Ten Free Winter Activities with Kids in St. Louis

Here are ten free winter activities to do with your kids in Missouri- so you’re not just inside the house all winter. Once we knew we were moving to Missouri- I knew I would have a COLD winter. I didn’t want to complain about it and stay at home all winter. I wanted to embrace it and find fun things to do even in the winter time. We found so many fun things to do in St. Louis.
 

We were in Missouri during the Polar Vortex and it got as cold -4 F. I read the book “There is No Such thing as Bad Weather,” and that book really emboldened me to face winter head on. I kept thinking there were tons of people who live further north than us and thrived during the winter-so I could thrive in Missouri. Sure enough if you dress warm enough and move around it’s not so bad being outside. I did have to embrace packing all the extra clothes and take into account that dressing myself and four children took a lot more time. Also undressing took a lot of time and cleaning up melted snow inside was just part of the routine. I love being outside and wanted to find winter activities to do.

I-40 Road Stop Cadillac Ranch West Texas

Cadillac Ranch is a great spot to stretch your legs on a long road trip. This was the second time that we have been to Cadillac Ranch. The first time we went we were moving from Utah to College Station, Texas. My uncle in law who drives everywhere in the continental US like it’s nothing (Texas to Montana- sure why not) was the one who told me about it. The most recent time we went (July 2019) was because we moved from Missouri to Arizona. If you don’t know about it– you can miss it from the freeway even though it’s just off the freeway.

Dream Playground Gathering Place Oklahoma

The Gathering Place is a child’s dream playground. It definitely makes Tulsa, Oklahoma a destination spot. Cristina, a friend of mine from high-school, lives outside of Tulsa and she posted they went here.  I was able to talk to her about it before we went and she kept telling me how big it was. I didn’t appreciate how big it was until I got there. Tulsa was on the way for us when we moved from Missouri to Arizona.

Initially we were only planning on spending an hour at the playground before dinner on the way to the hotel. However, once we arrived we realized it truly is a dream playground and spent way more than an hour. There is just so much to do. Even after a few hours we felt like we had more to do so we spent the next morning at the playground as well. We left only because we needed to continue our move out west.

I told my sister and brother in law who were living in Kansas at the time that they HAD to make a weekend trip and plan for at least a whole day at the gathering place. My brother in law is a landscape architecture and apparently the design of the Gathering Place was on his radar. Even though it’s a playground it’s beautifully done so adults and children love it. There are tons of walking paths and so many things to look at.