We had so much fun at our Runway Romp at Falcon Field Terminal recently!
Our first family play event since COVID, we were blown away with how quickly it sold out, and are already planning another event for families who weren’t able to snag tickets this time.
Kids got close-up views of fixed-wing aircrafts and helicopters on the ramp, taxiways and runways and get to see planes parked especially for our runway romp. As a special surprise, the Falcon Warbirds parked three vintage planes parked in front of the viewing patio for us to see up close! (As we were cleaning up after the event ended, the pilots even let our contributors’ kids climb in the cockpits of these warbirds, a memory-making experience!) For parents, the Wings of Flight Foundation had prepared an informational display about the World War II history of Falcon Field in commemoration of the airport’s 80th Anniversary this year.
On the miniature runway (within sight of the real runway), kids competed in a paper airplane flying contest—we had cheat sheets for different styles to fold. (The dads had tons of fun with this part!) The child whose plane flew the farthest at each session won the grand prize that included:
- Free month of swim lessons at Swimhaus of Gilbert
- Floss cotton candy (a local treat!)
- An airplane shaped kite
Each attendee also left with a swag bag of aerospace fun, thanks to Falcon Field, including gliders, bubbles, crayons, snacks, a free swim class from Swimhaus and a coupon for a free donut from Duck Donuts, our favorite locally-owned donut shop in Chandler.
The petite pilots and their families also noshed on Duck Donuts with a buffet of donut flavors from the spring flavor collection. We went through 13 dozen donuts—that’s a lot of sugar!
Other fun activations for kids included free binoculars for an even better view as the aircrafts took off, plus kids had the chance to meet an air traffic control pro to learn about how planes are kept safe above Mesa’s skies.
Plus, a yard card pop up photo from EventMamasAZ was the perfect photo opp in front of the vintage pilot murals that are always on display at the public viewing area.
We had so much fun meeting everybody who came out to play with us—thank you for making our event so much fun!
