Activities for Families in Topeka

Internet Resources for Parents and Teachers

Calendars of Area Events

City of Topeka – Online
This website includes current events, activities in town and links to other Topeka organizations.
 

 

Places to visit in Topeka

Brown V Board of Education National Historic Site
354-4273
424 South Kansas Avenue, Suite 220
Visit the site headquarters on the second floor of the Main Post Office. Audio-visual program, exhibits and literature are available.  Free.

Combat Air Museum
862-3303
Forbes Field, J Street, Hangers 602-604
The museum provides a great display of military aircraft and military and aviation history.  You can see a field kitchen, military uniforms, a field chapel and a recreated German POW barracks. 

Dornwood Nature Trail
272-5900
25th and Highland Ave., Park Department
You can enjoy the splendors of nature as you hike along the trail.  Free.

Gage Park
272-6150
6th and Gage.
Play in the playgrounds. Picnic in one of the many picnic areas.  Visit the Greenhouse during the day on weekdays and Sunday afternoons.  Call 272-6150 for more information about the Greenhouse visits.  In the summer you can ride the miniature train, enjoy the carousel and swim in Blaisdell Pool.

Kansas Museum of History
272-8681
6425 SW Sixth Ave.
Come and explore Kansas’ exciting past. View a Cheyenne tipi, 1880’s locomotive and train, a pioneer cabin, a 1950’s diner and more. Donation requested.

Lake Shawnee
Administration office
267-0835
3139 SE 29th St.
Hiking, fishing, Frisbee golf, a fitness trail, picnicking areas, tennis courts, and playgrounds are all available at Lake Shawnee. In the summer, you may rent paddle boats and canoes.  Lake Shawnee Junior is reserved for fishing by children under 15 and senior citizens.

 

Kansas State Capitol Building
296-3966
8th and Jackson
See where the laws of Kansas are made.  Murals by John Steuart Curry grace the walls. Tours are given Monday through Friday. Free.

Memorial Park Cemetery Duck Pond
3616 SW 6th Street.
Enjoy feeding bread crumbs to the ducks that live year-round at the duck pond. Free.

Mulvane Art Museum
231-1124
17th and Jewell, Washburn University
It is the oldest visual arts museum in Kansas.  Saturday and summer art classes for children 4-12 are available.  Visiting the museum is free. 

Museum of the Kansas National Guard
862-1020
6700 SW Topeka Blvd
See a Huey helicopter, a Mustang fighter, an M1 tank and much more. Exhibits include weapons, uniforms and the history of the Kansas Army and Air National Guard.  Free.

Ward-Meade Park and Botanical Garden
368-3888
124 N. Fillmore.
Visit the 1870’s Victorian mansion, Potwin Drug Store, Mulvane General Store, 100 year-old Santa Fe Railway Depot and Caboose, 100 year-old schoolhouse and Lingo Livery Stable.  Visiting the 2.5 acres of grounds is free.

World Famous Topeka Zoo
272-7042
Gage Park, 635 Gage Boulevard.
Enjoy the animals in the Discovering Apes, Tropical Rain Forest, Lion Pride, Black Bear Woods, Petting Zoo areas and play in the Children's Play area.

Services to Families

Everywoman’s Resource Center
 ERC provides a reference service for concerns about children including locating vacancies in licensed child care facilities and assistance in time of crises.
357-5171.

Nurse Information Line
The number is 354-5225 and they’re available from 4:30 pm to 8 am Monday through Friday and 24 hours on weekends and holidays.

Shawnee County Extension Office
This site gives information about the County Extension office and its educational programs and information about family life, parenting, nutrition and other practical subjects.
232-0062.

United Way of Greater Topeka
The United Way provides numerous links to agencies they serve.
273-4804.


Youth Organizations

4-H Clubs  Shawnee County Extension
232-0062 ext. 06
1740 SW Western, Topeka, Ks. 66604-3095

Boy Scouts Jawhawk Council 
354-8541
1020 SE Monroe, Topeka KS 66612

Girl Scouts of NE Kansas & NW Missouri

Topeka Resource Center
273-3100
7015 SW 10th St. Topeka, KS 66604 

Internet Resources for Parents

American Academy of Pediatrics
Information for parents of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults.  This site is committed to their physical, mental and social health. 

BabyCenter
An internet commerce and information center serving new and expectant parents, this site includes bulletin boards, expert advice, pages for dads, and information about health care providers. 

Children's Literature Web Guide
This site provides Internet resources related to books for children and young adults.  It offers discussion boards, quick reference ideas for children's book and many links for stories, authors and other resources about children's literature.

Children's Television Workshop Parents Toolbox
Healthy family, raising the kids, education and learning, on the road, family matters, and around the house are the main topic areas provided by the creators of Sesame Street Parents magazine.

Connect For Kids
This site is a virtual encyclopedia of information for adults who want to make their communities better places for kids.

FamilyEducation Network
Information about children from toddlers through college age is located here.   Discussion areas, learning activities, ask the expert, articles of interest to parents  and links to other sites are supplied. 

Kansas Children's Network
Child Care resources, Kansas links for kids, and web resource list for kids are presented by this site.

Kansas Kids Ready for Learning
Links to early literacy for families and providers.

 

KidsHealth.Org
Created by the medical experts at the Nemours Foundation, KidsHealth.Org  provides information on infections, behavior & emotions, food & fitness and growing up healthy, as well as, cool games and animations.

Math and Reading Help for Kids
Articles and resources for parents who want to take an active role in their child's education.

Maya's Mom
A social networking site for parents.

Parents Place
Offered by Houghton Mifflin you can visit the home activity center, which has activities to do with your family; the homeschooling center, the play center with educational online games; and homework help. 

ParentsPlace.Com
This is a place for parents to communicate with other parents through chat rooms and bulletin boards.  In addition to providing a communication areas,  articles on topics such as fertility, pregnancy, health, family and work are available. 

Read to Me
Babies need books. Parents need books. READ TO ME encourages parents to read books to their babies

Twins (NOMTC)
This is the site of National Organization of Mothers of Twins Inc. Information is provided about the special aspects of child development related to multiple birth children and their families.

WonderWise Parent
Parenting can be a tough proposition. The WonderWise Parent home page is a place for parents and professionals who work with them to learn about parent-child relationships. 

Working Moms' Internet Refuge
This site provide working moms with a forum to discuss tips, issues and concerns as they try to juggle all their responsibilities.

Internet Resources for Teachers

Ask Eric
This educational source for teachers includes AskEric Virtual Library and AskEric Question and Answer Service. AskEric   contains educational resources including lesson plans, information guides and the ERIC Database abstracts of document and journal articles.
 

Classroom Connect
A resource for teachers from grades K-12.  The G.R.A.D.E.S. section has annotated links for Math, Science, Art & Music, Health & Physical Ed. and Language and Language Arts.  Teacher contacts and a catalog of their products are included.

Education Index®
This is an annotated guide to education related sites.  They are divided into subject and lifestage.  The lifestages are from prenatal through college.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)
Hundreds of Internet based education resources from U.S. Federal government agencies are here for you. 

Gateway to 21st Century Skills 
The Gateway provides the access to high quality Internet lesson plans, curriculum units and other education resources. The Gateway to Educational Materials Project is sponsored by The U.S. Department of Education's National Library of Education and is a special project of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology.

PBS TeacherSource
From Arts and Literature, through Math, Science and Social Studies, PBS gives teachers ideas and activities to use in the classroom.