15 ways to keep the kids busy during winter break. Many are free
It’s winter break time for area school kids and in keeping with the theme of COVID cancellations for 2020, there are far fewer happenings planned by attractions and organizations that normally schedule events when school’s out. But you can still lace up your skates, hit the lanes, enjoy some art, visit some animals and even rock out at a couple of parks. We have also included some stay-at-home activities.
As has become standard during the pandemic, check with host organizations to confirm events and find out about any safety precautions.
Field Station: Dinosaurs in Derby has decked out its dinos for its Holly Jolly Jurassic Holiday, which runs 1-9 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday through Jan. 3, closed Christmas and New Year’s Day. Activities include riding an all-season sled on a kids-sized luge run and seeing a light display that starts at 6 p.m. You can go during daylight hours and return to see the evening lights on the same day of admission. Cost: $10, free for children 2 and younger and for members. More info: 855-833-3466 or kansasdinos.com/holiday
Hit the ice — well, really the object is to stay upright — at the Chicken N Pickle Ice Pond at the Plazzio or the Wichita Ice Center. Skate times on Chicken N Pickle’s 100-by-600-foot rink, 1240 N. Greenwich, are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday (closed Christmas Day). A skate pass is $10, free for children 3 and younger and skate rentals are $3. More info: 316-535-7150 or chickennpickle.com/wichita. The Wichita Ice Center, 520 N. Maple, is offering afternoon and evening public skating sessions on its Olympic-sized rink for $5 per session in December. Skate rentals are $3. More info: wichitaicecenter.com or 316-337-9199
Carousel Skate Center, 312 N. West St., is scheduled to be open every day of winter break except Dec. 24 and 25. Total capacity for both roller skaters and spectators is currently limited to 100, so it’s best to purchase a ticket in advance online. Cost is $9.99 for skaters, $5 for spectators, with add-ons for other activities. More info: 316-942-4505 or carouselks.com
Music will fill the air in downtown Wichita noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23. It’s best to listen to the free holiday Bloomfield Carillon concert from the streets around the Wichita/Sedgwick County Historical Museum, 204 S. Main, and there’s plenty of nearby parking (have some quarters handy for metered parking). The carillon is located inside the tower of the museum.
If you’re looking for an activity on Christmas or New Year’s Day, the Sedgwick County Zoo is open every day of the year. If you visit on Dec. 23 or Dec. 30, admission is discounted to just $3 for anyone age 3 and up as part of the zoo’s ongoing Winter Wednesdays special. Online, timed tickets are required to help control the crowd size. RSVP at scz.org.
You can knock down some pins and do other activities at The Alley, 11413 E. 13th St., with a holiday package deal that includes unlimited bowling, passes for go-karts, laser maze and a virtual reality game and a $5 arcade game card. The holiday special runs Dec. 26 -30 and Jan. 1-3. Cost is $28 for ages 13 and older, $5 off for ages 12 and under. The Alley’s unlimited cosmic bowling special happens 8-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays during the break; cost is $17 with add-ons available. The center also has other specials going on for weekday bowling and on Sundays. More info: 316-618-1000 or thealleywichita.com
If working or learning remotely has you tired of looking at screens, look at some art instead at the Wichita Art Museum. Ongoing exhibitions include “Foot in the Door,” a community art exhibit of 12-by-12-inch submissions from artists who call Wichita home (including some kids); a smaller exhibit on the two women who were pivotal in founding WAM; and “Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Sunlight,” an outstanding traveling multimedia exhibit by an internationally recognized artist that is in its final month (it closes Jan. 17). WAM is free to visit all day Saturdays. WAM’s annual Winter Art Mania, with special activities for families, happens 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26, and Sunday, Dec. 27; that event is free too. More info: wichitaartmuseum.org.
Check out some classic Christmas movies, TV series on DVDs or books that are available for free through the Wichita Public Library. Go online to catalog.wichitalibrary.org to make your selections and place a hold on the items and pick them up curbside at your nearest library location when they’re ready. Hold and transfer fees are waived at this time, according to library communications specialist Sean Jones. If you don’t have a library card, call 316-261-8500.
