Belger Arts Center

The Belger Arts Center is a unique experience for those who picture art museums as sterile white spaces. It is a working warehouse space with an industrial feel to it, and was a really fun experience for me and my kids. It is located in the Crossroads District, so if you've attended a "First Friday" you know what I'm talking about!

We were lucky enough to have a train go by right as we arrived, so my kids were won over before we even got inside. We took a guided tour with several other children, that ended with a hands on project time where the kids got to work with clay in the studio. The tour was well done, with questions directed at the kids that they were eager to answer, and the art pieces on display were very engaging and got the kids excited. Part of the fun was riding in a freight elevator to get to the exhibits. It added to the ambience.

Strollers are a no go here. There are stairs and it just isn't the right type of space for that. There was no admission charge. They do offer art classes, focusing on pottery, in the attached studio. You can pick up a pamphlet with more information while there. I recommend scheduling a tour or stopping by on a "First Friday" art crawl to visit. Their website isn't super informative about visiting, and I'm not sure about walk-ins.

I highly recommend this place for sparking some imagination in your child!

Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, MO

Leila's Hair Museum in Independence, MO, is the only hair-art museum in the world. Seriously! And here it is in my own backyard! I took my favorite 9 year old with me to check it out last weekend.

It isn't a huge museum and it isn't particularly fancy, but it is stuffed full of hair wreaths, jewelry, and other hair art. She also has hair from some famous people displayed (including George Washington!).

Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for kids. There is room for a small stroller if you have a toddler with you, which I recommend because the walls are full down to the floor and a loose 2 year old could do a lot of damage pretty quickly! I really enjoyed looking at the wreaths and the woman working the front desk (not Leila unfortunately!) was very helpful with answering questions and explaining what we were looking at.  She mentioned that they do classes a few times a year to teach the art as well.

Would kids enjoy this? Well, it depends on the kid. It isn't a super "exciting" place being full of mostly brown hair wreaths and brown jewelry, but if your kid likes history or is fascinated with somewhat "morbid" things (like making jewelry out of a deceased loved one's hair), then they might find this pretty cool.

I took a 9 year old with me. I intentionally didn't take my 6 year old and 2 year old, and I'm glad I made this decision. An older child can appreciate this sort of thing better. I personally had a lot of fun here!

The Kansas University Natural History Museum

Friday I took my kids to the KU Natural History Museum. This was my second time there, after enjoying it so much the first time. The museum is located on the KU campus in Lawrence, KS, which is about a 45 minute drive from Kansas City.

The museum is housed in a cool old building with exhibits on the 3rd through 6th floors. The main entrance leads you into a room full of panoramas of various scenes from the natural world including the Arctic and the rainforest, as well as local wildlife. If taxidermied animals creep you out, do not go here! There are lots of those, and my kids loved it!

Reasons to make the trip:
Admission is free. They do accept donations though.

It's a chance to see an old-style natural history museum. There aren't a lot of these around this part of the country.

It's educational. As a homeschooling mom, I love opportunities to show my kids what can be difficult to explain in books.

The museum houses lots of local fossils and they do have a few live animals (mostly snakes and insects). They have a section dedicated to evolution, using HIV as evidence, and a section dedicated to bugs. There is a gift shop on the main floor.


The Highlights: A kid-friendly insect exhibit was a big hit with my little ones, but my daughter's favorite was the mosasaur skeleton hanging from the ceiling that can be seen from both above and below. There are several buttons to push, drawers to pull out, and other "tricks" to engage kids in learning about the various exhibits. Another favorite was a room displaying rocks and minerals that glow under a black light. 


Strollers: Yes, you can bring strollers, and they do have an elevator inside, but there are a few places where you'll have to drag your stroller up or down 3 or 4 steps if you want to see everything.

Restrooms: They have restrooms on the 3rd and 5th floor, so keep in mind you might have to take an elevator ride or climb a flight of stairs when you're kid suddenly declares "I have to go NOW!"


Parking: You can find street parking (if you're lucky enough to do so without getting lost), but if you want easy and accessible parking, there is a paid lot (the Mississippi Street Parking Garage) just North of the museum. It is $1.75 for the first hour and $1.50 an hour after that. We spent 2 hours in the museum before we were exhausted, but to be safe, you might plan for 3 hours.

Location:
KU Natural History Museum
1345 Jayhawk Blvd.
Lawrence, KS

A side note: Lawrence is a great place to spend a day. Just a few blocks East of the museum you can find dozens of restaurants and fun shops to browse.

