This spring at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center, we’re transforming outdoor play into something deeper, richer, and more memorable. Not a playground. A place to explore, build, imagine, and belong. Tucked into our 4.5-acre campus, two new outdoor environments will invite families to step beyond the ordinary and into experiences you won’t find anywhere else in the region or at a traditional park.

Construction will take place April 13 through early-May. Some outdoor areas will be temporarily closed, including access to the treehouse and pirate ship. The treehouse and pirate ship are staying right where they are, just taking a short break during construction.

In May, we’ll welcome you back outside to explore two new play areas!

Happy Hollow

Hidden beneath the canopy, Happy Hollow is a whimsical village of little homes and child-sized spaces designed for open-ended, imaginative play. With furniture carved from logs and cozy spaces built at a child’s scale, Happy Hollow invites children to step into their own stories and create worlds of their own.

Here, children will:

• Create narratives and role-play
• Build friendships and communities
• Problem solve and collaborate
• Experience the joy of play in a setting that feels both magical and real

Wonderway

Through a living arbor arch, children step into the Wonderway, a hands-on adventure zone built for curious, capable kids. Wonderway is a dynamic play environment designed for fort building, exploration, and creative risk-taking. Children gather branches, construct forts, create hideaways, and test their ideas in real time. It’s active, collaborative, a little messy, and deeply rewarding.

The Wonderway encourages:

• Physical play and confidence building
• Collaboration and teamwork
• Engineering and problem solving through fort building
• Imaginative exploration in a natural setting

Thank you for your patience as we build what’s next!