Kansas City's Easter Fun Guide

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Springtime in KC brings so many wonderful ways to celebrate Easter, and I’m excited to share all the best egg hunts, services, and festive events happening around the city!

Whether you’re planning a fun-filled day with the kids, looking for live music, or hoping to join a meaningful community gathering, there’s something for everyone.

Looking for ways to incorporate more meaning into your Easter? Consider implementing these ideas:

🌷 Attend Special Services. The entire week leading up to Easter is a special time in Christian tradition, and many churches have Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and stations of the cross services as well as Sunday services. If Sunday services are too overwhelming, consider attending a Saturday service which, depending on the tradition, may be less formal and is sure to be less crowded.

🌷 Host a Seder Meal. A Seder is a Passover meal that involves reading, sharing stories, singing, eating a traditional meal and drinking wine. It is observed after sundown on the first day of Passover (or the second day if outside of Israel) and marks the Jewish exodus from Egypt 3,000 years ago. My family was gifted a Seder meal set that includes a platter with places for each of the traditional foods, a prayer shawl and instructions. You don’t have to be Jewish to celebrate, and it is a helpful practice to understand the Jewish culture Jesus was part of. This year, Passover falls on April 12, making it a perfect lead-in to Easter week celebrations.

🌷 Make Resurrection Cookies. If there’s anything better than cookies, it’s having cookies for breakfast! You can make these simple meringues the night before Easter. Each ingredient correlates with a verse describing Jesus' death, burial and resurrection (i.e., vinegar reminds us that Jesus was forced to drink sour wine on the cross; egg whites remind us that he gave up his life so we can have eternal life; etc.). The finishing touch is when kids tape the oven door shut after placing the cookies inside (to represent sealing the tomb). Leave the cookies in the oven, turn the heat off, and in the morning, you’ll wake up to hollow meringues that remind us of the empty tomb! Christ has risen!

🌷 Break Out the Resurrection Eggs. This fun and interactive way to tell the Easter story comes in a set of brightly colored Easter eggs, each containing a clue to the next part of the Easter narrative. You can start by hiding the eggs, or just take them out one at a time as you read the booklet about how the symbols inside represent Jesus’ life, death, burial and resurrection. If you’re creatively inclined, you can even make your own set. Homemade or store-bought, Resurrection Eggs will be an heirloom piece you can bring out Easter after Easter. We love to pair this tradition with the book Benjamin’s Box: The Story of the Resurrection Eggs by Melody Carlson, illustrated by Jack Stockman.

🌷 Read Special Books. There are some beautiful children’s books that make great tie-ins to the season. Some of my favorite are:

🐰🐣 BONUS: Elevated EGG HUNTS

Traditional egg hunts? Sure, we got ’em. Kansas City is home to a multitude of community-wide egg hunt events (for a comprehensive listing, check out KCParent.com!). But if you’re looking for something a little outside of the box, consider these alternatives:

  • Underwater Hunt. Community centers across the city are offering this nontraditional type of egg hunt. Not only is this a unique way for kids to scout some loot, but it’s the ideal season to get back into swim lessons and/or practice (after all, why wait until summer to perfect those strokes?). 
  • Hoppin’ Hunt. Urbie, Urban Air’s mascot, is at it again, hiding treats throughout local Urban Air locations. This hunt is ideal for guests ages 4-12. Parents will appreciate how much energy their kids burn in the process!
  • Flashlight Hunt. Friday, April 18, 8:30-9:30, kids ages 8-12 can race across the Blue Valley Sports Complexfields for a nighttime race where moonlight and flashlights guide their search! Registration is required. 
  • Orchard Hunt. The process may be no different than a traditional hunt, but as they say in real estate, it’s all about location, location, location! Check out BunnyPalooza at KC Pumpkin Patch, where guests can meet with the Easter bunny, partake in games and festival treats and enjoy a candy cannon!

Unique Easter Bunny Meet and Greets

  • Hop Aboard the Easter Train. The KC Northern Railroad officially begins their season in May, but on April 19, they offer a one-day-only Easter Train ride with the Easter bunny! Ride the rails for only $1 (10-ride punch cards are $9, and 20-ride punch cards are $16). Note: They accept cash only.
  • Play Pickleball with the Easter Bunny. Face painting, kids’ crafts, age-specific egg hunts, photo ops and open play with the Easter Bunny himself are made even better by a delectable brunch offering at Chicken N Pickle. 

Run an Easter 5K/10K

Hop into good health as a family! The Easter Egg 5K/10K and Little Bunny Fun Run is a family-friendly event that everyone 8+ can participate in. Guests can enjoy a meet and greet with the Easter bunny, grab some post-run grub and add an “eggcellent” finisher medal to their collection (age category and overall winners will have additional awards). Snag an event T-shirt for an additional $6.

Find the KC Plaza Bunnies

A Kansas City tradition since 1931, the Plaza bunnies make their way across the iconic Country Club Plaza every spring. The oversized rabbits, known affectionately as Amy, Bess, Ellyn, Kate, Sue, Brian, Lee, Peter and Nicholas, are joined by a colorful menagerie of wonderland friends, including swans, a pelican and a turtle. Check the Plaza’s website for a bunny map and tag @countryclubplaza in your photos using #plazabunnies or #ontheplaza.

Happy Hoppin’, KC!

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