Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale Family Activities

An effective way to judge a property's commitment to its children’s program is to see how much real estate the resort allots to kids. By that measure, the Four Seasons Scottsdale receives an "A." Instead of cramming ages 5 to 12 into one room, the Kids For All Seasons (KFAS) center spreads out in seven rooms plus two patios. And that's just the indoor space. Counselors take older kids swimming in the residence or resort pool. However, in order to participate without a parent present, campers must be able to swim without water wings in water five feet deep. Young children can splash in the kiddie pool.

Kids For All Seasons, the Four Seasons' chain-wide, activity program for ages 5 to 12, remains one of the few industry wide, supervised, daily, kids' programs that is still complimentary from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Children may attend any part of the program or stay all day. The only fee is for lunch.

Located on the ground floor of one of the resort's residential buildings, the children's facility unfolds in seven rooms, each offering something special. As a result, the program has enough space to capture the interests of all ages, even toddlers. Yes, parents are welcome to come to the facility to build Legos, read storybooks, do puzzles and play with their children younger than 5 years old.

New for 2012, "Club 27" teen center is open daily from 5:30 to 9 p.m., welcoming teens ages 13 to 17. Teens can play foosball, ping pong and pool, as well as enjoy video games and special movie screenings as part of the nightly fun.

KFAS' director at the Scottsdale property, David Goucher, works hard to come up with creative activities, some of which teach youngsters about the southwest. Scavenger hunts involve finding saguaro cactus and Palo Verde trees. On nature walks, kids discover how Native Americans used resin from creosote branches as glue and how the indigenous people employed the prickly, curved needles protruding from barrel cactus as fish hooks.

For crafts, kids decorate bug houses as well as paint wooden snakes and lizards. Young children and their parents fashion rainmakers from paper towel holders and beans.

The shaving cream shoot-outs and balloon battles are just plain fun. At Snorkeling 101 held in the pool, kids don masks and breathing tubes to learn how to shoot underwater images with a disposable camera. What do they photograph? Schools of fake fish, of course, placed by the counselors.

We really like the complimentary family activities. At stargazing one evening my daughter and I view Saturn's rings through a high-powered telescope (Awesome!)At the Cowboy Campfire, we roast s'mores while listening to tall tales told by a dude wearing chaps and a 10-gallon hat.

You can also hike Pinnacle Peak on a free guided walk or on your own. There's a trail from the resort's grounds. Trust us: this one's easy not like our scramble on Camelback Mountain, another regional landmark, that involved rope pulls and tip toeing along narrow ledges. On Pinnacle, the first overlook at about .75 mile is a good goal with young kids and with older ones, go for the 3.5-mile roundtrip.

Some of our favorite Scottsdale/Phoenix area activities are floating above the landscape in a hot air balloon, exploring the desert on a jeep tour and learning about Native American culture and art at the Heard Museum and the Heard Museum North Scottsdale.