25 Days of Christmas: Kansas City Style

This holiday season, celebrate with a Kansas City Christmas countdown!

• Commit a random act of kindness. Pay for the next customer in line. Go caroling at a local nursing home. Adopt a child from Angel Tree and buy gifts. Donate to Harvesters. Look for ways to bless others throughout the holiday season.
• Celebrate a Dickens Christmas. For more than three decades, Kansas Citians have been enjoying A Christmas Carol at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, showing through Christmas Eve. The holiday production features beautiful music, ornate sets and costumes transporting the audience to Dickens’ England, and an unforgettable telling of the beloved Christmas tale.
• Envision sugarplums dancing. Watch the Kansas City Ballet’s Nutcracker, showing through Dec. 24. The show was transformed last year, with more magic and beauty than ever before. This is a family holiday tradition beloved by generations.
• Have Christmas fun at Crown Center. Celebrate Christmas at Crown Center. Visit Crown Center’s Gingerbread Village and take a photo with Santa. Then, watch Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical at The Coterie. Create your own holiday cards and decorations at Kaleidoscope or watch Santa dive at Sea Life and enjoy holidays at Legoland Discovery Center. Ice skate at the Crown Center Ice Terrace and take photos under the 100-foot-tall mayor’s Christmas tree.
• Make a Christmas Wish. Visit Kansas City’s own Fairy Princess on weekends at the Kansas City Museum. Read the history of the princess in our Hometown Holidays article.
• Experience the Nighttime Fairyland. Ride a carriage through the 80 miles of twinkling lights at the Country Club Plaza and enjoy dinner with the family at one of many terrific restaurants.
• Shop for gifts. Legends Outlets has something for everyone on your list! While shopping, show holiday spirit by taking pictures in front of the 45-foot tree and posting to Instagram, Facebook or Twitter using the hashtag #LegendsHoliday. Legends Outlets will track the hashtag #LegendsHoliday to be entered to win a $500 Legends Outlets gift card as the grand prize.
• Celebrate aboard a Christmas Train. The Kansas City Southern Holiday Express will be at Union Station Dec. 16-20. Stroll through the decorated train and visit Santa Claus and his elves.
• Attend the Nutcracker Tea Party (Dec. 3-4, NutcrackerTeaParty.com) at the Ritz Charles in Overland Park. Enjoy an elegant meal and Crescendo Conservatory’s performance of A Nutcracker.
• Take a spin on the rink. (Frosty Skate Dec. 21-23, Ice Skating Dec. 24-27, SilversteinEyeCentersArena.com). Bring the family to skate with Santa at the Frosty Skate at Silverstein Eye Centers Arena. Enjoy holiday crafts, skating and more! The rink will be open Dec. 24-27 for indoor skating, great way to relax after Christmas day!
• Remember toys of Christmas. The best place in town to celebrate toys is the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures. On Dec. 3, they open the museum’s 9-foot-tall Coleman dollhouse, decked out for the holiday season. On Dec. 18, Father Christmas visits with interactive tales of Old Saint Nick in the museum’s historic Tureman Education Center.
• Play in a giant gingerbread house. Paradise Park is home to a bigger-than-life creation: a giant gingerbread house with a laser light show, awesome holiday music and indoor snow, creating an enchanting, fairy tale memory your whole family will love!
• Walk through the luminaria. For two magical nights (Dec. 10-11, 5:00-7:30), experience Powell Gardens aglow with the soft light of hundreds of luminaria. Or visit the Overland Park Arboretum for their Holiday Luminary Walk (Nov. 25-26, Dec. 2-3 and 9-10).
• Step back in time for an old-fashioned Christmas. On Dec. 10, attend Christmas Celebration at Missouri Town 1855. Skilled interpreters share the customs of French, English and German settlers. Enjoy carolers, hot tea and a visit from "Belsnickle".
• Put on pjs and drive through Christmas lights. Bundle up and bring some cocoa and cookies on a drive through the best lights in Kansas City. You’ll find our top picks here.
• Bake goodies for your friends. Let each member of the family choose one favorite on your must-bake list and bake together. Then, deliver the goodies to your friends and loved ones. For new ideas, you’ll find our favorite recipes here.
• Try a new coffee spot. After a long day of shopping, treat yourself to a cup of coffee to recharge! Some favorites include Homer’s Coffee House, Parisi Café, and, for a special treat, try the Gelatte at Paciugo. A latte made with gelato—so yummy!
• Watch your favorite Christmas movies. Union Station is showing favorites on their Extreme Screen. Elf (Nov. 28-Dec. 1), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Dec. 2-8) and Polar Express (Dec. 9-15). Or enjoy a date night for grownups at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema (Drafthouse.com/kansas-city), where they show holiday classics at their holiday viewing parties, complete with thematic food, drink and pre-show games.
• Sing Christmas carols. The Mid-Continent Public Libraries are hosting holiday events all month long, including Christmas concerts and sing-alongs with favorite children’s performers and local musicians.
• Make old-fashioned decorations. Cut out paper snowflakes using coffee filters for a delicate and pretty effect. Make a paper chain using scrapbook paper for whimsical holiday designs. String popcorn and cranberries and decorate your yard, leaving the garlands as a treat for squirrels and birds.
• Drink hot cocoa. You can enjoy decadent gourmet cocoa at Panache Chocolatier on the Country Club Plaza, Mud Pie in the Volker District or Quay Coffee in City Market. On Dec. 3, 10 & 17 you can enjoy Chocolate Happy Hour at Power and Light District. Enjoy festive music, a hot chocolate bar and Santa!
• Paint footprint reindeer or snowmen. Head to a local pottery shop, like Paint Glaze & Fire or Ceramic Café, where you can paint your own ceramics for Christmas—perfect for your own decorations or gift giving.
• Wear ugly Christmas sweaters. Then head out for a night of light seeing or window shopping and take silly family photos.
• Go sledding. Discover the best sled hills in KC here.
• Try something new. The KCParent.com calendar is overflowing with ideas for holiday fun. Choose a new event to try as part of your celebration this year.

Kristina Light loves celebrating the holidays in her hometown with her husband and four girls.