Celebrating Mother's Day in Kansas City with Mom's Favorites

It has been said that for children, love is spelled t-i-m-e. Well, I believe that is true for moms, too! This Mother’s Day, honor the mom in your life by spending time celebrating her and her favorite things.

If Mom’s favorite thing is gardening…

Powell Gardens (1609 NW U.S. Hwy. 50, Kingsville, MO, 816.697.2600) is one of our favorite destinations, and it is especially breathtaking in May as the flowers start to bloom. With the12-acre Heartland Harvest Garden—the largest edible landscape in the United States—a gorgeous rock and waterfall garden, Iris Hill with more than 500 varieties of iris and numerous wooded paths, Powell Gardens is truly one of the most scenic attractions in the area.

On Mother’s Day, they serve brunch in Café Thyme or invite visitors to bring a picnic to enjoy on the lawn. From 1:00 to 3:00, Brookside Brass, a local brass quintet, will perform everything from pop to jazz standards on the lawn (tip: bring a lawn chair or blanket for the concert).

If Mom’s favorite thing is shopping for one-of-a-kind treasures…

Every weekend the West Bottoms is hopping as shoppers hunt for treasures at local antique shops and boutiques. The shopping district, former home to the Kansas City stockyards, has become the center of reclaimed, repurposed and vintage goods ideal for the decorator, collector or the curious. Local food trucks add to the shopping fun, dishing up some of the tastiest cuisine you’ve ever enjoyed on a sidewalk. Spend time searching for that special piece to complete your living room décor, or reminisce as you discover vintage fashions, toys and collectibles that stir fond memories and great laughs.

If Mom’s favorite thing is dance…

This month Kansas City is in for a treat! The Kansas City Ballet brings Cinderella to the stage at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. This performance promises to be a truly magnificent staging of the fairy tale. Beloved elements, from the fairy godmother to the pumpkin’s turning into a carriage, are all part of the magic, and the Kansas City Ballet promises to surprise with its own special twist on the beloved tale.

If Mom’s favorite thing is a good movie…

Treat her to a great film at Standees: The Entertaining Eatery (3935 W. 69th Ter., Prairie Village, KS). Standees is home to a beautiful restaurant for delicious pre- or post-movie dining (you don't have to catch a film to dine at the restaurant, but it's certainly more fun if you do), and three immersive, state-of-the-art movie theaters. The atmosphere is beautiful, the entertainment is high quality and the prices are affordable, making it one of the best "bang-for-your-buck" theaters in town!

The restaurant and theater share one entrance. If you choose to dine at the restaurant prior to your film, reservations are recommended, though not required. The centerpiece of the restaurant is a bar surrounded by translucent screens projecting shows. The menu features high quality chef-inspired food. They also have a café-style concession stand offering traditional movie snacks, as well as drinks from the bar and select appetizers and desserts from the restaurant. The theaters are smaller than the local mega-plex, but they are fabulous. Each offers stadium seating, digital projection systems, Dolby 7.1 sound and a screen wider than 30 feet. Small and intimate, the theaters each seat only 85 guests, so advance ticket purchase for popular films is also recommended.

If Mom’s favorite thing is laughter…

Head to a show at Comedy City at Westport Flea Market (817 Westport Rd., Kansas City, MO, 816.842.2744). On Fridays and Saturdays (celebrate Mother’s Day weekend) at the Westport Flea Market, you’ll find Kansas City’s own improv comedy troupe, Comedy City. At these live all-ages-welcome improv shows, two teams compete for your laughs, matching wits in a fun-filled contest as they think on their feet to create hysterical skits using inspiration and ideas directly from the audience—making each and every show original! The humor is clean, and foul language is against the rules during the all-ages shows. The audience is seated at tables, where they may order from the Westport Flea Market menu. Westport Flea Market, famous for delicious burgers (as replicated on their driving burger-mobile), serves classic American fare for all ages, making this a fun-filled night out for the entire family!

If Mom’s favorite thing is art…

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (4525 Oak, Kansas City, MO. Admission: FREE. Parking: $5 in the museum garage.) is one of Kansas City’s crown jewels. Treat Mom to a Mother’s Day brunch in the Rozzelle Court Restaurant, then spend a day enjoying fine art. Exploring exhibits from around the world, you will discover something new with each visit. For added fun, use our Nelson-Atkins scavenger hunt (on www.KCParent.com) and take photos of your finds! For little ones, we offer a pre-reader scavenger hunt on www.KCParent.com, as well. Form teams and race against each other to complete the scavenger hunt or try to complete one as a family project. And, the pre-reader hunt features objects found in multiple works of art. Track how often you find any one thing or try the hunt more than once to discover there is more than one way to solve it.

If Mom’s favorite thing is cooking…

Sign up for a class at the Culinary Center of Kansas City (7920 Santa Fe Dr., Overland Park, KS, 913.341.4455), where they offer more than 450 contemporary classes and demonstrations in the culinary arts for all ages, interests and skill levels. Learn ethnic cooking, baking, basic kitchen skills, gourmet recipes and culinary classics.

If Mom’s favorite thing is animals…

Every year, the Kansas City Zoo (6800 Zoo Dr., Kansas City, MO) offers free admission for moms on Mother’s Day, and each mom receives a voucher for a free sweet treat from zoo concessions. Visit the new Helzberg Penguin Plaza, enjoy watching our beloved polar bears, Berlin and Nikita, play and swim, and ride the Sky Safari for a bird’s eye view of Africa.

Kristina Light loves spending time with her daughters on new adventures every Mother’s Day.