KCKidsFun

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Greater Kansas City Chapter (AAFA) is one of our local partner organizations. We are proud of this partnership and wanted to share one of the great things that AAFA is doing for kids and families dealing with asthma and allergies. AAFA hosts an annual, fun-filled Family Asthma and Allergy Education Day; it takes place on Saturday, March 6, 2010 at Shawnee Mission West high school in Shawnee Mission, KS.  It is an interactive opportunity for families and individuals to learn about asthma and how to control it’s affects on their lives. Each adult will choose from a variety of classes to attend. Separate classes will be held for preschool and grades 1-6 which teach children the fundamentals of asthma and allergy treatment, while having fun. All classes are led by area healthcare professionals and physicians.

For additional information on the 15th Annual Family Asthma and Allergy Education Day, or to register, please contact the AAFAKC office.  Space is limited, so don’t delay!  Scholarships are available.

Another fun event highlighted in our Events Calendar is an ongoing stage performance of Peter Pan!  Tickets are still available from the CYT (Christian Youth Theatre) box office. The performances, typically at 2pm and 7pm, are held in Olathe on the Mid-America Nazarene campus at Bell Cultural Events Center.  This looks like a terrific production and features many, many talented youth from the metro!

**Images appear courtesy of AAFA-KC and CYT Kansas City.

I noticed on Twitter last month that one of our local contemporary art museums, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, MO*, started offering a family-friendly scavenger hunt-type activity one Saturday a month. I was intrigued – neither my kids nor I had ever ventured over to the Kemper despite having visited its stately neighbor, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, on many occasions. So, last Saturday, we headed to Scavenger Saturday.

It was a gray, cold day – so we moved like a herd of turtles on the way out of the house that morning. Made it to the Plaza in time for lunch. After a quick bite to eat at the Plaza Winstead’s, we zipped up the hill.

I generally take only my older kids on museum-y adventures but, on this day, I had back-up (my husband) so we bravely brought the 3-year-old twins with us.

Parking was close-by and free. We hustled through the cold and entered the museum. The woman at the front door knew exactly why we were there (What? you don’t get many 3-year-olds on a normal day?) and handed us the scavenger hunt directions.

The directions pointed by older kids (1st and 2nd graders) to about five different pieces of art. I was a bit surprised at how small the gallery space is in the Kemper – very nicely done but small. As they discovered each work, they read about it on their information sheet and considered the questions listed about each piece. It was a nice and fun way to get the kids to really look at and consider the art.

We followed the scavenger hunt directions through the museum and then, when we were finished (it only took about 15 or 20 minutes), looped back around to take in some piecees that they especially liked or had missed the first time through.

Although I personally was a little disappointed by the small size of the museum’s galleries (my expectations were a bit out of whack), it turned out to be a good thing – the 3-year-olds had about all they could handle after about a half hour. On our way out, the kids received a paper bag which contained a new box of Crayola markers and an art project in line with the theme of the scavenger hunt (which was “time”).

I wouldn’t say that any of us were knocked out by this little outing – but everyone enjoyed it, for sure. The little ones liked playing with the water fountains as much as anything else – but that probably shouldn’t be too surprising! All in all, it was a nice, relatively calm activity for a cold, yucky winter day.

There are Scavenger Saturdays already on the schedule for March and April. You might also want to check out their Family Fun Day on March 27th or their artREACH workshops for kids.

*The other is the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art on the campus of Johnson County Community College. They offer children’s classes on Saturdays throughout the academic year.

Last Tuesday, my son was out of school for the day (I know, Kate already vented about the lack of 5-day school weeks!) so we dropped little sister off at Kids Day Out and headed to one of our favorite places– Crown Center.

I wrote a post about Fairy Tale Village, but wanted to check it out for myself.  We ended up having a great time and experiencing something really cool along the way!

We entered the Crown Center Shops on Level 2, right by Crayola Cafe.  We headed down the hallway toward the escalators, and my son, a card-carrying chocoholic, says, “Mom!  I smell brownies!”  In fact, what he smelled was Chip’s Chocolate Factory.  We couldn’t have timed it any better– Cliff, the resident master chocolatier, was just beginning a demonstration.  Of course, we had to stay and watch– along with 5 or 6 other kids.  It was so cool!

Cliff couldn’t have been a nicer guy and he was so good with the kids.  We were lucky last Tuesday; apparently he typically isn’t in on Tuesdays.  He was making a batch of pecan fudge and talking the kids through every step.  They were totally fascinated.  He was full of information and chocolate history– but the best part, by far, was when he took a cookie sheet and filled it with all sorts of goodies.  You name it, it went on the cookie sheet.  Pretzel rods, Oreos, cotton candy pieces, even marshmallows on sticks.  Cliff then covered everything in melted chocolate.  And M&Ms.  And nuts.  And sprinkles.  Whatever the kids wanted, he went along with.  They had a blast!  Our half-hour diversion to Chip’s Chocolate Factory turned out to be the highlight of the day.

Next stop:  Fairy Tale Village– one floor down in the Crown Center Showplace.  It was very well done and we spent probably 30 minutes there, too.  Fairy Tale scenes were brought to life in kid-sized houses.  We went inside a house belonging to one of the Three Little Pigs.  In another house, we saw a stocking-cap clad wolf in a bed…(”Grandmother, what big teeth you have!”)  At the end of the exhibit, there was a large table filled with books where kids could hang out and read.  Fun!

We capped off our day at…you guessed it…Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant.  We probably eat at Fritz’s once a year and my son still thinks it’s a thrill to see an overhead electric train deliver a cheeseburger and fries directly to our table!  And that’s only after he places our order on the telephone, of course.

A day at Crown Center never disappoints, and we even made it out of there having spent only $16.  $9 on lunch and $7 on chocolate.