It’s back for 2022! Kansas kids and their parents can have an unforgettable Sunflower Summer again this year thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the Kansas State Department of Education. The program includes FREE admission for experiences across the state from May 28th until August 14th, and every Kansas student from pre-K to 12th grade is included.
Thanks to all the people who made sure Wichita on the Cheap got the information on this program! This is one I heard about from readers. And it’s HUGE.
The Sunflower Summer app is available for iPhone in the App Store and Android in Google Play. Check out this year’s information on the Sunflower Summer web page!
What is Kansas’ Sunflower Summer program?
The Sunflower Summer Learning Program includes one free visit for Kansas pre-K to 12th grade students, along with up to two accompanying adults, to many (many) popular attractions in Kansas.
According to SunflowerSummer.org, each Kansas student (pre-K to 12th grade) and up to two adults can access a voucher to get in free to each of the participating Sunflower Summer attractions.
Free admission through the Sunflower Summer program is available until August 14, 2022.
What Kansas attractions are participating in Sunflower Summer?
The list of participating attractions is now available at the main website, and it’s a great list! It includes Wichita attractions as well as places across the state, including Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks and Exploration Place, Botanica, Sedgwick County Zoo, Cosmosphere, Kansas Aviation Museum, as well as a lot of others. There are more locations participating in 2022 than when the program launched in Summer of 2021.
If you have the ability to do a tour of the state and visit some of these places outside the Wichita area, I would do it. Kids remember these kinds of trips for the rest of their lives.
(The newest state park – Little Jerusalem – is also included. What a trip that would be!)
Related: Free and cheap things to do with kids this summer in Wichita
Who is paying for the Sunflower Summer program?
This program is provided by the Kansas State Department of Education through a grant funded by Elementary and Secondary Education Emergency Relief (ESSER) from The American Rescue Plan Act. This is all information from the Sunflower Summer website, which you can see here.
Sunflower Summer is FREE to Kansas students and their families.
Sunflower Summer Learning Program App available May 28th, 2022!
You’ll download the app and make an account, which requires your name, email address, and mobile number. You have to agree to the Terms and Conditions. The terms include information about who is behind the app, which I thought was helpful. (I always want to know these kinds of things.)
It says the app “is an interactive passport tour built and operated by SLCKET, Inc. [the app makers] in collaboration with the University of Kansas Center for Public Partnerships and Research, and the Kansas State Department of Education…”
The terms also state that anyone can download the app but “only Kansas parents of children enrolled in Kansas schools are eligible for admission discounts.” Great! You should read the rest of the terms also, since you are agreeing to them.
The website, sunflowersummer.org, has a list of Frequently Asked Questions and a video overview of the program. I highly recommend you check it out (and check back until you see a link to the app) for more information. This is all I know right now! But it looks like it will be a lot of fun for students!!
More popular content at Wichita on the Cheap:
- Sunflower fields in Kansas
- Kansas Blue Star Museums
- Botanica’s Downing Children’s Museum 10th anniversary
Originally published July 5, 2021; updated May 17, 2022
Various Locations
Wichita, KS
Can grandparents bring Kansas students instead of parents to free activities.