The Best Winter Activities To Do With Teens In Arizona

By: Hailey Traum

The best winter family activities to do with teens in Arizona make use of what the state does well from late November through February: mild, sunny days in the Valley, big holiday celebrations, and real snow a couple of hours north. Christmas light displays and parades, a snow day in Flagstaff, ice skating, spring training and the Renaissance Festival all work well with teenagers. They work even better when your teen has a real say in the plan. Winter break puts everyone under one roof for a couple of weeks, and a lot of parents run into the same wall. You suggest an outing, and your teen shrugs. In our experience mentoring Arizona teens, the outings that land are usually the ones teens helped choose. So each idea below comes with a simple way to hand part of the planning to your teen.

1. Walk Through a Holiday Light Display

The Valley’s big Christmas light displays open in late November and run through the holidays, and they’re one of the easiest evenings out with a teen. Hand over the options and a budget. Have your teen compare prices and dates, pick the night, and buy the tickets. It’s a small decision, but it’s theirs. Some of the best-known:

• Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix lines the trails with more than 8,000 luminaria bags and adds live music. Tickets are timed, so book ahead.
• ZooLights at the Phoenix Zoo fills the zoo’s trails with millions of lights. Weeknights early in the week tend to be the least crowded.
• Glendale Glitters lights up Murphy Park in Historic Downtown Glendale every night through the holidays.

2. Spend an Evening at Christmas at the Princess

Christmas at the Princess is the Valley’s biggest all-in-one holiday event, and it has enough going on to hold a teenager’s attention for a whole night. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale fills its grounds with millions of lights, an outdoor ice rink and a giant Ferris wheel, usually from the week before Thanksgiving until just after New Year’s. Admission and parking are separate from extras like ice skating and photos with Santa, so the total adds up quickly for a family. The beginning of the season and weeknights are usually less crowded. Set a total budget for the night and let your teen decide how to spend it. Skating or the Ferris wheel? S’mores or dinner? Making those trade-offs is a real-world money lesson that doesn’t feel like one.

3. Watch a Holiday Light Parade

Two of the Valley’s most popular Christmas parades are free and happen in December. Put your teen in charge of logistics: when to leave, where to park or which light rail stop to use, and where to set up. Big-crowd events are good practice in planning around real constraints.

• The APS Electric Light Parade rolls down Central Avenue in Phoenix on a Saturday evening in early December. Viewing spots are first come, first served, and people often arrive hours early.
• The Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade takes over Tempe Town Lake, with festivities at Tempe Beach Park, on a Saturday in mid-December. Decorated boats light up the lake, and the night ends with fireworks over the Mill Avenue Bridge.

4. Take a Snow Day Trip to Flagstaff

Flagstaff is about two hours north of Phoenix, and it’s the easiest way to give your family a real snow day. Arizona Snowbowl, about 15 miles north of downtown Flagstaff, usually opens for skiing and snowboarding in late November, depending on the weather. Buying lift tickets online and in advance is usually the cheapest way to go, which makes a first ski or snowboard day more affordable than most people expect. If skiing isn’t your family’s thing, plan for sledding or snow play at a designated area instead of pulling over on the side of the road. Roadside parking near snow causes real traffic and safety problems on busy weekends, and some areas ticket for it. Check road conditions before you leave, because storms can close or slow I-17 and the roads around Flagstaff. Make your teen the trip lead. They check the forecast and road conditions the night before, put together the gear list, and make the go or no-go call with you. If the call turns out wrong, that’s useful too.

5. Cut Your Own Christmas Tree in a National Forest

With a permit,you can cut your own Christmas treein several of Arizona’s national forests, and it makes for a memorable day in the pines. Permits for forests like the Coconino (around Flagstaff) and the Kaibab are sold online through Recreation.gov, and cutting typically runs through the end of December. Permits for the most popular forests can sell out fast. Treat it like a real backcountry trip. Forest roads may not be plowed, cell service can be spotty, and the Forest Service recommends carrying chains, a shovel, extra warm clothes, and food and water. Bring a handsaw, gloves, a tape measure and straps to tie the tree down. Ask your teen to read the permit rules and the cutting-area map, then put together the gear list. When you’re out there, let them choose the tree and do the sawing.