Another side note: If your kids are older and are really into paleontology, they might be able to volunteer with real paleontologists in the KU Dino-lab. Contact the school for more information.

Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art is located in Overland Park, KS, on the Johnson County Community College (JCCC) campus. I took my three children on a docent led tour there last week with a home school group. This was our first experience with the home school group and with the museum!

First let's talk parking. There is a parking lot in front of the museum with a few limited spots, and there are several parking lots on the college campus. Depending on when you go this could prove ample, but during the school year parking can be challenging. Being summer, parking was a breeze. This doesn't mean getting to the museum is a breeze though. It's a pretty good walk no matter which entrance you use. I don't mind, I like walking, but if you're like me and have a baby strapped to you, while pushing a stroller with a 2 year old, and are keeping track of your 6 year old it seems far.

Okay, so what about strollers? The museum does allow strollers, and has an elevator to the upper level. But, if you want to see some of the exhibits in the adjoining building where they have some neat American Indian art, you'll have to drag your stroller up three stairs to get to the elevator. For me, this wasn't too big of a deal.

I like contemporary art, but will my kids? The museum is a beautiful place to stroll through. The lightshow "sculpture" outside really drew my kids in. I found the art interesting and it provided ample opportunities to engage my kids with questions. We took a docent led tour, which can be good or bad, depending on what you're expecting. The tour was setup for kids, but our tour guide didn't seem comfortable with kids...long story short, she was very nervous showing kids the art and spent as much time telling them to not touch and back up as she did discussing it. I'm certain she gives great tours to adults, but for kids, the tour appeared boring. They spent far too long on each piece for a 6 year old. (The website says a tour will include 10 works of art and last about an hour--ours was an hour and 20 minutes and we only looked at 6 pieces of art!) I recommend requesting a tour guide who loves and understands kids, or to do a self-led tour.

My 6 year old daughter loved the museum despite having a "boring" tour. She talked at length about the pieces that struck her the most on the way home, many of which weren't on our tour--just ones she walked past (another reason to do it alone--you can stop at what interests you and skip what doesn't!).

Admission is free, so I have to recommend this place for school-aged kids. My 2 year old...not so much. If you can keep your toddler in a stroller or hold their hand the entire time, it might work, but there is nothing between you and most of the art so a toddler puts the security on high alert!

Hours:
Tues, Weds, Thurs, Sat: 10 am - 5 pm
Friday: 10 am - 9 pm
Sunday: 12 pm to 5 pm
Location:
12345 College Blvd  Overland Park, KS 66210

(913) 469-3000

Kansas City's Science City

Science City is a kid-friendly science museum located in Kansas City's Union Station. I remember going as a kid and having a blast, so I was excited to take my daughter for their Halloween event. It hasn't changed much over the years. My daughter really enjoyed herself although I wasn't 100% impressed.

Admission: Adults $13.50 and kids are $11.50. I'm not sure why adults are charged more since this is a place for kids. For an average family it would cost $50 to get in, which I think is pretty steep.

When we went the exhibits showed their age and the abuse of the thousands of children that have ran through this place. This doesn't mean they don't have some cool stuff to see and do though. It's all in how you look at it. A few activities were shut down or broken as well. My favorite things are the "mind-bending" illusions and the sets that play with your sense of reality. My daughter loved the dino-dig area and pretty much anything she could climb and play on.

The staff seemed young and not altogether that interested in the kids running around. More like the staff at an amusement park than the staff at a museum...although Science City feels more like an amusement park than a museum. They do have some live animals to see and occasionally host a new exhibit, but if you've done it once, you probably don't need to do it again for a few years since it hasn't changed much since I was a kid!

Some pros to this place is that it is housed in Union Station so you can also explore the KC Rail Experience and the Arvin Gottlieb Planetarium. The KC Rail Experience is included in your Science City admission, but the planetarium is not. Sometimes they run deals that include the planetarium, but otherwise it's an additional $6. My daughter loved the planetarium, so I think it's worth the price. If you're on a budget, you can just do the planetarium without doing Science City as well. Science City and Untion Station are also right next door to Crown Center, (and connected via a walkway) which is a fun shopping center.

Parking: Parking is free for 30 minutes, then $1 for every 30 minutes after that for a max of $10. For us, if you are doing just Science City, 2 hours should do it ($3-$4 to park), but parking is free at Crown Center with validation and that's just a short walk away, so plan accordingly!