Spring is in the air and it makes me feel like getting out and exploring. Over the weekend my son and I took a fun getaway trip to Kansas City, Kansas. The trip was hosted by Kansas City Kansas Convention and Visitors Bureau. They helped me find some really fun things to do in Kansas City with kids. Traveling together is always a really great bonding experience. My son and I made some great memories in Kansas City.
7 Fun Things To Do In Kansas City Kansas With Kids
From downtown Kansas City to the Village West area to Bonner Springs, here are some fun things to do in Kansas City Kansas.
1. See The Kansas City Street Murals
Stroll down the Midwestern Kansas City, Kansas streets and get a feel for the welcoming small town vibe. Plus, check out the great street murals. I spotted the Avenue of Murals Project by accident but I really enjoyed checking it out. There are eight outdoor murals on buildings in a four-block section of Minnesota Avenue in downtown Kansas City, KS. The murals depict the unique groups that make up the history and culture of Kansas City, KS. Undoubtedly, it will leave you wanting to learn about more about the history of the area. Which leads me to the next of these fun things to do in Kansas City with kids.
2. Wyandotte County Museum
If you drive west of downtown, you will come to Bonner Springs, Kansas and find the Wyandotte County Museum. Admission is free with donations welcome. This unassuming, country museum seems small from the outside but I was really impressed by how interesting, fun, and educational it was. It had many informative exhibits on the different Native American tribes that inhabited the area and on the history of how Kansas City came to be. It also covers more modern history of Kansas City through World War II and the Civil Rights movement. They have interesting old artifacts that range from an extensive arrowhead collection to War II Cadet Nurse posters.
Wyandotte County Museum features lots of exhibits that are specifically made for kids. In fact, my son loved the Archaeological Dig exhibit. As I read through the history of the area, he kept calling me, “Mommy, look what I discovered!” Then he also enjoyed learning the significance of Native American bead colors and playing with the beads to arrange his own stories. He used the Native America pottery shards and worksheets to design his own pottery and tell his own stories.
Then on the more modern history wing, he loved the clothes through the eras exhibit. He dressed up as a fireman and posed in front of the 1905 Metropolitan Steam Pumper Fire Engine for me. Overall, we both enjoyed the Wyandotte County Museum.
3. Moon Marble Company
While you are in the Bonner Springs area, you should stop by Moon Marble Company to get your fill of cool retro toys, bulk marbles, and handmade marbles. They even have glassworking demonstrations and you can check moonmarble.com for the schedule. The day that I was at Moon Marble Company, they had several artists showing off their handmade marbles and I was totally blown away. I had no idea marbles could be so cool! They had playing marbles and large one of a kind artsy marbles where you could look inside and be lost in a vortex. There were also marbles where you seemed to be looking at sea creatures inside and even Marble Kaleidoscopes which I had never seen before. Cool stuff!
These next bunch of things to do in Kansas City Kansas with kids are all in the Village West area of Kansas City.
4. Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City
The Great Wolf Lodge is an indoor water park resort. Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City is lodging with so many family-friendly attractions that you could really just never leave the resort. I mean, seriously, it has so much to do that we couldn’t even fit in half of it in during our weekend getaway.
For lodging, the Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City Resort features Northwood-themed suites for groups and families of all sizes. For food, the Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City Resort offers four different dining options so once again, you never have to leave if you don’t want too! There is Camp Critter Bar & Grille (sit down food), Hungry As A Wolf (pizza and pastas), Buckets Incredible Craveables (grab and go), and Bear Paw Sweets & Eats (ice cream, fudge, coffee, baked goods, etc).
For fun things to do with kids, Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City offers an indoor water park, seasonal outdoor pool, arcade, Character Appearances, Kids Activities, The Great Clock Tower Show, Howl in One Mini Golf, MagiQuest, Compass Quest, spa for adults and kids, and even an Iron Horse Fitness Center.
The Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City Indoor Water Park is a massive (38,000 square feet), 84-degree indoor water park exclusively for resort guests. They have life jackets of all sizes and life guards too. The water park includes a a splash and play pool for very little children; a huge 4-story tree house water fort; one gigantic tipping bucket; a large pool with a obstacle course section, basketball hoops and foam balls section, and deep water play section; a lazy river; two very large hot tubs; and eight thrilling water slides of varying intensity for toddlers to adults. We went both days we were in Kansas City and we had so much fun. I especially enjoyed doing all three of the biggest slides with my son where we could ride together on the rafts.
We also loved the MagiQuest at Great Wolf Lodge Kansas City. There is an extra charge for this activity and you will have plenty to keep you busy without it but we couldn’t resist. MagiQuest is basically a massive scavenger hunt where you use clues to find objects and then use a wand to “collect” those objects electronically. When you check in with the Quest Trees, they let you know what you still need to collect to complete a quest or start you on a new quest.
The scavenger quest area is spread out over several floors so you get plenty of exercise and fun exploring the lodge while looking for objects. I was surprised just how much fun is included with the purchase price of the wand and quest- we played for hours. I think there were about 8 rune quests, 2 master magi rune quests, and then four adventures where you could help a pixie, defeat dragons, or fight a goblin king. We didn’t get to finish but we had fun doing the scavenger hunt together and I saw kids of all ages (even adults) enjoying it.
There are children’s activities built in through out the day. We missed most of them because there were so many other things to do. We did however, catch the Clock Tower Bedtime Story. Most of these activities are aimed at kids about 12 and under. My son is almost 10 and he was still 100% engaged. In fact, he wore his wolf ears pretty much everywhere except the water park! It was so cute to see all the kids gather around for the clock tower performance and then the story hour and the howling. They were all so into the stories and the characters and they shouted out answers and did bedtime stretches. Super fun.
To plan your trip check out greatwolf.com
5. Cabela’s
Cabela’s is a humongous (180,000 –sq-ft.) retail store with hunting, fishing, camping, recreational shooting and outdoor gear but it is so much more too! It has all kinds of fun things to do inside. There is a Mule Deer Museum, a huge freshwater local trophy fish Aquarium, a trout pond, Conservation Mountain, many wildlife diaromas, and a Safari “shooting gallery” for kids (toy guns).
My son loved the giant catfish, the African Safari diaroma, the polar bears, and the amazing toy section. He also wanted to stop for a bite to eat and try out the game options- he got a bison sandwich on rye and he was so excited about it. I loved their outdoor gear and clothing! Kids love Cabela’s so much they even offer birthday party packages!
6. Legends Outlets Kansas City
This outdoor shopping mall is filled with premium outlet stores, entertainment, and unique dining options. You can also go on scavenger hunts or take a free audio walking tour and discover over 80 famous Kansans throughout Legends. If you go in the summer, look for their Saturday night summer concert series. We had fun spotting several famous Kansans (including Amelia Earhart and Glenn Cunningham) and taking my son’s picture doing the poses of the famous person. You can see the whole list of merchants at legendsshopping.com
7. Dave & Busters
While you are at Legends Outlets, Dave & Busters offers as much video arcade game fun as you can handle. They have the best and latest electronic interactive games and improvements on classics- like the world’s largest Pac Man.
Extra Things To Do In Kansas City Kansas Tips
There has been lots of recent road construction so make sure you use an updated GPS, especially when leaving Bonner Springs for Village West.
I will soon be publishing a post on Kansas City restaurants to try and some of those are so fun that they kind of count as things to do in Kansas City with kids too.
You can use #KansasCityKS and #NoPlaceLikeKS on social media to get some more ideas for things to do in Kansas City Kansas.
You can also use visitkansascityks.com to help you plan your trip to Kansas City, Kansas. Have you ever been to Kansas before? What is your favorite Midwest memory? What are your favorite things to do in Kansas City with kids?
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