The 2021 holiday season in Kansas is packed with awesome family and kid-friendly events and things to do to have a perfect celebration with your loved ones! From Topeka to Wichita and other cities in Kansas, take a look at this list with the top picks for 2021 holiday events in Kansas state, you and the family will have a great time!

Where: Topeka Zoo
Hours: November 19 – December 26: Sunday – Thursday: 5-9 PM | Friday – Saturday: 5-10 PM

Families will enjoy the opportunity to stroll around the zoo and enjoy twinkling lights, dazzling displays, festive activities, and of course- Santa Claus! Zoo Lights is a magical destination creating lasting memories and a new favorite tradition for the community.

Where: Kansas Children’s Discovery Center
Hours: November 18- February 6, 2022

Kansas Children’s Discovery Center presents this winter fun exhibit for all ages in which visitors will glide across a special sock ice skating rink, run a penguin rescue, operate a winter market, start an avalanche, and learn cool science!

Where: Holiday Light and Magic near Legends Shopping Center
Hours: 6 PM-9 PM November 18/ January 2

Holiday Light & Magic is Kansas City’s BRAND NEW, family-fun, DRIVE-THRU Christmas lights experience!

This holiday event is a fundraiser for Children’s Mercy Hospital. Winter wonder for a wonderful cause!

Where: The Kansas Children’s Discovery Center
Hours: On select Thursdays in November and December beginning at 10 AM

Make sure you don’t miss The Kansas Ballet Academy’s special Nutcracker Movement series!

This is also the opening day of Snow-Ventures, a winter fun exhibit at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center!

Where: Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site – Olathe, KS
Hours: November 30, December 2, December 14. 3-6 PM

Enjoy a nice time having Cookies with Santa and other fun activities including making an ornament, seeing the beautifully decorated Heritage Center, refreshments such as cocoa and coffee, holiday decorations, a meeting with Santa himself, and, of course, cookies!

Where: KC Pumpkin Patch
Hours: December 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19

Families will enjoy some “walkin’ in a winter wonderland” at the farm!

There will be photo ops, socially responsible photos with the guest visitor from the North Pole, and lots of yummy extras available for purchase.

Where: Hutchinson Zoo
Hours: December 3rd-5th, 10th-12th, and 17th-19th: 6 PM- 8 PM

The whole family will get to see lights provided by some of the local non-profit groups in addition to the Zoo’s light display!

After the light show enjoy cocoa and cookies while you wait for your turn to visit Santa.

Where: Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park
Hours: Ends on January 17,2022. 6-11 PM

Gather the entire family to enjoy this traditional holiday lighting celebration!

The holiday lights will remain lit daily from 6-11 p.m. through Jan. 17, 2022. Free admission, no tickets required.

Where: Camp Cowabunga
Hours: December 4, 10:30 AM- 12 PM
December 5, 1:30 PM – 3 PM
December 11, 10:30 AM – 12 PM
December 18, 10:30 AM – 12 PM

Spend time with Mrs. Claus as you enjoy listening to stories, songs, enjoy cookies, drink cocoa and make snowflakes with the Misses!

Before heading home, stop by the pronghorns for an up-close, magical experience!

Where: Camp Wood YMCA
Hours: Friday, December 10, 2021, 6 PM  – Sunday, December 12, 2021, 11 AM

At Camp Wood YMCA, you’ll enjoy hot cocoa, fellowship, holiday festivities, and many amazing and fun camp activities!

You might even see a snow-covered Prairie!

Where: Museum of World Treasures
Hours: December 11: 10 AM- 4 PM

Explore the museum, learn about Christmas and Holiday traditions from other parts of the planet!

You can also make a holiday craft and end your day with some snacks and hot chocolate.

Where: Flint Hills Discovery Center
Hours: December 31: 6.30 PM- 9 PM

Ring in the New Year with games, science experiments, food, music, and dancing!

Kids will enjoy fun activities including making a colorful dinosaur mask, meeting some scaly live animals, digging for their own fossil, and making a dino lantern!

