KCKidsFun

For many, many Kansas City-area families, this weekend is summer’s last hurrah.  What will you be doing this weekend – other than scrambling to get ready for school on Monday?!

Here’s our list of great weekend family-friendly fun in Kansas City -

Friday, August 14, 2009

• Festival of Butterflies, Powell Gardens, Kingsville, MO – this weekend
• Friday Night Films at Reading Reptile, Brookside, KCMO – 7pm – FREE – this week: The Little Prince
• Free Friday Night Flicks – Crown Center (KCMO) – bring your blankets and chairs – movie at dusk – this week: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – FREE!
• Summer Movie Nights at Briarcliff Village (Kansas City North) – outdoors, 7pm, bring blankets and chairs! – this week: Ghostbusters II – FREE!
• Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, MO – thru August 23 – carnival, entertainment, circus, exhibits – FREE admission for kids under 12
• Benefit Concert for Autism Speaks with Jim “Mr. Stinky Feet” Cosgrove – Shawnee Civic Center – events begin at 5:30pm
• Leavenworth County Fair, Tonganoxie, KS – August 11 thru August 15
• Family Night Out at Martha Lafite Thompson Nature Sanctuary (Liberty, MO) – camping and breakfast the next morning with hiking, owl prowling and astronomy in between
• G.I. Joe Convention 2009 – Hyatt Regency Crown Center – August 13 thru August 16
• 8th Annual BBQ & Fly-In on the River – Municipal Airport, Excelsior Springs, MO – August 14 & 15 – BBQ, live music, fireworks, kids’ games and more!
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid Ice Cream Truck Tour – Kansas City Public Library, Waldo Branch – 11am to 1pm – FREE!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

• Barbie, LaMar’s Donuts with the Lemurs and Cheetah Run at the Kansas City Zoo – visit the zoo website for times and details!
• Funky Mama LIVE! at the Johnson County Museum’s Pop N Play (Shawnee, KS) – 1pm – $2 per child, no pre-registration req’d
• Carving a Canoe – Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center (KCMO) – 10am to 3pm - FREE!
• Festival of Butterflies, Powell Gardens, Kingsville, MO – this weekend
• Sprint Family Fun Days in the Power & Light District, KCMO – 12pm to 4pm – games, crafts, activities and Radio Disney! August’s theme is “Imagination Station.” Come sing along with Mr. Stinky Feet as he takes the stage and leads your kids on an imagination exploration. - FREE!
• Live at the Legends (KCK) – live music for mom & dad; Wonderscope Kids’ Zone for the little ones! – 5pm to 8pm – FREE!
• Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, MO – thru August 23 – carnival, entertainment, circus, exhibits – FREE admission for kids under 12
• Free Movie in the Park – Colman Park, Raytown, MO – movie begins at dusk – Bolt – FREE!
• Saturday Dive-In Movies at the Westin Crown Center (KCMO) – movie begins at sundown; food/drink available for poolside service - this week’s flick: Journey to the Center of the Earth (open to registered hotel guests only)
  
• Leavenworth County Fair, Tonganoxie, KS – August 11 thru August 15
• Jim Cosgrove & the Hiccups live at LifeBridge Church’s Saturday in the Park at Knights of Columbus Park, Shawnee Mission Parkway & Midland Dr., Shawnee, KS – 6pm to 8:30pm (Mr. Stinky Feet performs at 7pm) – games, activities, food, entertainment – FREE!
• 8th Annual BBQ & Fly-In on the River – Municipal Airport, Excelsior Springs, MO – August 14 & 15 – BBQ, live music, fireworks, kids’ games and more!
• G.I. Joe Convention 2009 – Hyatt Regency Crown Center – August 13 thru August 16

Sunday, August 16, 2009

• Festival of Butterflies, Powell Gardens, Kingsville, MO – this weekend
• Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, MO – thru August 23 – carnival, entertainment, circus, exhibits – FREE admission for kids under 12
• Batman at the Kansas City Zoo – visit the zoo website for details!
• G.I. Joe Convention 2009 – Hyatt Regency Crown Center – August 13 thru August 16

If you know of something else going on this weekend in the Kansas City metro area that would be great for kids and families, please let us know in the Comments below!! Thanks and have a great, relaxing weekend – see you at school on Monday!!

(The photo is of my youngest two at the old schoolhouse at Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead in Overland Park.)

It’s that time of year when Kansas City lights up the night sky with millions of Christmas lights! Obviously, the granddaddy of them all is the Plaza Lighting Ceremony. Sponsored by KCPL, this year (2008) marks the 79th year for the annual tradition. The switch will be “flipped” on at 6:30pm on Thanksgiving night (Thursday, Nov. 27, 2008) by none other than David Cook, American Idol winner and Blue Springs, MO native! The show, which runs from 6-7pm, features several local music acts and fireworks immediately following the flip of the switch.

