The Truman Dam Visitor's Center in Warsaw, MO

The Harry S Truman Dam and Reservoir Visitor's Center is a pretty cool day trip. It's a leisurely 2 hours from Kansas City. I've been here a few times and was excited to take my kids this summer. The visitor's center is a free museum located on the bluff above the Truman Dam. The center provides a spectacular view of the dam and lake below as well as the birds flying by who seem oblivious to you looking at them! They have a few prehistoric bone replicas and other exhibits inside. when we went they had a taxidermied bald eagle. There is a theater area where we watched a short film about the history of the area up until the engineering marvel that is the dam. We also happened upon a quilter's guild working away and several locally made quilts on display! It was a lovely bonus for our visit!

Strollers are a breeze here (they have both a ramp and an elevator to get upstairs) and I've never seen the place crowded.  The kids will enjoy the displays and the telescopes upstairs for checking out the surrounding area. My daughter really liked locking in on birds perched in the nearby trees. Outisde there is a nature trail, and a cabin to see. There is no admission fee to the visitor's center.

A short drive away from the visitor's center is the Lost Valley Fish Hatchery. We were unfortunate because we were there on a Monday, and they are closed on Mondays! Boo. The hatchery houses an aquarium with displays of local fish and they have a fishing pool outside. Bait and tackle inside the visitor's center are free to use and there is no charge for your child to fish. If you're interested in learning about how a fish hatchery works, this is a great place to stop!

Last but not least, Warsaw is a great place to visit just for good ol' lake fun on Truman lake, so for a day trip, this one will not disappoint.

Sea Life Aquarium at Crown Center

The Sea Life Aquarium is a new attraction for Kansas City. It is located in the Crown Center at 2475 Grand Boulevard and is open 7 days a week. This place is designed for kids, although who doesn't love a good aquarium??

What I love about this place:
The "under the sea" ambience is really cool. Low lighting and beautifully decorated aquariums make it a really neat walk-thru experience.  It is kid-friendly. They have a touch station where children (and grown-ups!) get to explore a mini sea ecosystem with their hands and glass walls that go all the way to the floor so the little ones get a good view. Other kid-friendly notables is a "just my size" aquarium tunnel, "bubbles" that let kids put their heads inside a few of the tanks, and a colorful play area. You can also get your hand stamped at the end to go through again if you want.

What will you see? Several different tanks featuring sea life from different parts of the ocean as well as some freshwater fish. You'll see a few sharks, although they are small (don't expect to see Jaws!), seahorses, jellyfish, and a turtle exhibit. They have a large variety of brightly colored reef fish and some eels too.

Things to consider before packing up the kids:
Sure, you can bring a stroller. I brought mine and it worked okay, but it wasn't very crowded that day. This is NOT a huge aquarium, and some of the walkways are pretty narrow. On a busy day, strollers would really crowd it up!

The bathrooms are towards the beginning of the aquarium. If you think you'll need to go during your visit don't walk past them. I didn't see any other bathrooms, so you'll have to backtrack.

They do allow photography, but not flash photography, so the low-light makes it difficult to get good pictures. They do an optional "souvenir photo" at the entrance before you enter the aquarium that they will sell to you for $11.

Okay, so this place sounds neat, why wouldn't I want to go?
We went during homeschool week, which is important to note because we got deeply discounted tickets. Tickets are expensive to this attraction. A family of four (assuming your children are between ages 3 and 12) would have a walk up price of $68! The aquarium only takes 1 to 2 hours at most to wander through, so this seems steep to me. They do offer an online discount if you plan ahead, dropping that price to $52. This discounted price is still more expensive than the Kansas City Zoo, which is an all day affair, and is pretty stiff competition now that they have penguins and polar bears! We are also just a couple hours away from the aquarium located in Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, which is larger and houses some much bigger sharks!

A new option they offer is the 1 parent/1 toddler combo ticket for $20. If you have just one child between 3 and 5, this isn't a bad deal. Additional tickets are $10 if parent #2 wants to join you.