Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City

The Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City is one of our favorite local attractions. My girls love to explore room upon room of dollhouses, toys, and surprises waiting to be discovered. This is a fun outing for all ages with several special events this summer!

Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City

Museum Hours: Wed. – Sat: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Sunday: 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. (CLOSED Mon & Tues)

Admission: Adults $7, Seniors (65+) $6, Students (full-time) $6, Children (5-12)* $5, Children under 5* FREE

Special Summer Events at the Toy & Miniature Museum:

Adventures in Learning:

Every Wednesday through the summer, participate in workshops and performances! Come and go workshop, 1 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Performance, 1 p.m. & 2 p.m. Regular cost of admission. Museum members are FREE (Recommended age: elementary school to adult).

• 7.11.2012 – Adventures in Learning - Fabulous French Miniatures
• 7.18.2012 – Adventures in Learning - Nettie Wells Dollhouse
• 7.25.2012 – Adventures in Learning - Fashion Dolls
• 8.01.2012 – Adventures in Learning - German Toys
• 8.08.2012 – Adventures in Learning - Surprise Program
• 8.15.2012 – Adventures in Learning - Make Your Own Periscopes

FREE Back to School Day:

August 25, 2012 from 10am - 4pm. Come one, come all to the Museum's annual Back to School Free Day! Join us for an exciting day of "I Spy" adventures. Visitors can play "I Spy" in the gallery using their very own homemade secret decoder badges, create a pin-back button, and dance away the afternoon to the live kid's band Peanut Butter Hamster. Live Band: 1 - 3:30pm. Free admission all day!

Tips for your visit to the Toy & Miniature Museum:

• Plan to spend 1-3 hours and schedule your day accordingly with meals and naps in mind. The museum is large and really deserves many visits to see everything. You could easily  spend a lot of time in any given room, so explore the map and be sure to see the highlights you are most interested in before time or the attention span of children runs out!
• Food and drink are not permitted in the museum. You will find water fountains for your use.
• The museum is wheel chair & stroller accessible with an elevator for guests.
• Photography is NOT allowed inside the museum, though you may take photos with the beloved Teddy Bear outside!
• You will find milk crates to use as stools, exhibits saying "Push This Button," activities, a wonderful marble track, and other fun aspects to the exhibits appealing to children! My daughters really love to look outside through the GIANT 3-D Glasses and the Marble Track is a favorite!

About our Visit:

 The Toy and Miniature Museum is one of those "guaranteed to make great memories" places in Kansas City! We especially love visiting with grandparents and friends, each of us comparing notes about our own childhood memories. The 38-room house is home to the largest collection of nostalgic toys, fine-scale miniatures and marbles in the Midwest. We love exploring room upon room of dollhouses where you are guaranteed to discover something new with every visit (we've been to the museum many times, and my daughters are still delighted to find miniature frogs and milkshakes in dollhouses they hadn't noticed before.

With dollhouses and miniatures from around the world and throughout history, each dollhouse is a work of art. The "builders and creators" in our family especially enjoyed the video showing how the tiniest of miniatures are created.

One of the favorites for the entire family was the a wonderful Marble exhibit with an electric marble track that fascinates children. They love watching as the marbles spin and swirl. The girls were so inspired, they went home to set up their own toy marble track and play marbles that afternoon! Other favorites included dolls (we all share a common Raggedy Ann bond in our family as well), and the train room (my husband's favorite) with a train circling the ceiling creating dizziness for my two year old who spun around watching it.

My personal favorite though is the Barbie Exhibit (on display through 2012). The Original Barbie was one of my favorites as a girl and the Town House, complete with an elevator, was my favorite Christmas gift ever! Barbie truly is a toy for all generations in our family and my oldest daughter was very excited to find grandma's Barbies, several of my Barbies, AND her own Barbies (they had her Peter Rabbit doll on display!) at the Toy & Miniature Museum's exhibit celebrating 50 Years of America's Favorite Doll. The exhibit included Barbies from all eras, Barbie games, toys and memorabilia and Barbie Trivia (do you know which city she calls home?). 

FAVORITE Tip: Last year, our girls had a BLAST at Back to School Day where they danced to live music, explored room upon room of the house, made their own souvenir badges, and enjoyed a day of FREE fun! Mark your calendars to attend this FREE Event on August 25!

The Toy & Miniature Museum of Kansas City is one of our TOP PICKS for Summer Fun!

Other Nearby Attractions:

• Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: Read our tips for fun at the Nelson before you go!
• Kauffman Memorial Gardens:  Located at 4800 Rockhill Rd., just two blocks South of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, the Kauffman Memorial Gardens are a beautiful place for a stroll and photography. The gardens are FREE and open to the public. 
• Loose Park: Spraygrounds, playgrounds, a beautiful rose garden, ponds, trails, and more!!! Read our tips for fun at Loose Park before you go!
• Country Club Plaza: Kansas City's famous shopping district with many terrific restaurants, shops, and a great movie theater.