Best Things to Do Indoors with Kids in Wichita
Libraries with Kid Areas and Story Times
Wichita has eight public library locations that offer not only fantastic story times, but also various other kid friendly programs such as make and take crafts, parties, and family movie nights. Libraries are certainly one of our favorite spots to hang out indoors because they are free!
The following are a few of our favorite Wichita Area Libraries with special indoor kid areas:
Advanced Learning Library (has a great outdoor stem learning area too) | Downtown Wichita
Andover Public Library | Andover (near two really great outdoor parks as well)
Ford Rockwell Branch | East Wichita – newly remodeled with imaginative play area for young children
Westlink Branch Library | West Wichita
Indoor Play Places
If you and your family are in need of burning off some physical energy Wichita has several options.
Wichita Art Museum is FREE every day! Their updated PLAY space. Great for kids of all ages with a special toddler corner with toys and books for younger kids. There’s a rotating arts & crafts area to encourage creativity and free play area with games, books, and other activities to support creative play. Open during museum hours, Wednesday-Sunday 10-5.
The Greater Wichita YMCAs offers exciting ways to exhaust children of all ages with a climbing gym and indoor play at the Andover Y. Don’t have a membership to the Y, don’t worry they offer an $18 family day pass.
Imagine Lab is on the west side and offers screen-free play for young children through exploration and hands-on STEAM activities. This is such a fun stem-based option for kids and families. Check Imagine Lab’s Facebook for Open Play and special events they host!
Play & Party Co. is now open in west Wichita! It’s a fun mini Wichita perfect for playdates, parties, or just a fun rainy day getaway.
The PBS Kansas Children’s Education & Discovery Center helps children develop skills in STEM and targeted for children 2-10 years old with interactive displays, arts and crafts, and toys. Open 10-4 Monday-Friday with story time every Wednesday at 10:30 and last Wednesday of the month bilingual story time!
0-2: FREE
3-5: $3
Ages 6-Adult” $4
Exploration Place has such a cute play place called Kansas Kids Connect, planting the seeds of STEM in young children’s minds as they discover the world around them. Plant a garden, fix a tractor, run through golden waves of wheat. Create your own town, go to a farmer’s market and more.
PBS Kansas Cochener-Garvey Children’s Education & Discovery Center
Indoor Playgrounds
Fun City Adventure Park located at 6959 East 21st Street North Wichita (in the old Hobby Lobby building) – this is the ultimate playground for kids of all ages.
Cofellow Coffee & Vima Church have partnered to open a super fun indoor playground at their newest coffee shop location! Play Place hours are Monday-Friday: 7am-3pm and Saturday: 8am-3pm.
Adventurz Creative Indoor Playground in Derby caters to a younger crowd. With ball pits, slides, and trikes, this spot is sure to be a hit with the preschoolers in your life.
Lily Lake Toddler Play Café is a bit of a drive from Wichita but well worth it. Specifically created to be clutter-free and focus on gross motor activity, this indoor playground provides a safe and stimulating environment for young children ages 5 & under to play and burn energy.
Carousel Skate Fun Zone – Carousel’s Play Zone is specifically for kids 12 & younger with slides, a swing room, tiger crawl, and kangaroo bouncing room.
Towne East Indoor Playgrounds First one is located inside Schools in the children’s section, great for kids under 5, and completely enclosed so little ones can run free! Bonus: If you enter Scheels from the parking lot door you pass a large aquarium on the way in!
Scheels Indoor Playground is near the exit into the rest of the mall. Great for a bigger age range, and right next to the food court making it a great lunch spot!
Chick-fil-A is a favorite go-to for indoor playground options for younger kiddos. Bonus? You can catch a story time and grab a snack or lunch while the kids play!
Arcades & Bowling
Arcades
Introduce your kids to the glory of 80s arcade games and pinball machines! The Arcade in Old Town lets kids 8 and under play all day for $8 – ages 9-adult play for $10. For more modern games, head to Dave & Buster’s.
Located in Towne East, SCHEELS department store has tons of fun to offer the whole family! Check out the giant aquarium, arcade, candy store, and indoor play place!
Our comprehensive list of arcades in Wichita can be found here.
Bowling
Wichita offers several options when bowling is your activity of choice. Our personal favorite:
Shocker Sports Grill and Lanes – Located on the lower level of the Rhatigan Student Center at WSU, this bowling option is open to the general public and only costs $6.00 per game + $3.00 for shoe rental.
