By M. V. Moorhead
Summer is unmistakably coming, and with it the need for some cool fun. If you can combine water activities with learning a little history, you have a recipe that’s sure to be a hit with kids.
It’s how dozens of wide-eyed young ones from such local venues as Kyrene del Cielo Elementary School, the Tempe Family Y and the Tempe Boys and Girls Club found a wet and wild escape last year.
Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting, which houses the world’s largest exhibit of firefighting history, offers just such a program to kids in day camps, YMCA programs, home school field trips—any place where kids get corralled in the summer months.
Starting in spring and continuing through about mid-October, the museum offers “Junior Firefighters Workshops” to groups of kids older than 7, and “Wet n’ Wild Storytimes” to groups of those 7 and younger.
Workshops include a guided tour of the museum’s spectacular collection of restored antique fire apparatus, as well as a fire safety presentation. Wet n’ Wilds include a fun, non-threatening fire safety story. Both programs include the chance to play on a real firetruck—and both also include a trip outside to participate in a bucket brigade, which involves shooting a fire hose from a real fire engine.
And in both programs, the kids get a pretty good soaking from the spray of the hose.
These programs, which must be booked in advance, are available for groups of 10 or more kids (up to 50). The cost is $7 per child, with one adult chaperone admitted free for every five kids (adults above that ratio are also charged).
Of course, if you’d like to bring a group to the museum but would prefer not to leave with a bunch of soaked kids, storytimes (kids 7 and younger) and guided tours (kids older than 7, and adults) are also offered without the water activities.
These likewise must also be booked in advance, and are $4 per child—again with one adult admitted free with every five kids.
To book, or for details, call 602-275-3473.
