The Anita B Gorman Discovery Center

Some winter weekends in Kansas City are best spent indoors.  The Anita B Gorman Discovery Center is a great place to spend an hour or two.  We've found that it's a place to visit in conjunction with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which is just down the street.  We can visit the discovery center and let the kids look at the animals and maybe do a craft, then go and browse through the Nelson-Atkins Museum for a few hours.  It's great because both are free!  The Gorman Discovery Center isn't very big, but there are exhibits and some hands-on opportunities geared for kids.  The last time we visited, they made pine cone bird feeders.  The kids had a great time smearing pine cones with peanut butter and suet, then pressing in added goodies such as sunflower seeds, craisens, and bird seeds.  The staff is very helpful and friendly and uses the crafts to teach about nature.  For example, each goodie or seed added to the bird feeder attracts certain species of birds.   By choosing what you place on the feeder, it influences the kind of bird that visits.

Of course, there are other exhibits that are interesting to adults at the Gorman Discovery Center too.  I liked seeing the replica of Lewis & Clark's keelboat that they brought up the Missouri River.  My wife really liked learning about the different kinds of plants in the Kansas City area that have red berries, and their different food values for wildlife from an exhibit that was up.  The exhibits rotate in and out, so if you visit once, come back and visit in a few months and there will be something new to learn.  There are a few walking trails outside, but since we only visited in the winter, we stayed inside on our visit.