Check out our guide here for the 7 Best Places to Go Bowling with Kids in Wichita!
Museums in Wichita
Exploration Place offers excitement for the entire family and is really one of the best things to do indoors with kids. Honestly, there is so much to see and do at Exploration Place that we often pack a lunch and make it an all-day outing! With ongoing exhibits, traveling displays, the dome theater and more, you can’t beat EP for indoor fun with the kids.
Wichita Art Museum is now FREE every day! Their updated PLAY space for families is perfect for kids of all ages, especially young children.
The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum has just what you are looking for. The Child’s World exhibit will open today’s tech savvy young people to the toys of generations past.
For the little adventures spend a few hours walking among some mummies and hanging out with a T-Rex at the Museum of World Treasures. The museum is open daily and offers family nights the first Tuesday of the month.
Botanica’s gardens are great when the weather cooperates, but when it doesn’t you can still enjoy their indoor treehouse & children’s library (with storytimes)!
Click here for an entire list of the Top 20 Museums to Visit in Wichita!
Theaters and Sports Arenas
Wichita offers some awesome athletic teams, movie theaters, and event venues. From current movies at one of the Regal Warren Theaters or AMC Northrock 14 or a classic at The Orpheum you are sure to find something to keep even the youngest movie enthusiast entertained. Be sure to check back for free and cheap movies over the summer (one of our favorite things to do with kids of all ages).
If your family is in need of some live action entertainment grab some tickets and root for your favorite hometown team or take in a show. Intrust Bank Arena is home to the Wichita Thunder of the ECHL, plus they host various other shows such as Disney on Ice to Monster Jam. For those budding thespians Wichita Children’s Theater and Dance Center offers participatory shows for children 2 to 8 as well as traditional shows for all ages.
Jump and Trampoline Parks
When you are trying to get the wiggles out of cooped up little people why not take to the air. The trampoline parks in Wichita – Aviate & Urban Air Trampoline Park, each of which cater to both toddlers and big kids, are open daily.
Jumpy Jump Land with it’s three locations is sure to squash any lingering feelings of cabin fever. Open jump hours vary each week by location, but for only $5 per child, mom, you jump for free.
Art Activities
Head to one of these local spots to paint pottery & ceramics – some will even let you make your own!
Wichita Art Museum now has an open Art Lab for make & take crafts, and it’s totally free.
Head downtown to GROW and enjoy delicious drinks while building your own terrarium at their DIY Plant Bar! Check out their events here.
We love the open studio times and family-friendly classes at Paint the Towne. Check their studio calendar here.
Roller and Ice Skating
Another favorite thing to do indoors (especially with bigger kids) is skating! Go roller skating at Carousel or brave the ice at Wichita Ice Center!
Carousel Skate feels like a throw back to days of our youth parents, but their frequent special events keep roller skating relevant for our little people – and their indoor playground is a huge maze that will burn energy for hours.
Indoor Water Park
Blast Off Bay is the ultimate staycation destination for Kansas! Stay in the attached hotel and play all day in the water park on the Supernova Surf Machine, blast down the Big Dipper and all 11 slides, or relax in the hot tub, lazy river, or swim-up bar! With dedicated areas for toddlers, older kids, teens, and adults, there’s intergalactic fun for the whole family!
I own an Escape Room business here in Wichita and wanted to let all the moms know that at our locations kids 10 and under are FREE with paying adults. We just moved into our new facility in downtown Delano district. Thank you for your time.
Laura Sorrell
The Room – Wichita
http://Www.theroom-wichita.com
Do u host birthday parties? Cost? Have trampolines or bounce houses?
Sunshine Family Yoga- Prenatal and Family Yoga play from 4 weeks to 7 years. Zumbini Family music and movement with littles 0-4 years. Great for families with more than one child. http://www.sunshinefamilyyoga.com
I like to take my artsy 9 and 11yos to Evan’s Ceramics. They have an area to paint your ceramics with all the paints and supplies provided for a reasonable cost. And they do the clean up! Then you can leave them for firing and pick up later.
Great to know – thank you!
Great list! I can’t wait to take my kids to the Exploration Place and the indoor trampoline parks. It’s nice to have so many options for keeping them entertained, especially during the colder months. Thank you for sharing!
Great list! I’m always looking for fun indoor activities for my kids, especially when the weather isn’t cooperating. We loved the Exploration Place and can’t wait to try out the other suggestions. Thanks for sharing!