ADOT Kids – fun and educational activities to check out over winter break

During this unprecedented time, ADOT has created a website with transportation activities for kids. Please visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids to see what we have going on. 

By Audrey St. Clair / ADOT Communications

Winter break is here for most students! After all the fa-la-la-ing and decking the halls, you may find yourself with some extra time. Well, ADOT Kids is here to help fill those empty hours with fun and educational activities for future engineers – or anyone interested in designing and building things like bridges and roads.

Visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids to watch featured videos about bridge and freeway building or even demolition (which is always fun to watch!). You can also download activities, like word searches, mazes and coloring sheets, or learn about civil engineering. What does a civil engineer do, you ask? Civil engineers are the ones that design and maintain infrastructure – things like freeways, bridges, tunnels, dams and airports.

One of ADOT’s civil engineers, David Benton, says he first thought about construction and engineering when he spent a lot of time playing in the mud as a kid.

“If you like to build things out of mud and like to shape things out of mud, that’s what it’s like to build with concrete,” he said. “I remember a teacher said if you like to build things and you’re good at math, civil engineering is a good profession.”

Or maybe you and your family might be traveling to the northern part of Arizona to enjoy the snow over winter break. The ADOT Kids website has a whole section about snowplows. Did you know that ADOT has about 400 snowplow drivers? And if you are driving in the snowy part of the state, the safest place to be is four car lengths behind a snowplow?

Also, remind your parents to pack an emergency kit with items like extra blankets; warm clothes; food and water; healthy snacks; cat litter or sand for traction; and a first-aid kit. Make sure your gas tank is at least three-quarters full and take along a fully charged cellphone, and never park alongside the highways to play in the snow.

Be sure to check the ADOT Kids website in January when we will have a new topic, “Engineer as a Career!” and hear from actual ADOT engineers about their jobs and what’s important to learn in school.