Earlier this year, when living rooms became classrooms and personal studies became work offices, the ADOT Communications team knew it wanted to find some small way to help all the kids – and their parents – who were suddenly spending more time indoors and away from friends and family.

That's why we started ADOT Kids, a series of educational blogs posts and activities focused on fostering a love for transportation, engineering and infrastructure, while also providing some home-based, socially distanced fun. Since April, kids have been able to learn about snowplows, build toothpick bridges, submit their own freeway designs, and so much more.

We sure loved seeing everything the kids submitted, such as what they would put up on our overhead digital signs. ADOT Kids has been a hit with children, parents and educators as well as ADOT employees who have also served as subject-matter experts in answering questions from children.

And, it seems some other folks out there thought this was a good idea too.

You see, since 2007, the Transportation Research Board had sought out the best ideas and innovative practices among agencies to explain complex transportation topics to a general audience, in the form of its John and Jane Q. Public Competition. For this, the competition's 14th year, the theme was appropriately "Success Communication during Disruptive, Crisis Situations." 

Turns out that ADOT Kids fit the bill perfectly. The Transportation Research Board let us know that the series took away top honors in the competition, adding “We applaud your initiative to make the extra effort to ensure the important work of the transportation profession is accessible to the public!”

ADOT Communications will be recognized at the board's annual meeting in January – held virtually, of course – and will have the opportunity to talk up ADOT Kids during a panel session.

To see our small effort to help during the public health situation receive a national award makes us feel as proud as the parents whose children produced these amazing bridge drawings.

Now if only we had a refrigerator to hang it up on.

Did you know that today, September 19, is National CleanUp Day? 

That's right, today is the day when everyone is encouraged to help keep our outdoors looking great by picking up litter.

Last year on National CleanUp Day, 1.3 tons of litter was removed from along Arizona’s highways. That’s huge! You can help by picking up trash in your own neighborhood. Be sure to be safe, watch for cars and bikes, and wash your hands when you are done! Challenge your friends to see who can pick up the most trash from your neighborhood!

For those too young to join in, but still want to show their support for keeping Arizona, we have a Adopt-a-Highway-themed ADOT Kids word search and scramble! Download your own copy by clicking on the activity sheets below.

If you are able to get out there and help today, please share your experience with us! Use the hashtag #NationalCleanUpDay and tag your photos with @ArizonaDOT on social media or email your photos to us: [email protected].

The Adopt a Highway Volunteer Program is an important program for Arizona. Over 1,100  groups volunteer to pick up litter from along the state highways each year. Permits are needed to participate on an annual basis, and one-time pick-up permits are also available. Anyone 12 and older can participate.If you live in Maricopa County, learn more about reducing litter from Don’t Trash Arizona! If you would like to help reduce trash in your neighborhood, please visit My Beautiful Phoenix hosted by Keep Phoenix Beautiful.

Arizona, Keep It Grand!

Wondering how to keep your kids entertained on car rides or road trips? ADOT has something fun to bring along.

We've created bingo cards filled with highway signs, traffic signs, specialty license plates and other things that you may spot on an Arizona road trip. Pack these cards on your next car trip for some family fun and we hope it can help keep the kids occupied for a bit!

The cards can be downloaded and printed for up to four players each game. Pennies make good card markers, or print enough for each trip and check off items with a pencil, pen, marker or crayon. If you’re super-crafty, print them on cardstock paper, then laminate and use over and over with a dry-erase marker. 

(Sidenote: If your kiddo is really into roadways, they might be interested in poring through the Arizona Manual of Approved Signs. For those curious about specialty plate offerings, you can view all available plates here.)

Wherever your destination, remember to drive safely, buckle up and download the free ADOT Alerts and AZ511 apps before you head out the door. 

Remember, depending on the season, road trips across Arizona can be extremely hot or bitterly chilly. Always make sure your car has an emergency kit with plenty of extra water, snacks, a fully-charged cell phone, extra clothes for the season, hand sanitizer, wipes and a face covering. You can find information on driving in extreme weather, from snow storms to dust storms, here.

With this much fun and information at your fingertips, you’ll never wonder, “Are we there yet?”

EDITOR'S NOTE: ADOT Kids is an initiative connecting children with transportation-related subjects. Whether or not your child aspires to a career in engineering, we hope everyone finds ADOT Kids fun and informative. You'll find many other activities on the ADOT Kids website at azdot.gov/ADOTKids.

By Doug Pacey / ADOT Communications

Arizona officially entered monsoon season earlier this week. That means many of us will probably experience a few dust storms and heavy rainstorms over the next few months.

Dust storms can be fun to watch live on TV news or YouTube videos. They grow thousands of feet high, dozens of miles wide and sometimes seem like a computer-generated special effect from a blockbuster movie. Did you know on July 9, 2018, a dust storm soared a mile high and traveled nearly 200 miles, going from Arizona’s Mogollon Rim, through Phoenix and on to Yuma before fizzling out near Imperial, California?

