27-05-2025
Taking a Missouri road trip this summer? Check out these 13 sensory-friendly attractions
Trekking around Missouri this summer? Planning travel can be exhausting before you ever hit the road — especially for families with members that have sensory needs.
Thankfully, the Missouri Division of Tourism has highlighted a number of sites around the state that offer accommodations and welcoming spaces. Here are just 13 sensory-friendly stops, though there are many more scattered throughout Missouri.
Check with venues and landmarks on the way to your preferred destination to see what they offer.
Kansas City Currents matches: The National Women's Soccer League squad offers two sensory rooms at its CPKC Stadium as well as sensory kits for fans. Visit to learn more.
games: If you're taking in a game at Kauffman Stadium, sensory bags are available with "noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools, verbal cue cards, and weighted lap pads," according to the team's site. Sensory rooms located on both the first- and third-base sides of the ballpark also offer places of refuge. Learn more at
Kansas City Zoo: The zoo offers sensory bags for checkout, which include noise-canceling headphones. They also can provide weighted blankets as needed. Learn more at
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: One of the Midwest's — and the country's — premier art museums, the Nelson-Atkins offers guests fidgets and noise-canceling headphones. The museum also hosts Low Sensory Mornings every other month; the program offers a chance to tour the museum an hour before it opens to the public. Visit for more details.
Science City at Union Station: The Science City portion of Union Station offers Sensory Sunday events. Visit to check on times and availability.
Head over to the Visit KC website for more sensory-friendly options:
The Magic House: One of the city's beloved children's museums offers visitors a Calming Corner with "a variety of serene activities" and a "calming 6-foot bubble tube." Visit to learn more.
games: Busch Stadium includes a sensory room with space for one to two families at a time, according to the team's website. Learn more at
St. Louis City SC matches: The Major League Soccer club has a sensory room at Energizer Park, offers sensory bags and weighted lap pads. Learn more at
St. Louis Zoo: The zoo offers sensory bags, posts signage near potentially over-stimulating areas and, in turn, makes note of quieter areas. Visit to learn more.
Last year, St. Louis magazine writers compiled a list of play areas around the metroplex, including sensory-friendly ones. Check out that list, recommended by the Division of Tourism, at
Alamo Drafthouse: Looking to take in a movie on your summer vacation? The theater offers its Alamo For All screenings; "the room lights stay on, the sound is turned down, and talking and moving around are permitted during the movie," according to My World ABA, an autism resource in southwest Missouri. Visit the Springfield Drafthouse site to find screenings.
Urban Air: The indoor trampoline park offers monthly sensory-friendly play days with "no flashing lights, loud noises, or whistles," My World ABA notes. Visit for details.
Silver Dollar City: The famed Ozarks theme park includes two family calming spaces, My World ABA notes. The rooms "include comforting colors, soft seating, low lighting, books, sensory toys and a crash pad for rest, rolling or jumping," according to the park. Visit to learn more.
Ripley's Believe It or Not: The strange-but-true interactive museum is classified a certified autism center, My World ABA said, which means "80% or more of its staff has received training in assisting individuals who are autistic." Visit to learn more.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@ He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 13 of Missouri's sensory-friendly attractions for summer vacation
