Kansas City’s Ultimate Summer Fun Bucket List

KC is cool all the time, but especially in the summertime! Enjoy the best of summer with our MEGA FUN Bucket List!

• Visit stingrays, polar bears, kangaroos, tigers, penguins and giraffes at the Kansas City Zoo.
• Ride the Zambezi Zinger at Worlds of Fun and try all of their world-class roller coasters. Then, make waves at Oceans of Fun—all for the price of one ticket!
• Spend the day bird watching at the Overland Park Arboretum & Botanical Gardens. 
• Play miniature golf at the Art Course on the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
• Stop and smell the roses at Loose Park.
• Attend a KC Monarchs baseball game! Tip: Sundays are Family Fun Day.
• Challenge the kids to an escape game at Tick Tock Escapes.
• Participate in hands-on history at the National World War I Museum and Memorial and get a spectacular view of the city atop Liberty Memorial.
• Explore Fortopia at Powell Gardens.
• Participate in a summer reading program.
• Spend a day at Crown Center—visit Legoland or Sea Life and catch a show at the Coterie.
• Pick berries, peaches and apples at local u-pick farms. You’ll find a complete guide to local u-pick farms on KCParent.com.
• Ride bikes at one of KC’s best bike trails.
• Spend a day at the Legends Outlets and meet up with friends on the Lawn.
• Explore one of Kansas City’s best parks. Use the Going Places guide on KCParent.com to find a new one.
• Visit the Johnson County Museum and play in KidScape, a child-sized village.
• Ride the KC Streetcar and visit the FREE KC Rail Experience at Union Station, play chess on the roof at the Central Library, explore Rooftop Park in the Power & Light District and taste-test a yummy treat at City Market.
• Watch a show and make your own puppet at the Puppetry Arts Institute.
• Take a tour of the Roasterie and learn about coffee.
• Step back in time at one of Shawnee Town 1929’s family-friendly summer events.
• Join a summer movie club at your local movie theater.
• Tour the homes of KC’s famous residents at the Alexander Majors House, Wornall House, Vaile Mansion, Bingham-Waggoner Estate and Truman Home.
• Go on an adventure hunting for treasure at new places with geocaching or atlas questing.
• Rent a pedal boat at Shawnee Mission Lake or Lake Jacomo. Rent a stand-up paddle board at Lake Olathe or Legacy Park in Lee’s Summit.
• Learn about Missouri’s real discovered treasure at the Arabia Steamboat Museum.
• Marvel at modern art at the Nerman Museum, where admission is free.
• Ride aboard the KC Northern Railroad for only 75 cents on weekends!
• Shop at one of KC’s farmers markets.
• Go camping at a campground in Missouri or Kansas.
• Play disc golf at Swope Park.
• Try the zip line at Go Ape Zipline and Adventure Park in Swope Park.
• Head to Moon Marble in Bonner Springs and watch a marble making demonstration. 
• Nurture your creative bug at Ceramics Cafe.
• Dine al fresco at one of the many restaurants offering patio seating at the Country Club Plaza, Brookside Shopping District, Briarcliff Village, Park Place or Prairiefire.
• Attend a weekend tour at Cedar Cove Feline Sanctuary where big cats live in Louisburg, Kansas.
• Share a Skyscraper, a giant ice cream soda or shake, at Winstead’s.
• Swim at a local pool, waterpark, sprayground or beach—discover them all in our KC Water Fun Guide on KCParent.com.
• Pretend you live in the Wild, Wild West at Antioch Park.
• Stargaze at Powell Observatory, home to the Ruisinger telescope, one of the largest telescopes available for public viewing in a five-state area. 
• Feed the goats at Deanna Rose Children’s Farmstead.
• Ride a stagecoach during one of Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm’s Family Fun Nights on Thursdays in June and July.
• Discover nature on a local hike.
• Jump at Urban Air, indoor trampoline park, and try their virtual reality experience.
• Participate in hands-on science at Science City, catch a planetarium show at Gottlieb Planetarium, watch a movie at the Extreme Screen and experience the Amazing Spider-Man exhibit at Union Station.
• Stroll through Kauffman Memorial Gardens.
• Celebrate Black America’s baseball history at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
• Explore Downtown Kansas City and take photos with public art on display.
• Picnic near a Kansas City area waterfall. You’ll find a list on KCParent.com.
• Get an amazing view of the city from the River Observation Tower as you gaze out over the vast Missouri River.
• Roller-skate with the family at a local skating rink.
• Go old school and catch a movie at one of KC’s drive-in theaters
• Take a family float trip and canoe locally.
• Learn about the Santa Fe Trail at Cave Springs Nature Center.
• Learn new things about nature through a class or program at one of KC’s nature centers or gardens.
• Grab some cash and take the kids on a trash or treasure hunt ... a.k.a. garage sale shopping.
• Explore the Central Branch of the Kansas City Library, because any library with a parking garage painted with classic books has to be cool.
• Root, root, root for the Royals! Tip: If attending a first game with a little one, take the family to guest services where young fans are awarded a souvenir certificate in honor of their first game.
• Watch the fish at Bass Pro in Olathe or Independence, the outdoor shop featuring giant fish tanks kids love.
• Ride the $1 Ferris wheel at Scheel’s.
• Munch on Topsy’s popcorn and enjoy their homemade lemonade.

Kristina Light will be writing about summer fun in Kansas City all season long on KCParent.com.