Lakeside Nature Center KC

We are not strangers to the Lakeside Nature Center. First of all it's free, secondly its awesome, third it's FREE! Who doesn't like free fun (and education)? It's located on Gregory Blvd not far from the Kansas City Zoo. When you first enter there's a great kids area that boasts a library, a coloring table, a puppet show, and a neat "underground" tunnel that has a bunch of buttons that make animal sounds when pressed, and of course the little ones love that! To the left they have a handful of glass cases housing all kinds of neat animal artifacts, a room for parties, and the always important bathrooms. When you go to the right the first furry friends you will meet are the two fox squirrels. They scurry up the sides and defy gravity by walking on the ceiling. It's so much fun to watch those little guys. Just beyond the squirrel enclosure are the cute and fluffy bunnies. They weren't quite as entertaining but they girls still sat and observed them eating. Once you're done ooohhhing and awwwing over the bunnies you'll move on and this is where you'll hear either screams of horror or shouts of "Thats so cool". Yep, its the creepy crawly things. They offer abundant snakes venomous and non venomous alike, insects, and frogs. My girls can't help but look and get grossed out. One very long snake was stretching up, up, up to the high branch and it's tongue was flicking about. It was awesome to watch this mostly horizontal moving creature go vertical. He never did reach the top, bummer. We got our fill of watching the slimy things and moved onto the bald eagles. They are so majestic and fierce! Lakeside also hosts another huge enclosure with other birds of prey. There's a handful of aquariums with swimming things and a large one that holds an alligator snapping turtle. Look close or you might mistake it for a large algae covered rock. I love the touch and see table that has many bones, skins, and shells. I can barely manage to get Picasso to grasp the antlers but she finally does for a quick second. Princess Tiger Lily is the complete opposite and would climb on top of the table to get a better vantage point if I allowed her. We said goodbye to the animals and headed outside for some nature exploration. They do have some great trails! Although since it was still rather muddy from the recent snow and rain we didn't venture far. I would highly recommend this nature center for kiddos of all ages! On Saturdays they even have a (free) story and craft time at 10am. Go check it out and enjoy another of the local KC gems.