Your A to Z Guide to FREE Summer Fun for Little Ones in Kansas City

Savvy parents know the key to successful summer fun is to always be prepared with a few ideas for great outings on a budget. We have the best FREE summer outings in Kansas City... perfect for hot days, rainy days and every summer day in between!

Tip: Click on the GREEN Links to read our tips and tricks to make the most of your outings!

A. Appreciate art. Kansas City is home to many free galleries. Enjoy art inside and outside with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (4525 Oak St., Kansas City, MO), where a stroll through the sculpture park is a great way to enjoy a day.

B. Build friendships at Parkside Coffeehouse (8839 Lackman Rd., Lenexa, KS, 913.393.3000). This free indoor play place is a favorite hangout for parents and toddlers.

C. Cool off at a sprayground. Kansas City is home to many wonderful spraygrounds –water  playgrounds where tots can play and splash on a hot summer’s day. Check out our guide to  “Kansas City's Spraygrounds” to find the one near year—our top pick is John Anderson Park (4701 E. 135th St., Grandview, MO.) with a great nautical theme and adjacent dry playground.

D. Dig in the sand at Brumble’s Forest at Meadowmere Park (13610 Byars Rd., Grandview, MO). One of the most creative playgrounds in the area, it boasts a gorgeous and imaginative nature theme, and the park features classic sand play, slides, toddler swings and cute characters.

E. Explore animal habitats at Lakeside Nature Center (4701 E. Gregory Blvd., Kansas City, MO). Visitors meet falcons, owls, eagles, toads, frogs, fish and insects and encounter wonderful exhibits on native animals.

F. Fantasize about fairy tales at a castle park. Several local playgrounds are designed around castle themes. Two locations: Harris Park at 110 SW Blue Pkwy., Lee's Summit, MO, and Black Bob Park at 14000 W. 151st St. (Mullen & 151st), Olathe, KS.

G. Get curious at Curious George™: Let’s Get Curious! at Crown Center (2500 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, MO) thru Sept. 8. This FREE hands-on children's exhibit brings your favorite monkey and his classic stories to life.

H. Ham it up for the camera at Kauffman Memorial Gardens (4800 Rockhill Rd., Kansas City, MO). This free garden is the perfect size for a toddler outing.

I. Imagine and pretend at KidScape at the Johnson County Museum (6305 Lackman Rd., Shawnee, KS, 913.715.25550). Kids escape into a suburban streetscape, role-playing at a tot-sized bookstore, park, City Hall, hospital, fashion boutique, farm and theater.

J. Journey to far off imaginary places in the pages of a book. Visit the library for story time each week and check out loads of books.

K. Kids eat FREE in KC every day of the week at various restaurants…. Use our Kids Eat Free guide for a complete schedule!

L. Listen to music at a FREE Concert. Every Sunday thru Aug. 11, enjoy Music in the Park at Santa Fe Commons Park (8045 Santa Fe Dr., Overland Park, KS). Full schedule at http://www.OPKansas.org/Things-to-See-and-Do/Arts-and-Music/Music-in-the-Park/.

M. Make fish faces at Burr Oak Woods Nature Center (1401 NW Park Rd., Blue Springs, MO). Giant fish tanks, turtles, bird watching, a giant indoor nature play area, walking trails and an outdoor discovery center make this is our favorite place to get back to nature.

N. Nature walk at Ernie Miller Nature Center (909 Kansas 7 Hwy., Olathe, KS). With paved trails through the woods, this a great place for a stroller walk.

O. Observe the outdoors. Enjoy your own backyard where you can touch, smell, see and experience a variety of textures, scents and colors.

P. Picnic with a penguin at Penguin Park (N. Vivion Rd. & N. Norton Ave., Kansas City, MO). If we asked children to create a playground of their dreams, they'd create Penguin Park. Gigantic friendly animals are the centerpieces of the park, where you can climb up through a kangaroo's pocket, slide down a penguin and explore an elephant playground.

Q. Quivira Park outing day. Play at Quivira Park  (11901 Quivira Rd., Overland Park, KS), where you can enjoy playgrounds and trails.

R. Read a story at Shawnee Story Time (Shawnee Books & Toys, 7311 Quivira Rd., Shawnee, KS. Call 913.962.1428 to reserve a spot. FREE. Every Friday at 10:30 and 11:30.). A story time with little ones in mind, the fun features stories, crafts and a snack!

S. Stop and smell the roses at Loose Park (51st & Wornall, Kansas City, MO.). Perhaps the most beautiful park in Kansas City, Loose Park is home to an amazing rose garden, fountains, ponds and trails for beautiful photo ops and a playground and sprayground for fun.

T. Try a tot-sized tractor at Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead (13800 Switzer, Overland Park, KS, 913.897.2360.). Admission is FREE Mon.-Thu., and just $2/ea. Fri.-Sun. Families love the farm fresh educational and entertaining play for little ones at a dairy barn, butterfly garden, playgrounds and petting zoo.

U. Use your phone or computer to Dial-a-Story. If your kids love playing with grown-up gadgets, and all kids do, the Kansas City Library offers a wonderful service while encouraging a love of literature. Dial-a-Story for a new audio children’s book each week at www.KCLibrary.org/Kids/Dial-Story

V. Visit the pet store. Look at all the animals, tweet at the birds and laugh at animal antics.

W. Walk the plank at a pirate park. The "pirate parks" are not your ordinary, everyday playgrounds... the playgrounds are built to resemble pirate ships, making these some of the most popular and well-loved parks in the Kansas City Metro! Three locations: Frontier Park at 15501 W. Indian Creek Pkwy., Olathe, KS; Listowel Park at 71st & Quivira, Shawnee, KS; and Williams-Gates Park at 401 Howard, Lee's Summit, MO.

X. eXperience new things… visit www.KCParent.com and search for FREE on our daily calendar!

Y. “Yippee ki yay yay” with your buckaroos at Antioch Park (6501 Antioch Rd., Merriam, KS), where the favorite feature at the 44-acre park is Old Dodge Town, a wild west village featuring nearly a dozen small buildings from a general store to a sheriff's office perfect for imaginative play or hide and seek.

Z. Zoo Day at the Kansas City Zoo. On July 30, Jackson and Clay County residents get FREE admission. Friends of the Zoo members enjoy free admission daily.

Kristina Light enjoys summer fun with her 1-year-old daughter, Lucy.