Because dust storms can get so big, they can affect roads and people traveling in cars. If you’re in a car and see a dust storm ahead, the driver shouldn't go into it. If a dust storm moves quickly and your car can’t avoid it, ADOT recommends following the “Pull Aside, Stay Alive” tips to increase your safety in a dust storm.

To help kids become familiar with dust storm safety, we've created some fun activities that you'll find below and on the ADOT Kids website at azdot.gov/ADOTKids.

CREATE AND SHARE A DUST STORM SAFETY MESSAGE: We're encouraging you to create your own sign to keep people from driving into a dangerous dust storm. At ADOT, we use the slogan Pull Aside, Stay Alive. Create your own message, then take a picture of it and email to [email protected] by 5 p.m. Friday, June 26, and we’ll feature it on our social media and the ADOT Kids webpage! There's a coloring sheet at the bottom, but you can create the message any way you want.

WORD SEARCH: Do you like word searches? If so, you’ll enjoy activity below where we’ve hidden 18 monsoon-related terms.  

CONNECT THE DOTS: The activity below gives you a glimpse at what cars should do when a dust storm is rolling through.

If you want to see some videos of what it’s like to drive into a dust storm – and why it’s dangerous – ADOT has created this playlist of videos on YouTube.

Please keep an eye on the ADOT Blog over the next week for interesting posts about monsoon season, including a video featuring the dust detection and warning system we've installed along 10 miles of Interstate 10 between Tucson and Phoenix. You'll also hear an original ADOT song about dust storm safety.

For more information about the severe weather events that can happen in Arizona during monsoon season, please check out the National Weather Service’s Monsoon Safety Page.

Safety message coloring sheet
(Please email yours to [email protected] and we'll feature it on social media and our website!)

Word search

Connect the dots

EDITOR'S NOTE: During this unprecedented time, ADOT is creating transportation activities for kids. Please visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids or use the hashtag #ADOTKids on ADOT's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what we have going on. 

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

Over the past several weeks, Friday afternoons have been my favorite time. That's because I get to see videos in which ADOT experts answer your questions about snowplows, bridges and more that are featured in ADOT Kids activities. Today, I'm happy to introduce a video in which Tom Herrmann answers your questions about the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. I also get to post the freeway designs and landscaping you created during our latest weekly activity. Great job, everyone! 

About the video: Mr. Herrmann is a public information officer who specializes in major projects including the South Mountain Freeway. It's a big job that requires him to learn about a lot of complex things and then explain them to the public. He works closely with the engineers who designed and built the 22-mile South Mountain Freeway, which opened in December and connects the West Valley and East Valley in the Phoenix area. 

I hope you're enjoying this week's new Keep It Grand coloring challenge. If you share your art to [email protected] by next Wednesday, May 20, we'll post it in a slideshow. 

It's hard to believe that we created ADOT Kids just a little more than a month ago. Since then, we have provided posts and activities pretty much every day. With so many staying at home, we thought ADOT Kids would be a fun way to help everyone feel connected and learn how interesting it is to work in transportation. What we do has a lot to do with science, technology, engineering (obviously) and math. If you've enjoyed these activities, and I hope you have, please consider putting civil engineering onto your list of possible careers. Someday you could help get everyone safely home.

We've enjoyed doing ADOT Kids so much that we're going to continue it even as we all transition back to a more normal routine. We won't be posting every day from now on, but we'll have new activities on the ADOT Blog every month or so. In the meantime, please keep checking the ADOT Kids website at azdot.gov/ADOTKids. You'll find lots of interesting things there.

Now for the most important thing to share: your great art! Thanks, ADOT Kids. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: During this unprecedented time, ADOT is creating transportation activities for kids. Please visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids or use the hashtag #ADOTKids on ADOT's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what we have going on.

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

I hope you've enjoyed our latest ADOT Kids activity focusing on the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway and how we use designs and landscaping to make freeways nice places to be. Please remember to send us your freeway design art by 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, so we can include it in our slideshow of everyone's work.

If you've finished your design and are looking to do something else fun, some creative people I work with have come up with a word search and a construction zone maze. Depending on your age and interests, you can print one or both by clicking the images below.

You'll find these and other activities at the ADOT Kids home page, azdot.gov/ADOTKids. 

Have fun, everyone!

South Mountain Freeway word search:

Work zone maze:

Please visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids or use the hashtag #ADOTKids on ADOT's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what we have going on.

By David Rookhuyzen / ADOT Communications

Our ADOT Kids post announcing our latest activity on decorating freeways had facts and figures about the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, which opened last December. I hope you were paying attention, since we're giving you a chance to put your knowledge to the test! 

