THANK YOU FOR MAKING PLAYFEST 2025 AMAZING!

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Here’s an A-to-Z Snapshot of the Day

  • About 2,000 children and their families arrived at the Arizona State Fairgrounds on March 15 to enjoy an Awesome Day of Outdoor Play
  • Beginning the day in a quiet way with Sensory Hour offered the little ones and those with sensitivities a gentler time of play and our Services for Children with Disabilities and Smart Support teams kept them busy with obstacle courses, animal yoga poses and soothing sounds of music therapy from Higher Octave Healing
  • Community Resource Partners lined up on Main Street were there to offer education and insight to our guests on everything from employment to vaccinations and we are grateful to Lockton for supporting their attendance
  • Delta Dental provided healthy snacks and went the extra mile by offering kid-friendly dental hygiene activities, while The Smile Zone joined us to offer dental checks and fluoride rinse
  • Exploring careers of the future and how beautifully unique we each are took place at the travelling PNC Grow Up Great Mobile Learning Adventure
  • For the older children in attendance, the Vibe Den provided stickers, comic books from Samurai Comics, carnival games, Give One, Take One Stickmen United kindness crafts, Maricopa County Fair tickets, and All Yo-Yo shared the fun of ‘walking the dog’ and other tricks for beginners with the help of our Early Childhood Business Solutions team
  • Growing healthy fruits and veggies was a hit as our Child Support and Family Welfare team partnered with Keep Phoenix Beautiful to offer a compostable cup to fill with soil and seeds (and worms!) to take home, watch grow and eventually eat
  • Helpline resources were provided to answer parenting or caregiver questions and concerns about their child’s growth and development and can always be accessed by calling 877-705-KIDS (5437)
  • Instant joy was created by the appearance of Daniel Tiger and Katerina Kittycat thanks to Arizona PBS Kids, Fred Rogers Productions and PNC’s Grow up Great partnership
  • Jumping, tossing and stacking took place with the Yard Games led by the PNC Bank team
  • Keeping the fun moving on stage was Dizzie and the team from Just Energy Entertainment, in addition to folklorico dancing, One World Dance & Music Studio belly dancing, and some amazing tricks from the BMX Stuntmasters, all thanks to Mountain America Credit Union
  • Loads of smiling and silliness was spotted at the Bubble Storm hosted by the Head Start EAGLES parent committee and brought to us by Mortenson
  • Making a special appearance were Spider Man and Spider Gwen thanks to Lakeshore Learning Company 
  • Nobody left without a free book thanks again to our Stage & Page sponsor, Mountain American Credit Union. Our Literacy team helped children select age-appropriate free books, children engaged in literacy crafts with our Professional Development & Training team and Mesa Arts brought their Let’s Play Drame Storytime activity to inspire the love of reading.
  • One by one, we introduced the amazing families nominated to serve as our 2025 Ambassadors and shared how they embraced the support of Easterseals Southwest Human Development programs to ensure their children thrive by the age of 5
  • Playdough-making allowed children to practice scooping, measuring and stirring in a fun color for their creation made with all natural ingredients thanks to Discount School Supply
  • Quite a few twisted balloon characters were seen throughout the crowd thanks to Arcadia Pediatric Dental
  • Reading about our event and seeing the signage throughout was made possible with support from our friends at Alphagraphics and Shutterfly
  • So many bright yellow backpacks were spotted throughout the day and we thank SRP for those to hold all the make n’ take activities the children collected throughout the event
  • The Touch-A-Truck was our newest activity and the vehicles from Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA), Phoenix Raceway, United Rentals, APS, Sunstate Equipment and American Furniture Warehouse provided lots of honks and hollers of joy thanks to Paloma Ready Mix
  • Up until the end of the day, we captured smiles, giggles and dancing as Go the Gorilla wrapped up the event with a dance party on the stage
  • Very special thanks to Arizona’s Family 3TV & CBS 5 Meteorologist Pete Mangione for sharing with the weather and our event with the community through several live broadcasts at the event
  • We hope you had an Awesome Day of Outdoor Play and you’ll plan to join us in 2026
  • Xeric (dry and arid) weather was not in the forecast, so we made the best of the clouds, moisture and a few puddles while getting creative through painting with the Head Start Team, decorating Little Free Libraries and stencils with Chalk Art guided by local artist Frankie Henderson
  • You can remember the joy of the day by purchasing a uniquely designed Playfest 2025 shirt created by our friends at State Forty Eight and made possible by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
  • Zillions of thanks to additional partners like Starbucks, Spinato’s and Salad & Go for fueling the work of our AMAZING volunteers throughout the day with coffee, pizza and breakfast burritos