Magic of Crown Center

Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri is a more than just a shopping center. It’s also a great family-friendly places that includes a wide variety of fun things for kiddos. Lizzy and I took some friends and family to experience the variety of fun Crown Center has to offer.

Kaleidoscope

This is a free (yes, free) art making space for kids. Though they recommend it for 5 to 14 year-olds. Lizzy honestly at 2 ½ years old had a blast doing it too. They have stations that are her size or stools to help her. We went with my friend Amber. We had a lot of fun, though we were a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people who must have been there for a day-camp. Lizzy created so much and was very much not ready to go when the 50-minute session ended.

Hallmark Visitor Center

Next door to Kaleidoscope is the Hallmark Visitor Center. They gave Lizzy a scavenger hunt page. Though Amber and I had more fun looking for the objects than Lizzy. Lizzy really like the Christmas trees they have up year-round and finding Santa. You also make a gift bow by pressing a button. Lizzy made three, one for each of us. She also like seeing Barbie and Chiefs stuff from the Hallmark Holiday Movie, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.

Crown Center Showplace

This is a rotating FREE exhibit for kids. Currently it’s Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails. One of Lizzy’s cousins was visiting who loves trains. So, we met up for a fun day of trains. Lizzy loved the giant train table. There are other things like you can climb into Thomas’ cab, fix Percy’s wheels, and sort through luggage at the station.

Union Station – Model Train Gallery

Since as was said Lizzy’s cousin loves trains. We had to go see the model trains. Thanks to this cousin, Lizzy has grown to love trains too. The two of them were running around showing each other and grandpa trains.

This gallery is 8,000 square feet of model trains that are designed, built, and maintained by Union Station volunteers. There are more than 80 trains running daily on eight different train scales.

Westin Indoor Waterfall

Westin is a high-end hotel attached to Crown Center. For years I have gone here with my parents to take a picture of the indoor waterfall. I have taken Lizzy a few different times. This last visit especially with her cousin, Lizzy was insistent that we show her cousin and her aunt the waterfall.

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Crown Center has many other things that I haven’t mentioned such as Sealife Aquarium and Legoland. Both of which I have done with Lizzy at some point, though she was younger for both. They are definitely places to check out one of these days again with her as she gets older.