If you’re looking for an outdoor activity, you can rock out at two parks featuring interesting geological formations; both are within a 2-hours-or-less drive north of Wichita. Pack a lunch and some hot chocolate and enjoy a winter picnic. Rock City near Minneapolis, Kansas, and Mushroom Rock State Park near Brookville, Kansas, both feature Dakota sandstone concretions, a geological term for hard masses of matter held together with a sort of mineral cement. Trivia note: Rock City is reportedly “the only place in the world where so many concretions of such giant size are found in one area.” There are more than 200 of them there. Admission is $3 per person, 50 cents for children. Mushroom Rock State Park has fewer concretions and is a free attraction. Tack on a detour to the manmade Coronado Heights (free to visit) near Lindsborg to enjoy winter vistas.
Liz Brunscheen-Cartenega, the family life and resources agent with Kansas State’s Sedgwick County Extension Education Center, offered some suggestions that focus on building relationships among families and can be done without breaking your budget.
▪ Pull out the family photos and share the stories of the people and places captured in the images. It’s a great way to remember loved ones, share family history and relive fun times.
▪ Try a new board game. During the pandemic, board games have become a go-to activity for families stuck at home, and gaming options have changed considerably from the old family standards of Candy Land, Monopoly or Scrabble. Brunscheen-Cartenega, a board game aficionado, has compiled a list of board games for the extension center’s website (https://www.sedgwick.k-state.edu/), found in the Home and Life relationships section, that provides descriptions and player information. Some of her family’s favorites include Forbidden Island and Codenames. Catan, a game of strategy where players build settlements, has become a best-seller during the pandemic, according to an NPR report.
▪ Make a family recipe. Pull out one of grandma’s recipes and share some memories behind it and make some of your own. Bonus: If you want to involve family members outside of your home, make it a virtual cooking party.
▪ Hop in the family car and check out light displays put up by homeowners in Wichita. More than 15 houses on Azure Circle in west Wichita comprise the Candy Cane Lane neighborhood display (set your GPS for 1021 Azure Circle), while several other regulars have continued their displays, including these that are coordinated to music: 1812 S. Millwood, 6725 W. Ocieo, 620 N. Stratford Lane and 1462 Coolidge in Wichita. Homeowners in surrounding towns also have some displays so you can spread your sightseeing over a couple of nights, including 417 E. 10th in Winfield (along with the town’s Isle of Lights), 3 Willowdell Drive in Mulvane and 1610 Tanglewood in Rose Hill.
If you’re feeling charitable, the light displays of Botanica’s Illuminations and The Arc’s Lights are both fundraisers for their respective organizations. Illuminations even has a drive-thru option this year; walk-thru and drive-thru options require advanced, timed tickets, available at botanica.org. Walk-thru tickets are $13 with discounts available; carload tickets for the drive-thru are $20 and $25 depending on the night you visit. Admission for the Arc is $10 per carload Fridays-Sundays, but you can save $2 by purchasing tickets in advance at a QuikTrip or online (arc-sedgwickcounty.org). Donations accepted weeknights.
The Eagle has more listings of light displays, compiled by Denise Neil and also suggested by readers, online.
Another pastime that’s picked up is piecing together puzzles. Sarah Bagby, owner of the independent bookstore Watermark Books, said both puzzle and game sales have increased at her store and she’s shipping to customers beyond Wichita, too. Even local customers can order online (watermarkbooks.com) and do curbside pickup. If you’re supporting local stores for games and puzzles, check out Imagine That Toys, which has games for players young to old and puzzles ranging from 35 to 3,000 pieces. Hero Complex Games and Entertainment sells board, tabletop and card games that are more suitable for older kids and adults.
If you’re looking for programming with multiple days and times, the Wichita Gymnastics Club (wichitagym.com/kdo.html), select YMCA locations (ymcawichita.org) and Wichita recreation centers (wichita.gov/ParkandRec) have scheduled various in-person kids camps and classes during the winter break.
This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 5:01 AM.