Finding family fun this summer in Topeka doesn’t have to be expensive! Topeka has a bevy of free activities that it offers during the summer to keep your kids active, learning and even eating nutritional meals. In this blog, you’ll find a wide assortment of different no-cost activities.
More than 230 people attended Community for Kids on Wednesday evening at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center for a night of healing and conversation after the recent events in Uvalde, Texas, gripped the nation with grief.
The event, which ran for three hours, included free admission, resources and opportunities to heal as a community in a safe, peaceful environment.
The Discovery Center was blown away by the love and support shown by the local community, who attended Community for Kids on only four hours’ notice. Word of the event quickly spread over Facebook and other social media platforms and by traditional media.
“These horrific events weigh heavily on us as an organization whose purpose is to bring joy and enrich the lives of children and their families,” said Dene’ Mosier, Discovery Center President and CEO. “No child should feel unsafe, whether at school, in public places or at home. It is our duty as a community to make sure our children are given a peaceful environment in which to heal and connect to community resources.”
The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center will be open for special winter hours during the holidays.
The Discovery Center is open until 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 21, with several fun activities slated throughout the day. A robot snow plow is set to take place at 2 p.m., while visitors are encouraged to play with Snow-Dough beginning at 4 p.m.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the Discovery Center will be open during regular hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., respectively, with even more fun, winter-related activities beginning at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. each day, including a guided Winter Prairie Walk.
For more info on those events, see the events calendar.
The Discovery Center will be closed Friday and Saturday for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will reopen at noon Sunday, Dec. 26.
More special holiday hours will continue the following week, with the Discovery Center open Monday and Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. Activities include ice excavation, snow-dough, snowball splat art, rainbow snow science, snow slime and catapulting snow balls.
The Discovery Center will be open during regular business hours again on Dec. 29 and 30, again with several winter-themed activities slated throughout the day at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Discovery Center will then be closed Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, 2022, for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day before opening again at noon Sunday, Jan. 2. The Discovery Center hopes to bring back the Noon Year’s Eve event again next year to ring in 2023.
The Discovery Center will have special holiday hours during three days in January, as well, with the center opening Monday, Jan. 3, and Tuesday, Jan. 4, as well as opening up Monday, Jan. 17, to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The center will feature a variety of fun activities on Jan. 3-4, including snow-dough, snowball splat art, alpine slide engineering, stained glass snowmen, catapulting snowballs and snow slime.