Kids love exploring attractions, museums, family fun centers, and parks. Taking your family to attractions helps to open up their minds to the world around them in a joyful way to make learning a positive experience. Our team at Crème de la Crème of Leawood, Kansas, has put together this list of the six best kid-friendly attractions in the Leawood and Overland Park, Kansas areas.
The Regnier Family Wonderscope
The Regnier Family Wonderscope is a wonderland for kids just 16 miles from Leawood. This children’s museum offers kids Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM) experiences to enhance their overall educational experience. Once kids stop inside Wonderscope, they have over 30,000 square feet of indoor space with exhibits and hands-on activities to explore along with a half-acre of outdoor adventure space. Young children excel at learning in a playful environment, and that is what Wonderscope provides for kids.
The exhibits at Wonderscope combine real-world activities with play, like the WonderMart featuring a grocery store with a cashier and shelf re-stocker, and the Kansas City Cafe where kids can recreate the basics of culinary adventures. Check Wonderscope’s calender often as they offer delightful programs such as music and movement classes, art time, storytime, and engineering creativity classes.
Location: 433 E. Red Bridge Road in Kansas City, Missouri
Contact: 816-643-6700
Museum at Prairiefire
When you’re looking for family-friendly activities in the Leawood area, schedule time to visit the Museum at Prairiefire in Overland Park. This colorful museum offers unique STEAM educational opportunities with interactive displays and exciting exhibits. As you enter The Great Hall, you’ll experience an augmented reality that takes you back in time. You’ll discover how the mighty Tyrannosaurus rexlived and what scientists know about these amazing dinosaurs who once roamed this part of Kansas.
Once you head over to the main exhibit hall, you’ll learn about the Indigenous People who lived in the area and about the settlers who came afterward. The Museum at Prairiefire also has a Discovery Room filled with artifacts from ancient times. You’ll marvel at the beauty of the universe when you visit the Sprint Gallery featuring out-of-this-world photographs and images depicting the stars, universe, and beyond taken by the Astronomical Society of Kansas City photographers.
Location: 5801 W.135th St. in Overland Park
Contact: 913-333-3500
The Ceramic Cafe
Everyone in the family can get creative when they visit The Ceramic Cafe. This paint-your-own ceramic art studio is the perfect place to make pottery and glass-fusion creations for parties, gifts, or for yourself. The instructors at The Ceramic Cafe guide you through the entire creative process and the studio gives you all the needed supplies to make your ceramic creation.
To start the pottery process, you’ll pick the ceramic piece you want to decorate. Next, choose the color theme and your creative idea, and paint. Once you’re finished with your ceramic creation, the staff will glaze your piece. You’ll have to wait about a week for the glazing and firing process, but once that step is complete, you can take your piece of art home with you.
Location: 9510 Nall Ave. in Overland Park
Contact: 913-383-0222
Strang Park
Kids will get a kick out of all the amazing play structures at Strang Park. This newly renovated 11-acre park features a 30-foot climbing tower and slide, a sensory tunnel, and cargo climbing nets. Youngsters can stay quite active at Strang Park with in-ground trampolines, a nature play area, and a gaming promenade with oversized chess pieces, checkerboard tables, and a place to play cornhole.
Parents can bring their toddlers to play in the dedicated toddler area, and older kids and adults can use the pickleball courts, the two-half basketball courts, and hike the loop nature trail. You’ll find plenty of restrooms and shelter areas to relax and picnic in at Strang Park.
Location: 9879 W. 88th Terrace in Overland Park
Contact: 913-327-6630
Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens
Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens is the perfect place to see and learn about the flora around the Leawood, Kansas, area. People of all ages will appreciate strolling through the 300-acre property to view over 800 species of plants. There are 45 themed botanical gardens, including the Monet Garden and Train Garden. You and your family can hike along Wolf Creek as you head to the restored prairie to see a native ecosystem.
You’ll pass by 38 unique sculptures that include the Chinese Cultural Exchange collection. Throughout the year, the staff of the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens rotate art pieces made in various mediums. After your exploration of the gardens, stop by the Medicine Wheel exhibit to learn about the culture of the Indigenous people who once lived in this area. While you can bring a picnic to share with the family under a shady tree, why not stop at the on-site Garden Cafe for a lovely meal?
Location: 8909 W. 179th St. in Overland Park
Contact: 913-322-6467
The Ice at Park Place
Everyone in the family will get into the holiday spirit when they go ice skating at The Ice at Park Place. Team members at Park Place turn parts of the outdoor space into the ice rink, which is open to the public from mid-November through February.
As you skate to seasonal music, you’ll enjoy the festive lights and people watching as they dine or shop in the establishments of Park Place. Special events include Skating With Santa, Princess Skate at The Ice, and Valentine’s Day Skate. You’re welcome to bring your own ice skates or you can rent them from The Ice skate shop.
Location: 11565 Ash St. in Leawood
Contact: 913-663-2070
Are your kids making a list of their favorite places to go for entertainment and fun educational opportunities after reading our recommendations? Which activity is the family favorite and why? If you can recommend a kid-friendly attraction in the Leawood area we missed, let us know. We’re always happy to learn about new places for families to go for entertainment and activity.