Did you know that the Plaza lights started with a single string over a doorway in 1925? If you haven’t yet taken your kids to enjoy this Kansas City tradition…this might be a great year to start! For those who like to watch things from the comfort of their own homes…you can tune in to the lighting ceremony live on KCTV Channel 5.

Other 2008 lighting ceremonies around the Kansas City metro include:

• Mayor’s Tree Lighting in Downtown Overland Park – Thursday, November 20, 5pm to 8pm – Santa arrives at 5:30pm; tree lighting at 6:15pm; hayrack rides ($2) from 5pm to 7pm – carolers, bells and dancing!
• Downtown Lee’s Summit Lighting Ceremony – Friday, November 21, 6:30pm at Howard Station Park
• Zona Rosa Holiday Lighting Ceremony, Kansas City north, MO – Saturday, November 22 – and a Visit with the Kansas City Fairy Princess!
• The Legends Fourth Annual Lighting Ceremony, Kansas City, KS – Saturday, November 22
• Christmas Parade & Tree Lighting followed by the opening of the Hall of Trees at the Hall of Waters, Excelsior Springs, MO – Saturday, November 22 at 6pm
• Briarcliff Village Holiday Lighting Ceremony, KCMO – Sunday, November 23 at 7pm followed by fireworks
• Lawrence Christmas Tree Lighting – Lawrence, KS – Friday, November 28 at 5:30pm
• Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting at Crown Center – Friday, November 28 – performances by The School of Rock and more!
• Christmas Around Town – downtown Shawnee, KS and Shawnee Town – Tuesday, December 2 from 4pm to 7pm – caroling, carriage rides, Christmas Tree lighting and Santa!
• Brookside Tree Lighting Ceremony (Kansas City, MO) – Thursday, December 4 at 6pm – 63rd & Brookside Blvd. – music, refreshments, prizes and more!
• Winterfest & Olathe’s Mayor’s Christmas Tree Lighting – Friday, December 5 – 5:30pm – Olathe City Hall – choirs, talent and SANTA!
• Lighting Ceremony in Old Town Lenexa – lights, Santa, carols and hot chocolate! – Friday, December 5 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Other light displays not to miss:

• Christmas in the Park, Longview Park, Kansas City, MO – November 26 thru December 31 – over 300,00 lights and almost 200 animated figurines make this Christmas light display an event not to miss!
• “Christmas Place” in the Terrace Place subdivision, 131st Place and Antioch, Overland Park
• “Christmas Card Lane” in Olathe, KS, north of 151st St. and west of Ridgeview (Ridgeview and Frontier)
• Not sure if this one’s still going on…but I remember Mom and Dad driving us every year to a fantastically decorated, completely over-the-top house in Prairie Village, KS. It was located off of 75th Street and Falmouth, just east of Mission Road. You could peer into the attached garage-turned-Santa’s Workshop and also see hundreds of glass ornaments suspended from the ceilings of every room in the house. Readers, who remembers this? Is it still lit up?
• Another cool place to drive by is located off of 63rd Street, west of State Line Road. This is more of a modern light display–long lines of white lights, zig-zagging from treetop to ground and back up to rooftop.
• I recently drove by Vince & Associates, at 102nd and Metcalf in Overland Park. I can’t say that I’ve seen this display “turned on” yet, but it looks like it’s going to be bright. There’s not an inch of landscaping that hasn’t been covered by a light. Or lighted penguin, Santa or snowflake. Should be interesting!

If you know of another “don’t miss” neighborhood light display – please share it in the comments below!

Excelsior Springs

Treehouse Preschool 1650 Rainbow Blvd. (Excelsior Springs) 816-637-2138

Gladstone

St. Andrew the Apostle Parish School 6415 NE Antioch (Gladstone)

Children’s World Learning Center 7227 North Euclid (Gladstone, MO)

Creative Arts Academy 1904 NE Englewood (Gladstone, MO)

Faubion United Methodist Church Preschool 7113 N. Troost (Gladstone) 816-436-9378

North Kansas City School District Preschools (various locations)

Oak Hill Day School 7019 N. Cherry (Gladstone)

Holt

Northern Hills Christian Academy 17211 NE 180th St. (Holt)

Kansas City North (Clay County)

Barry Christian Church Back to Basics Preschool 1500 NW Barry Rd. (KC, MO)

A Child’s Garden 300 NE 58th Terrace (KC, MO) 816-455-6450

Gashland Presbyterian Church 8029 North Oak Trfy (KC, MO)

Hillside Christian Preschool 900 NE Vivion Road (KC, MO)

Holy Cross Lutheran Early Childhood Center 2003 NE Englewood Road (KC, MO)