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Dinosaur Tracks – In the Triassic period, big dinosaurs roamed the Painted Desert, leaving their tracks and eggs to be turned into stone. Kids will get a kick out of tracks of a small T-Rex, claw marks of raptors, remnants of dinosaur eggs and domes of dinosaur poop! You can walk on a self-guided path, but it’s better to have a Navajo guide, who will point out all the tracks in the desert (they aren’t that easy to spot if you don’t know where to look). The dinosaur tracks are on Highway 160 going in the direction of Tuba City, 4 miles east from Highway 89, on the north side of the road. This is a gem! |
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First, Second and Third Mesa – For centuries the Hopi have lived in villages perched on three mesas, adobe buildings blending into the sandstone rocks. If you want to visit a Hopi village, you’ll need a guide, and Walpi on Second Mesa is your best bet. In Walpi, go to the Ponsi Hall, tours are 10 – 3 in winter, 9:30 – 5 in summer. Photography is strictly prohibited in all the villages. |
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 Hopi Cultural Center (Second Mesa) – For a taste of Hopi life, it’s well worth a visit to this homey cultural center on Second Mesa. Kids will see a totally cool model of Walpi, dioramas of Keet Seel, Hopi clothing and pottery (plus steps in pottery making), Kachina dolls, baskets and jewelry. Have lunch in the restaurant, with traditional Hopi dishes such as lamb or pinto and hominy, fry bread dishes, plus buffalo burgers and the usual kid-friendly food. |
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Hubbell Trading Post (Ganado) – John Lorenzo Hubbell set up a trading post in 1876. Here the Navajo came to trade their blankets, rugs, wool and jewelry for tools and groceries. The trading post was also a place visit and socialize. The Hubbell Trading Post is little changed from a century ago, with Navajo rugs for sale, baskets on the ceiling, shelves filled with grocery items, along with period furnishings of the Hubbell home. |
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Meteor Crater – The meteor crater is big, 4,000 ft across, 2.4 miles in circumference and 550 ft deep. You can’t go down into the crater, but there are great viewing platforms with telescopes of specific features in the crater. Kids may think the crater looks like the moon, and it does – this is where the Apollo astronauts trained for their moon missions. |
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The Learning Center has a large meteorite kids can touch, plus hands-on exhibits, make your own crater and simulations of how the crater was formed by the impact of the meteor. There’s a real Apollo test capsule out in front. |
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Rim hikes – Every hour, there are guided hikes along the rim of the crater, ½ mile out, ½ miles back, closed-toed shoes are required (no sandals). |
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Imagine living in a Hopi village – what clothes would you wear, where would you find water, how could corn grow in the desert, who were the kachina, did children have to work? Answers to all these questions and more, colorfully illustrated. (Chapter book)
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In this retelling of a Hopi myth, long ago the Hopi had no fire to keep warm. They ask for help from Owl, Gopher, and Coyote, but it’s Vulture who snatches a burning stick from a far away village and brings fire to the Hopi. Illustrations like ancient Hopi murals. (Picture book)
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Hopi folktale of a magic hummingbird who visits the powerful deity Muy’ingwa to ask for rain. After several years without corn harvests, the people abandon Oraibi, leaving a boy and girl behind. Using a leftover sunflower stalk, the children make a hummingbird that magically comes to life. Illustrated in traditional patterns and motifs. (Picture book)
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Navajo legend of the gift of horses to the Diné. To make life easier for all people, Turquoise Boy uses white shells, turquoise, yellow abalone, and jet stones to gather pollen from the Sun Bearer’s horses. When the Navajo and holy ones sing for the horses, they come with the rays of the sun. (Picture book)
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Pictorial history of the Navajo or “the people” (Dine (accent acute) – from traditional life to the Navajo today, plus fun facts about Navajo culture, rituals, legends, and Code Talkers. (Picture book, photographs)
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One day Glenmae, a Navajo weaver, shears all the wool off her goat. She washes the wool with yucca roots, cards the wool to remove any twigs, then spins and spins the wool into smooth yarn. After the wool is dyed red, white, black and brown, Glenmae weaves a beautiful rug. (Picture book)
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Pictures to color of Navajo life – making silvery jewelry, herding and shearing sheep, dying and spinning wool, weaving colorful rugs, making frybread, horse races and dances, ceremonies and tell stories. (Coloring book)
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As you travel around Arizona, you’ll see distinctive Native American motifs everywhere. Kids will have fun coloring masks, pottery, Kachina dolls, dance ornaments, rock paintings. (Coloring book)
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Fun facts about Petrified Forest National Park – geology of the Painted Desert, how the trees turned into stones and fossils were buried, Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs. (Picture book)
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More children's books on other Arizona pages |
