O.K. Kids Mission
To provide multiple outdoor recreation opportunities for Kansas youth with adult partnering and mentoring to encourage outdoor recreational opportunities, and promote and provide an active lifestyle as an alternative to sedentary activities.
Program Scope
O.K. Kids covers the entire state of Kansas. Primary sites are at the Kansas State Parks, but other organizations and venues such as City and County Parks and Recreation Departments and private sites also hold O.K. Kids events.
O.K. Kids Program
Across the state of Kansas each year, over 50 sites sign up to host the O.K. Kids Program. Participation has steadily grown through 2010 with over 13,000 Kansas youth and their parents/grandparents enjoying their day outdoors at different sites throughout Kansas. Events are free to all participants and open to all.
The O.K. Kids Program offers the opportunity for participants to experience the outdoor beauty of Kansas and to learn a little about its natural resources and wildlife through games and activities.
Each site determines the specific activities it will offer participants based on the site’s resources and perceived community interests and needs. Kansas Wildscape Foundation provides the operating manuals, event signage, free participant caps or t-shirts, gifts, prizes and overall organizational, promotional and marketing support.
Kids participate in outdoor games and activities including:
All events are free and provide a great way for families to spend time together outdoors. For many of these Kansas kids, this O.K. Kids Day will be an introduction to the beauty and enjoyment of the outdoors, for others a reawakening or reinforcing of their outdoor interests.
O.K. Kids Program Impact & Involvement
The first year of the program was 2001, and was limited to a single day of activities at every Kansas State Park. Between 4,000 and 5,000 attended the first O.K. Kids Day. As the program has grown, it has become an annual program with most events held between May and September on a day selected by the site host.
The Kansas Wildscape Foundation and the O.K. Kids Program understands that this is a generation of children full of technology, constant activities and expectations, strict boundaries set by parents and society to protect, and a shrinking sensory world. Today’s children are not “missing” nature, because they cannot miss something they have never truly had. It is our goal to help show our Kansas children the beauty of nature, an appreciation for nature, and a desire to seek out more nature in their life. By making this impact, we hope to help a child find a place of imagination, a place of fantasy, a place of peace, a place of discovery, a place of freedom, a place of privacy, a place of transformation.
Below you will find 2011 O.K. Kids Day events throughout the state. Included is the name of the event as well as a contact number for more information (time, location, activities, age group, etc.). If the name of the city involved is not part of the event name, it is included after the event name.
April:
16 - First City TRYathlon, Leavenworth - (913) 758-6629
20 - Cross Timbers State Park Earth Day, Toronto - (620) 637-2213
23 - Cheney Lake Association O.K. Kids Day - (316) 204-5108
27 - NW KS Conservation Alliance Kids’ Conservation Roundup, Thomas Co. - (785) 899-3070 ext. 3
29 - Hillsdale Watershed Festival - (913) 829-9414
30 - Ernie Miller Nature Center/Timber Ridge Adventure Day, Olathe/De Soto - (913) 856-8849 or (913) 826-2802
30 - Timber Ridge Open Park (Cops N Bobbers Fishing Derby), De Soto - (913) 208-1920
May
1 - Kanza Days O.K. Kids Fishing Derby, Winfield - (620) 221-2160
7 - Camp Wood YMCA Open House, Elmdale - (620) 273-8641
7 - Lawrence Parks & Rec. Fishing For Fun - (785) 832-7949
7 - Meade State Park O.K. Kids Day - (620) 873-2572
7 - Pittsburg O.K. Kids Day - (620) 230-5652
14 - Fall River State Park Earth Day - (620) 637-2213
14 - Gardner Fishing Derby - (913) 856-0936
14 - Lansing Fishing Derby - (913) 727-2960
21 - Garnett Fish Trot for Kids - (785) 488-6549
21 - Watson Park O.K. Kids Day, Wichita - (316) 529-9940
June
3 & 4 - Sgt. Jerry Mills Jr. Fishing Derby, Arkansas City - (620) 441-4301
4 - Dillon Nature Center/Wal-Mart O.K. Kids Fishing Derby, Hutchinson - (620) 663-7411
4 - Gardner Bike Rodeo - (913) 856-0936
4 - 7th Annual Glenn Elder State Park Youth Fishing Tournament - (785) 545-3345
4 - Lakewood Fishing Derby, Salina - (785) 826-7335
4 - Pomona Kids Fishing Derby, Pomona State Park - (785) 554-2834
4 - Prairie Dog State Park O.K. Kids Day, Norton - (785) 877-2953
4 - Spring Hill Fishing Derby (Cops N Bobbers) - (913) 208-1920
4 - Turner Rec Commission Fishing Derby, Kansas City - (913) 287-2111
9-11 -Flint Hill Region Girl Scout O.K. Kids Day, Emporia - (620) 794-3789
10 - C.A.S.T. El Dorado State Park (Catch A Special Thrill) - (913) 208-1920
11 - Cedar Bluff State Park Kids Outdoor Adventure, Ellis - (785) 726-3212
16 - Edgerton Casting Contest (Cops N Bobbers) - (913) 208-1920
18 - Rose Hill Recreation’s O.K. Kids Day - (316) 776-9880
18 - Wilson State Park O.K. Kids Day, Sylvan Grove/Wilson - (785) 658-2465
July
4 - Haysville O.K. Kids Fishing Derby - (316) 529-5922
8 - Mulvane Rec. Commission Adventure Day - (316) 777-0858
August
13 - Clinton State Park O.K. Kids Day, Lawrence - (785) 842-8562
19-20 - Baldwin City O.K. Kids Event - (785) 594-3670
27 - Elk City State Park O.K.Kids Event - (620) 331-6295
27 - Olathe Aquafest - (913) 971-9005
27-28 - Tuttle Creek State Park O.K. Kids Event - (785)539-7941
September
3 - De Soto Casting Contest (Cops N Bobbers) - (913) 208-1920
9-11 - Coffey County O.K. Kids Event - (620) 364 - 8484
17 - Edgerton Fishing Derby (Cops N Bobbers) - (913) 208-1920
October
1 - El Dorado State Park O.K. Kids Day - (316) 321-7180
8 - Shawnee County O.K. Kids Day on the Trail, Topeka - (785) 286-0676
