blue Discovery
Fri, May 15: The Wizard of Oz
Sun, May 17: 2026 Arizona Aviculture Society SPRING Bird Mart
Mon, Jul 13: Youth Improv Camp at The Bridge Improv Theater |
Dear KidsOutAndAbout readers: When my kids were little, one of our favorite nature activities was also one of the simplest: We’d head out onto a trail, stop among the trees, and play the Listening Game. The rules were easy: Close your eyes. The first time you hear a sound, any sound at all, put up one finger. Then add another for each new sound you notice. After a minute or two, someone says,
“Open your eyes,” and everyone compares fingers and talks about what they heard. It’s a small exercise in attention, but it changes how kids experience the world. The invisible becomes visible... not to the eyes, exactly, but to the mind. Things that were just out of range suddenly move onto our radar. Nature is full of motion and music, and this game helps us tune ourselves to it. The free Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology takes that magic one step further: Tap Sound ID, and suddenly the songs around you appear on your screen as a voiceprint and a bird name and an image that shows you what to look for. And what a moment ago was only background atmosphere becomes a Carolina Wren, or an Eastern Whip-poor-will, or the Common Yellowthroat pictured above,
singing his heart out for a girl with a camera. That’s one of the great tasks of childhood, and of the adults who love children: to help hidden things come into view. Before we know something, it is almost as if it isn’t there. But once it is named, we have a new way to see. There are suddenly new dimensions to our universe, helping us transform even more mysteries into things that are ours. And we never really experience the woods—or the field, or the river, or
the ocean, or the city, or our backyard—the same way again.
—Debra Ross, publisher of KidsOutAndAbout.com, co-author of The Eclipse Effect: How to Seize Extraordinary Moments to Build Strong Communities
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KidsOutAndAbout.com: Discover more. Do more. Connect more. If you like my publisher's column, you can easily scroll through past columns in the "Notes from Deb" section of our site. |
- Kids Adventure Storytime Event: Meet 11-yr-old Author Bella Olson (Phoenix 4/17) - Changing Hands Bookstore, 300 W Camelback Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85013, Friday, April 17, 2026, 6:30
PM
- Yoga Storytime | Century Library - Century Library, 1750 E Highland Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85016, Friday, April 17, 2026, 10:15 am
- Brick Builders | Juniper Library - Juniper Library, 1825 W Union Hills Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85027, Friday, April 17, 2026, 3:30 pm
- Free Art Friday: Wiggles & Wheels - Tempe City Arts - Edna Vihel Arts Center, South Rural Road, Tempe, AZ, Friday,
April 17, 2026, See website
- FREE spring mini photo session - Phoenix Area - Shoott, Broadway, New York, NY, USA, Friday, April 17, 2026 to Sunday, April 19, 2026, See link for times
- 5th Annual Scottsdale Children's Business Fair - Desert Ridge Marketplace, North Tatum Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ, Saturday, April 18, 2026, 10:00AM to 1:00PM
- MakersBase | Ironwood Library - Ironwood Library, 4333 E Chandler Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85048, Saturday, April 18, 2026, 3 pm - 4 pm
- Free Community Golf Fun Day - GPS Learning Center 9433 N 107th Ave. Sun City, AZ 85351, Saturday, April 18, 2026, 9:00 AM -
11:00AM
- Tools for School | Cholla Library - Cholla Library, 10050 North Metro Parkway East, Phoenix, AZ 85051, Saturday, April 18, 2026, 10 am
- Annual Polish Festival - Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish - Our Lady of Czestochowa Parish, 2828 W Country Gables Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85053, Saturday, April 18, 2026 to Sunday, April 19, 2026, Saturday 10 am – 8 pm | Sunday 10 am-4 pm
- Galaxy STEM Fest
2026 - The Square PHX at Heritage & Science Park, 113 N. 6th St., Phoenix, AZ 85004, Saturday, April 18, 2026, 11:00AM - 4:00PM
- Kids Adventure Storytime with 11-yr-old Author Bella Olson - Check your city's listing, Saturday, April 18, 2026, 11:00AM -
1:00PM
- Open House Sunday Series - At The Outlet, Inc., 3004 North 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ, Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3 - 5 pm
- POWER IN MOTION: SUNDAY OPEN HOUSES POP UP SESSIONS - At The Outlet, Inc., 3004 North 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85016, Sunday, April 19, 2026, 3-5 pm
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The KidsOutAndAbout annual guide to summer camps in the Phoenix area is back! You can search by date, age, or categories like day/overnight, sports, drama, music, theatre, arts & crafts, technology, robotics, horseback riding, preschool, & more. Our
guide puts summer fun right at your fingertips!
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Parents have an abundance of choices when it comes to PreK and day care options in the Phoenix area! Use our Big List to help find the best one for your kiddos and check our events calendar to find Open Houses where you can meet teachers and tour the
schools.
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Looking for a thrilling family-friendly adventure in the Phoenix area? Escape rooms are interactive, puzzle-packed experiences where you and your team work together to solve clues and complete your mission-all before time runs out! Whether you're escaping a
spooky cabin, cracking a high-stakes heist, or breaking a magical curse, escape rooms offer exciting, screen-free fun for kids, teens, and adults.
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Have a great weekend!
Debra Ross
Publisher, KidsOutAndAbout.com
Mom of Madison and Ella |
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