6. Go Ice Skating

Skating outdoorsunder palm trees is a very Arizona way to spend a winter night. The Winter Wonderland Ice Rink brings real ice to downtown Mesa during Merry Main Street, and Christmas at the Princess has its own outdoor rink. Indoor rinks like Ice Den Scottsdale run public skate sessions all winter. Ice Den requires advance online registration for every session, so check the schedule before you go. Let your teen invite a friend. Skating with someone their own age while you’re nearby is a lot more appealing to a 15-year-old than skating with just the family, and you still get the outing.

7. See a Holiday Show

A live holiday show is an easy way to dress up a December night. Ballet Etudes performs The Nutcracker at Mesa Arts Center, Hale Centre Theatre in Gilbert stages A Christmas Carol, and the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix hosts holiday concerts throughout December. Let your teen choose the show, and make the night out about them: dinner where they want, and they pick the seats. A teen who chose the ballet is a lot more likely to enjoy it than one who was told to come.

8. Find Snow on Mount Lemmon Near Tucson

If you’re in Tucson, or want a different snow trip, Mount Lemmon has the southernmost ski area in the continental United States. Mount Lemmon Ski Valley is about an hour’s drive from Tucson, and its ski runs are usually open from mid-December into early spring, depending on how much snow falls. Even without skiing, the drive up from the desert into pine forest and snow is worth the trip. The road up can close for a while after a storm, and chains, snow tires or four-wheel drive may be required. Check road conditions before you go. Have your teen check whether the ski runs are open and what the road conditions are, then decide between skiing, sledding or a hike and lunch at the top.

9. Hike While the Weather Is on Your Side

Winter is hiking season in the Valley, with comfortable temperatures that disappear by May. Pinnacle Peak in North Scottsdale is a well-marked trail of about 4 miles round trip. South Mountain has options from short walks to long climbs, and Papago Park’s Hole-in-the-Rock is a quick one for a family that’s just getting started. Daylight is shorter in winter, so start early enough to finish well before sunset, and bring more water than you think you’ll need. Cool air makes it easy to forget you’re still in the desert. Have your teen choose the trail, look up its distance and elevation gain, and set a turnaround time before you start. Deciding when to turn back is good practice in judgment, and it’s a skill that carries well beyond hiking.

10. Volunteer Together Over the Holidays

Food banks, shelters and community kitchens need extra help around the holidays, and serving together gives a family something real to talk about afterward. Popular holiday shifts fill up early, so sign up in November if you can. Some organizations set minimum ages for certain tasks, so check before you register. Let your teen pick the cause. Whether it’s animals, food, kids or the environment, a teen who chose the work tends to show up differently than one who was signed up for it.

11. See the Grand Canyon in Winter

Winter is one of the quietest times to visit the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, and a dusting of snow on the red rock is something most people never see. The South Rim stays open all year, while the North Rim closes for the winter. Plan on roughly three and a half to four hours each way from Phoenix, so this works best as a long day or an overnight. Rim trails can be icy in the shade, so pack traction devices that slip over your shoes, and dress in layers. It’s often below freezing at the rim in the morning even when Phoenix is in the 60s. Ask your teen to pick three viewpoints, map the route between them, and figure out where to stop for sunset. A teen who’s into photography can treat the whole day as a shoot.

12. Let Your Teen Plan a Holiday Night at Home

Some of the best holiday memories happen at home, with your teen in charge of the plan. Give your teen a budget and a date, and let them plan a holiday dinner, a cookie-baking night, a game night or New Year’s Eve. They choose the menu or the games, make the shopping list and run the evening. Your job is to be the sounding board, not the backup planner. If you notice a gap, ask a question (“What’s the plan if the store is out of that?”) instead of fixing it. A dinner that runs late or a game nobody understands is a low-stakes way for a teen to learn how planning really works, and most teens are proud of the result, even when it’s a little chaotic.