Please take the quiz below and then see how well your parents or friends can do! We won't tell if you look back at our original post before proceeding. 

And remember, we still want to see how you would decorate the freeway! Make sure to check out our previous post to find a downloadable coloring page to show off your highway art. Have an adult take a picture or scan your artwork and send it to us at [email protected]. We'll post every design we receive by 5 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, in a slideshow that we'll post Friday, May 15.

EDITOR'S NOTE: During this unprecedented time, ADOT is creating transportation activities for kids. Please visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids or use the hashtag #ADOTKids on ADOT's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what we have going on. 

By Steve Elliott / ADOT Communications

Wow! Thank you for all of the safety messages you kids shared with us over the past week. 

From this one by Bria in Peoria ...

WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING
WE'RE NOT PLAYING 
PIN THE TAIL
ON THE DONKEY

... to this one by Allisson in Gila Bend ...

DON'T SPEED
OR YOU WILL BE
SPEEDILY IN JAIL

... every one of these creative messages showed how much you all care about keeping Arizona safe. We had a great time reading them. 

As promised, the video at right has Doug Pacey, our safety projects manager in ADOT Communications, answering your questions and featuring some of your messages. I hope you enjoy it. 

Before we show your art, I hope you're all making freeway decorations for this week's ADOT Kids activity. And in addition to sending us your designs, please share questions about the new Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway. That's the largest single highway project in Arizona history. One of the people in charge of building that 22-mile freeway will answer questions about anything that interests you, from the designs to the bridges to the pavement. Please send your questions to [email protected]. 

Now let's look at your great messages!

Please visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids or use the hashtag #ADOTKids on ADOT's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what we have going on. 

By Caroline Carpenter / ADOT Communications

If you're still trying to brainstorm some ideas for art along the South Mountain Freeway, we have a series of videos to inspire you! These videos will take you along as the project progresses and detail how the 22-mile highway came to be.

Please visit azdot.gov/ADOTKids or use the hashtag #ADOTKids on ADOT's Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts to see what we have going on.

By Tom Herrmann / ADOT Communications

The next time you’re riding in the passenger seat or back seat down the Loop 202 South Mountain Freeway, or perhaps another freeway closer to you, take a few minutes to gaze out of the window. But don’t look at the mountains or a beautiful sunset. Instead, look at the colorful designs on the bridges, ramps and sound walls. Look at the plants too.

An ADOT team creates designs for a freeway based on either the history or the current use of the land. If you drive over the Salt River on the South Mountain Freeway, you can see images that look like waves of water passing over desert rocks. In the West Valley, the South Mountain Freeway designs are inspired by the area’s agricultural past. In Ahwatukee, the freeway's designs are inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest architects in American history. He once worked in that area.

ADOT also decides which plants and other landscaping accents will help make a highway beautiful. 

The video at right shows you designs and the landscaping along the 22-mile South Mountain Freeway.

But what if those walls, bridges and ramps were blank? What would you draw on them? Would they be animals or saguaros? What plants and colored rock would be in the landscaping? This ADOT Kids activity asks you to make those choices and create your own freeway designs.

It isn't just the South Mountain Freeway with neat designs. The new State Route 87 interchange with Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson has designs inspired by cotton grown in that area. In Tucson, sound walls at the new Ajo Way interchange with Interstate 19 have images of mountains and saguaros that speak to that area's landscape. If you need more inspiration, the slideshow at right has images of highway designs around the state. 

Not everyone is fortunate to have beautiful designs on walls and bridges. The first time my dad came to Arizona, he was surprised by images of desert plants on the sound walls that separate the freeway from buildings. Near his home in Ohio, freeway walls are just that: a gray concrete wall with no decoration.

Fortunately, in Arizona we use freeway designs to help tell the story of an area.

For a different perspective on the South Mountain Freeway's design, check out the video at right shot using our drone.

Print out the coloring sheet and draw your own freeway design!

Make a freeway beautiful using the coloring sheet linked here and posted at bottom right. Or draw your own from scratch. Add your own designs and colors. Pick and locate plants. Will you use decorative rock? All of the choices are up to you.

Here some interesting freeway fun facts ...

• The freeway looks like it’s all concrete, but it includes enough steel rebar weighing 40 million pounds. That's about the same as 3,100 elephants!
• To build the freeway, we moved enough dirt to fill State Farm Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals play, six times!
• We moved more than 1,000 desert plants – saguaros, palo verde trees and more – out of the freeway route and replanted them when the work was finished. Here's a video of how we did that for a project along Loop 101 in Scottsdale. 
• Ever heard of a chuckwalla? They’re small lizards that lived on South Mountain. We moved about 120 of them to keep them safe during construction. Here's a video of the relocation.
• How did the jackrabbit cross the road? There are five crossings under the freeway where people and animals can get safety from one side of the road to the other.