If you’re looking to beat the summer heat (or escape the rains), you might want to check out the Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City. Located at 5235 Oak, in the UMKC campus near the Country Club Plaza, the Museum features miniatures and old-fashioned toys. Miniatures are perfectly-scaled, working reproductions. Imagine exquisitely designed dollhouses, complete with working electricity and intricately detailed period costumes for the dolls!
I recently took my 6-year-old son along with Kate’s 5-year-old daughter to the museum. I guess you could say that I chaperoned their first date! Although a native Kansas Citian, I had never been to the museum before, and was intrigued by the summer-long Dangerous & Daring Exhibit For Kids, which runs through August 31. The exhibit is inspired by the best-selling books The Dangerous Book For Boys and The Daring Book For Girls. The kids (even my son) were immediately drawn to the huge dollhouses. Although you can’t touch them, you can see right into them, and in some cases, walk completely around them, peering in from different angles. The museum features many small rooms, so the ‘change in scenery’ is constant and keeps things moving along for the kids.
They also enjoyed the ‘unplugged’ toys: dolls, marbles and trains, to name a few. This very thing, the ‘unplugged’ toys, is the premise behind the summer exhibit, which is held on the upstairs level. Each week, the museum hosts different ‘classes’ or workshops on various topics. We went specifically for the fort-building…others offered include making friendship bracelets, kite making and learning old-fashioned recess games. The fort-building was fun–the museum provided hundreds of empty brown boxes and lots of duct tape, along with fort accessories like fabric for curtains. We concluded our morning with burgers and fries, lunching at Winsteads on the Plaza, nearby on 47th Street.
The Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for kids 5-12 years old, and free for those under 5. Check it out! The kids had fun and it reminded me that sometimes, all you need to have fun is a big box and a little imagination!