13. Camp Out or Spend a Night Stargazing

Get far enough from the city lights and Arizona’s winter sky is spectacular. Flagstaff was named the world’s first International Dark Sky City, and Lowell Observatory there offers public evening programs, so it pairs well with a snow trip. Closer to home, a drive out past the edge of the metro area is enough to see far more stars than you can from your backyard. The Geminid meteor shower peaks in mid-December most years and is one of the best of the year. Winter is also a comfortable time for a desert camping trip, as long as you pack for nights that get cold fast. Ask your teen to download a free stargazing app, find out what’s visible that night, and pick the spot. Then let them be the guide once you’re there.

14. Check Out the Barrett-Jackson Car Auction

For a teen who loves cars, the Barrett-Jackson auction is a must-see. Every January, WestWorld of Scottsdale fills with thousands of collector cars, live auctions, food vendors and thrill rides on an outdoor track. You don’t need to bid to go. General admission lets you walk the car displays and check out the auction arena, and the event is cashless. Ask your teen to look through the auction lineup ahead of time and pick five cars to see in person. Then let them guess what each one will sell for and see who comes closest.

15. Catch a Spring Training Game

Spring training gets baseball fans closer to the players than almost any regular-season game. The Cactus League puts 15 Major League teams in 10 ballparks across the Valley, with games from late February through March. Tickets are cheaper than regular-season games, and the smaller stadiums make for a relaxed afternoon outside. Let your teen pick the matchup and the ballpark. If they have a favorite team, a little research on where that team plays and when tickets go on sale is part of the fun.

16. Spend a Day in Prescott, Arizona’s Christmas City

Prescott was officially named Arizona’s Christmas City in 1989, and its downtown celebration makes an easy holiday day trip from the Valley about 90 minutes north of Phoenix. The center of it all is the Yavapai County Courthouse Plaza, where the courthouse and the trees around it are wrapped in lights that stay up through the holiday season.

The biggest day is usually a Saturday in early December, when the Christmas Parade comes through downtown in the afternoon and the Courthouse Lighting, with fireworks, follows that evening. The public events are free. Other favorites include Acker Night, when musicians play inside downtown shops and businesses, and the Gingerbread Village at the Prescott Resort, where local businesses fill the lobby with gingerbread houses. On the way home, the Valley of Lights in nearby Prescott Valley is a drive-through display. Prescott sits at about 5,400 feet, so it’s much colder than Phoenix, and snow is possible. Bring layers, and check the forecast and road conditions before you head up. To let your teen own it, have them look up this year’s event calendar, choose which events are worth the trip, and plan the day around them, including where to eat and when to head home. If it turns into an overnight, let them pick the hotel within your budget.

17. Plan a Winter Weekend Away

A weekend in Flagstaff, Sedona, Tucson or the White Mountains turns one of the activities above into a small family trip. Winter is a good time to combine things: a snow day with a night of stargazing, or the Grand Canyon with a stop in Flagstaff on the way home. This is the big one. Give your teen a budget and a weekend, and let them plan the trip: where to stay, what to do and where to eat. Check in on the plan together before anything gets booked, and let them make the final calls within the budget. A teen who plans a whole weekend learns more about budgeting and logistics than they would from any worksheet.

How Do You Get a Teen to Want to Do Family Activities?

Give your teen a real choice and a real job. Teens push back on plans that are made for them, and they lean into plans they helped make. That doesn’t mean letting go of the family time you want. It means offering two or three options instead of one, inviting a friend along now and then, and trusting your teen with part of the planning even if they’d do it differently than you would. This is a lot of what we see in our work with Arizona teens: when young people get responsibility that fits what they can handle, along with an adult who’s there to talk it through, they tend to step up. Winter break is a great time to try it in small ways.