Where: Field Station: Dinosaurs
Hours: November 26 to December 23 | 4 PM – 9 PM
December 26 to December 31 | 1 PM – 9 PM
A Family New Year’s Eve | 1 PM – 9 PM
Closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day

Holly Jolly Jurassic Holiday is an amazing event in which families will get to experience the Field Station’s scenic trails with thousands of Christmas lights, festive decorations, and unexpected guests… Dinosaurs!

Where: Botanica, The Wichita Gardens
Hours: November 18th through January 1st, 5.30 PM- 8 PM

The whole family will get to experience the enchanted Christmas holiday display at Illuminations 2021.

Enjoy hot chocolate, snacks, and light shows all at Botanica. Don’t miss out on the magic this season.

Where: Fulton Valley Farms
Hours: 2021 Season 11/26 – 12/19 – Thursday – Sunday 5.30 PM- 9 PM

The 2021 Holiday schedule of Country Christmas at Fulton Valley Farms offers 15 full nights of Christmas cheer!

Don’t miss one of Kansas’ top family holiday destinations where you can stroll the wooded paths while enjoying over 800,000 lights dancing to the music!

Where: The Forum Theatre
Hours: November 27- December 19

From Coney Island to the Sunset Strip, “Cool Yule” will have audiences singing and dancing along to reimagined Christmas favorites new and old!

With a star-studded cast, you are bound to have a Yule that’s cool!

Where: Crown Uptown Theatre
Hours: December 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18: 8 PM – 9 PM
December 5, 12, 19: 2 PM – 3 PM

Inverno is a spectacle of a Holiday Show. With aerial silk performers, strongmen, fire breathers, dancers, singers, and more, this is the big holiday show that Wichita has been waiting for!

Where: Tanganyika Wildlife Park
Hours: December 4- January 2: 5.30 PM- 8.30 PM

Wichita has never experienced an event like this one!

Families will get to enjoy this drive-thru holiday extravaganza which will be the longest, tallest, most sophisticated light show in Wichita! You will enjoy this event from the comfort of your vehicle sippin’ hot cocoa!

Where: Exploration Place
Hours: December 18 9 AM- 12 PM

Santa is on his way to Exploration Place and families can join him for a breakfast event, take photos with him, and have a blast! Get on your festive pajamas and prepare to enjoy pancakes, a hot cocoa bar, and coffee!

Where: Twister City Harley-Davidson
Hours: December 18 12 PM- 4 PM

A Very Twisted Christmas Featuring Photos With Jack will give families the chance to enjoy free Photos with Jack, free Cookies and Milk, free Crafts Table for the Children, ornament decorating and coloring pages, Dollar Beer Bar with the Enchanted Holiday Angels, free Gift Wrapping Table, and more.

Where: Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center
Hours: December 18: 7 PM- 8 PM | December 19: 2 PM – 3 PM

The whole family will be delighted from the fun of a holiday party in Victorian times to the thrill of seeing a Christmas tree magically grow on stage!

Where: The Enchanted Mermaid
Hours: December 19, 4 PM- 6 PM

Nightmare Before Christmas Teatime is an awesome event for kids in which they can have tea with Jack, Sally, Santa, and friends. Kids will enjoy sandwiches, bakery treats, refreshments, face paint, art craft, and storytime.

Where: Cake Stuff
Hours: December 22: 10 AM- 12 PM

Kids will make a bunch of holiday treats to take home and enjoy in this hands-on kids’ class!

They will also enjoy holiday games, and Snacks will be provided.

Where: Exploration Place
Hours: December 23: 6 PM- 8 PM

Decorate sugar cookies from Brown Box Bakery, enjoy holiday music, sip on cocoa or cider, write a letter to Santa and color festive pictures.

Grab dinner from the food trucks and take a spin through the exhibits before heading home.

Where: Cake Stuff
Hours: December 24: 10 AM-12 PM

Students will leave the class with four decorated cookies, a take-home box, and recipes. Classes include a snack and drink.

All kid’s classes are drop off and go.