Things to Do in Harrisonville

Mother-daughter team Juli and Breanna, who just graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in metal smithing, share their love of artistic expression at Bee Creative Studio, where they invite guests to join them in painting pottery and fusing glass. Visitors browse the ranks of piggy banks, plates, and figurines of frogs and dragons before picking up paintbrushes or the end of their braids to dip in paint. Finished pieces stay at Bee Creative while the experts glaze and fire them, and their creators can pick them up in five to seven days.

Those who want to wear their art can paint designs that Bee Creative transfers onto T-shirts, baby’s onesies, or aprons for keeping clothes clean while cooking or performing mad, mad science. Or, guests can delve into the world of fused glass, layering colors for jewelry, plates, and sun catchers that the studio experts fire and ready for pickup in a week. In addition to its open studio hours, Bee Creative hosts parties for birthday celebrants and brides-to-be.

There is plenty to see, hear, and smell inside Ceramics & Coffee House @ Paint, Glaze & Fire. Here you’ll see rows of clay-colored mugs, vases, plates, pictures frames, and figurines next to bits of colored glass for fusion projects. Overhead a mosaic of tiles painted by customers creates a colorful ceiling, and up front an espresso bar grinds PT's coffee beans and steams milk for lattes.

Debbie, a Paint, Glaze & Fire co-owner, especially likes seeing dads painting pottery with their kids. Debbie says that while a father and his children might not talk too much while painting, they're still communicating and sharing a lot more than if they were silently sitting in a movie theatre. Plus, after painting, glass fusing, or canvas painting this family will have a something to show for it.

While fun for the whole family, Ceramics & Coffee House @ Paint, Glaze & Fire focuses on cultivating the creativity and curiosity of children. Kids' parties and summer camps actively engage youngsters, as do the bimonthly Paint Me a Story sessions, where a favorite children's book is paired with a pottery painting activity. With space to house 30 to 40 adult-size imaginations, the studio can also host corporate team-building events, girls' nights out, and other celebrations.

Tally Ho Equestrian Centre, a member of the United States Equestrian Federation, educates its students on the fundamentals of horsemanship and riding form. Head instructor Amara Packwood boasts two quarter-horse world championships and more than 12 years of showing, experience that she passes on to her pupils through lessons and camps. Riders enjoy use of the center’s extensive facilities, tearing across the 140’x170’ outdoor arena and 40-acre riding pasture or practicing for the Olympic pommel horse inside the 60’x170’ indoor arena.:m]]

When Ruthann Zentner began studying yoga, she soon realized that its focused breathing, emphasis on enhancing flexibility, and core-strengthening poses could help people of any age achieve mental and physical wellness. Throughout her yoga journey, she spent time working with Shakta Khalsa, a renowned children's yoga instructor, which inspired her to educate children through engaging stories and kid-friendly yoga classes as a certified yoga storyteller. Within the teal-green walls and dark wood floors of the studio, kids limber up while having fun during yoga-centered games, working off the stresses of filing lemonade-stand taxes. Adult students learn the basics in beginner-level yoga classes, or strengthen their cores and improve their balance in PiYo, which merges elements of Pilates and yoga into high-intensity routines. For her older students and those unable to do floor work, she partners poses with four-legged props in chair yoga.

As parents work on their downward dogs, kids caper about in the lime-green childcare center, keeping busy with sundry toys and games. Further demonstrating dedication to the wee ones, The Zen Zone also hosts badge-earning programs for Girl Scouts that focus on teaching little ladies to lead healthy lifestyles and channel their inner yoga warriors' strength.

Whether picked up or delivered to the party's front door, bounce houses and 24-foot-long obstacle courses inflate quickly with a simple plug into a standard outlet. Affordable Inflatables of Kansas City's bright, colorful party pleasers let kids and gate-crashing squirrels tire themselves out throughout hours of safe, gravity-defying fun. In addition to its inflatable rentals, the company also stocks popcorn, cotton-candy, and snow-cone machines to gild fetes with a festive patina.