Here are free or low-cost activities for children and families in Wichita this summer

With the right timing and by taking advantage of some summer programs, families can enjoy some free or low-cost options for summer fun that is suitable for all ages.

One of the best deals for Kansas families with pre-K-12 students — to visit dozens of attractions throughout the state for free including several in the Wichita area — is returning this year.

The Sunflower Summer program, started last year by the Kansas Department of Education, will run from May 28 through Aug. 14. A parent or guardian downloads the app from Apple or Google Play to set up an account and register each eligible student. You can make a one-time visit to each attraction using the app. Choose an attraction you plan to visit and claim your ticket, which you then activate when you visit the location. To make it a frugal family outing, up to two adults can get free tickets when accompanying students to the participating attraction. The app also has a passport feature to track which attractions you’ve visited.

Even more area attractions are participating in Sunflower Summer this year including Botanica, Exploration Place, the Kansas Aviation Museum, the Sedgwick County Zoo, the Mid-America All-Indian Museum, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum and Old Cowtown Museum. The latter three also offer select free admission days every week. Nearby attractions include the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson and Field Station: Dinosaurs in Derby.

For more details on Sunflower Summer, visit sunflowersummer.org.

Select Wichita attractions also participate in two national free admission programs, which are limited to certain demographics: Blue Star Museums and Museums 4 All.

Active-duty military personnel and their families, including the National Guard and Reserve, can receive free admission to participating Blue Star Museums through Sep. 4. In Wichita, Botanica, Exploration Place, WAM and the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum participate in the Blue Star Museums program. Museums 4 All allows individuals receiving food assistance to visit select museums for free; Old Cowtown and the Mid-America All-Indian museums are participating in that program. Visit museums4all.org for more information.

If bowling is how your family rolls, then check out the national Kids Bowl Free program, which allows kids to bowl two games free each week. Derby Bowl and Seneca Bowl, The Alley and West Acres Bowl in Wichita participate in the program. Each center sets its own schedule and age limits for the bowling program. Generally, kids as young as 2 can participate, with the cut-off age being 15 or 16. Families need to select and sign up for a bowling center at kidsbowlfree.com. Shoe rental is extra.

The Cosmosphere and Exploration Place offer discounts for guests who visit both attractions within 30 days of one another. Visitors presenting a receipt from a visit to one museum will get a $5 discount on the second museum.

Lots of other options for free or low-cost summer fun abound. Here are a few to check out.

Museum mania

Wichita has no shortage of museums, and a few museums are always free to visit and some have special free days and special programming, including free showings of movies and free yoga.

Two always-free museums are the Ulrich Museum of Art (ulrich.wichita.edu) and the Pizza Hut Museum (wichita.edu/museums/pizzahutmuseum), both of which are on the Wichita State University campus. June 11 happens to be the anniversary of Pizza Hut; the museum is housed in the original restaurant which was relocated to the WSU campus.

The Ulrich will also host two free movie nights at the Duerksen Fine Arts Center Amphitheater on the WSU campus as part of its Shockers Under the Stars programming. On June 21, visitors can explore the always free outdoor sculpture collection where interactive stations will be set up and then head to the amphitheater for the 9 p.m. screening of “Encanto.” During the July 21 program, local youth entrepreneurs will showcase their crafted items starting at 7 p.m., before mama film shows a short family-friendly film at 8:45 p.m. before the 9 p.m. “Space Jam” showing in the amphitheater.

WAM (wichitaartmuseum.org) continues offering its free-admission Saturdays, with some additional programming June 15 to celebrate the installation of its new commissioned lobby sculpture and a retrospective exhibition of Beth Lipman, who created the sculpture. On July 23, celebrate WAM’s birthday with free ice cream and a community artmaking project between 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Other Saturday programming includes free Yoga in the Garden sessions 9 to 10 a.m. June 11, July 9, Aug. 6 and Sept. 3. “The Wizard of Oz” will be shown during its free Tunes + Tallgrass event, which starts with live music at 7 p.m. before the 9 p.m. movie screening.

Thanks to the same benefactor for WAM’s free Saturdays (Colby Sandlian), Old Cowtown Museum (oldcowtown.org) a living history museum that shows life as it was in the late 1800s, also offers free admission on Sundays.

The Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum (wichitahistory.org), housed in Wichita’s early city hall, also has free-admission Sundays, sponsored by the Ruth Spooner Stone Charitable Trust. The museum also has free themed Adventure in Time and Young Historian workshops planned. The museum is holding its annual city-county birthday celebration July 23 and 24, with free admission given in exchange for a birthday card.

It’s always free to visit the galleries of Mark Arts markartsks.com but it also has free event options. Through its Art Together program, the arts education center offers free community programming. On the second Saturday of the month from 10 a.m.- noon, Art Together focuses on a particular country or culture. For example, India is the focus of the June 11 program. Each event features a storytime, community artmaking and a performance or other activity. It also offers a free monthly evening session of yoga, which is happening outdoors this summer from 7-8 p.m. June 15, July 20 and Aug. 24. Open to ages 13 and up. Yoga participants can check out Mark Arts’ newest sculpture, Stickwork, which is outdoors near the Gallery Terrace. Preregistration is requested for Art Together events.

Every Friday morning, from 10 a.m. to noon, kids ages 1-12 get free admission to the Kansas Aviation Museum (kansasaviationmuseum.org). Be sure to check if the cockpit of the FedEx 727 is open and climb the stairs to the old air traffic control tower of Wichita’s former municipal airport.

For another one-of-a-kind plane adventure, visit a historic, wartime B-29 at the B-29 Doc Hangar, Education and Visitors Center (b29doc.com/visit) at the Eisenhower National Airport. Admission is $20 for up to five people per family. An extra $10 gets the family cockpit access. Be sure to check if the flight-worthy Doc is in the hangar before you go.

Animal adventures

The Sedgwick County Zoo (scz.org) continues its Twilight Tuesdays, where the park stays open extended hours until 8:30 p.m. every Tuesday in July, with all-day admission just $3 per person. A new feature this year is live music from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

It’s always free to see the more than 25 species of Kansas critters, including a bobcat, beaver, mink and predatory birds, at the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit at Central Riverside Park. Feedings happen daily at noon.

Great Plains Nature Center (gpnc.org), which offers free daytime programming for children, is having a special nighttime event, Moth Mania, from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. Friday, July 29, so visitors can check out nocturnal activity in the habitat surrounding the center.

Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard (twpark.com) has two summertime specials. Kids can get in free with a paying adult on Wednesday nights, when the park stays open later. It also offers a Cub Club Storytime every Wednesday that includes a meet the animal opportunity for $5 per child and free for adults. The cost doesn’t include park admission.

Parks and pools

See the movie “Despicable Me” for free May 30 at O.J. Watson Park. Bring lawn chairs or blankets; the concession stand will be open. (facebook.com/events/412502390704195)

Wichita’s public pools (wichita.gov/ParkandRec/Aquatics/Pages/SwimmingPools.aspx) open May 30 with a daily family rate of $15 for eight people, one of which must be an adult. Each of the six pools also has one free swim day: College Hill, June 5; Aley, June 12; Harvest, June 19; McAfee at McAdams Park, July 3; Minisa July 10; and Orchard, July 17.

An evening concert called Sunset Summerfest (facebook.com/events/538450047688943) is happening at McAdams Park from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 25. Bring lawn chairs; food trucks will be on site.

Two Wichita arts companies— Shakespeare in the Park and Ballet Wichita — also offer free programming held in city parks.

This year’s Shakespeare in the Park (wichitashakespearecompany.org) play is “Comedy of Errors.” The production is staged at 7 p.m. Fridays through Sundays starting June 10 and continuing through June 26, when it concludes with an indoor production at University Friends Church. Participating parks are College Hill Park (June 11, 17 & 19), Buffalo Park (June 11), Andover Central Park (June 12), High Park in Derby (June 18), Central Riverside (June 24) and Hap McLean Park in Park City (June 25).

Ballet Wichita’s (balletwichita.com) summer production will be “Tom Sawyer,” featuring choreography by its new artistic director, David Justin, who has experience with the Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Boston Ballet. Performances will be held in June and September, with locations, dates and times to be released.

The Wichita Public Libraries always offers a variety of free children’s and teen programming throughout the summer. You can search its online calendar,wichitalibrary.org/events, by age group to find things of interest for your family members. It’s also organizing free children-friendly concerts every Monday in June which happen at 10:30 a.m. at Naftzger Park and 3 p.m. in Riverside.