✕
☰

Kite Flying in Kansas City

by

Kite flying is at once fun, whimsical, nostalgic and magical. Our family loves flying kites together while we enjoy spring picnics at local parks. If you love the beauty and creativity of a kite, you’ll enjoy this collection of places, events and ways to celebrate kite flying as a family.

Go Fly a Kite:

Choose your favorite park with wide-open spaces, watch for power lines and go fly kites! These are a few of our favorite places to fly a kite in the area:

Great Kite Flying Parks in Missouri:

Great Kite Flying Parks in Kansas:

Where to Buy Cool Kites in the Kansas City Area:

For beginners, we’re partial to the simple and inexpensive kites you find at local big box stores. For those wanting to learn how to fly a specialty kite or trick kite, these shops will have what you’re looking for:

Bonus Tip: Cheap Kites WORK like a charm!

The cheap kites you buy at the Dollar Store, Walmart, and Target... they FLY! The dollar kites have always been the absolute very best for my kids. They are easy to assemble and they always work. The fancy kites are great fun too and we love to watch our giant Butterfly kite soar, but fancy kites and stunt kites require more skill and patience - so they are really best for older kids and adults who want a bit of a challenge.

Kites in Film & Literature

The beloved Sherman brothers’ song “Let’s Go Fly a Kite” debuted in Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins, in perhaps the most famous kite flying scene in cinema. Another film we love also includes our favorite springtime hobby. The Peanuts Movie features Charles Schulz’s beloved comic strip characters in classic scenes as the plight of Charlie Brown unfolds, including his perils with kite flying. At Worlds of Fun, opening this spring, kids can ride the Kite-Eating Tree ride in Planet Snoopy!

Some of our favorite beautifully illustrated children’s books feature kites. The Story of Kites by Ying Chang Compestine is a Chinese folktale of three brothers who devise a kite to chase birds from their rice fields. Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand is a story of friends bear and mole attempting to fly a kite despite bad weather. Curious George Flies a Kite by Margret Rey is a humorous story featuring our favorite monkey as he plays with a kite. The Kite That Bridged Two Nations by Alexis O'Neill is based on the true story of Homan Walsh, a man who dreamed of flying a kite across Niagara Falls. How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning by Rosalyn Schanzer tells of Benjamin Franklin the inventor and his experiments conducted while flying a kite during a storm. King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan is the tale of a Pakistani boy confined to a wheelchair who attempts to capture more kites than anyone else during the kite festival. These are just a few children’s books featuring kites; you’ll find many more at your local library.

Kristina Light’s family looks forward to the annual Flights of Fancy event, and all of her girls enjoy kite flying as a springtime tradition.

Back to topbutton