If you are considering taking your family on a trip to visit some natural caves, You will find these Springfield Missouri Cave Tour Activities very useful and helpful. I partnered with Love Springfield to visit several caves in or near Springfield to create some content to share. Print off these Printable Activity Sheets for you and your family to enjoy. You can find maps, bucket lists, word scrambles, and more!
During my trip, I visited Smallin Cave, Lost Canyon, Fantastic Cavern, Marvel Cave, Crystal Cave, and Talking Rocks Cavern all in or within driving distance from Springfield, MO.
Did you know that National Cave Day is June 6, 2023, this year and is celebrated during National Cave Week which is the first week of June? This year it falls under June 4th – June 10th!
Missouri is considered the Cave State. It has over 7,000 caves. Springfield sits in the heart of many of them and it is a must-see for your family. Not only is it fun, but learning about caves is a great way to teach and incorporate history and science in a fun and educational way for your family.
My parents took me to Marvel Cave in Silver Dollar City when I was little and to this day those memories were burned into my brain as a core memory growing up. While I was exploring the caves the only thing I could think of was what it would be like if my family were with me!
Springfield, MO is a must-see destination with your family. It is fun, educational, and it has such stunning views of nature. You will feel so zen exploring the city with your family and endless things to do.
If you are loving these free summer activities, don’t forget to check out our Summer Bucket List!
Smallin Civil War Cave Activity
The Smallin Civil War cave was the first one on our tour! It is perfect for all families even for those who aren’t as adventurous and may feel a bit nervous about Cave tours.
This cave has one of the most significant cave openings in the world and is pretty flat with very few steps and inclines. It isn’t only scenic but educational! You will learn more about the Civil War than I did in school and more about Cave science and Missouri history that amazed me!
Smallin Civil War Cave Passport is a printable passport with a few of the things you may see while touring Smallin Civil War Cave.
Talking Rocks Cave Activity
There are no bats in Talking Rocks Cave so no need to worry about that! Now if you have a fear of heights or caves this wouldn’t be the first one to try.
I was a bit shaky going through this cave, but it was one of my favorites, it was so stunning and beautiful, that I haven’t stopped talking about this visit. I want to do it again since it ranked as my favorite cave on this trip. Now, I would love to take my family to this cave, but I would dedicate the entire day to this property. I would pack a lunch and we wouldn’t leave from open to close because there are more than enough activities to keep your family busy all day!
The property has not only the best cave experience but so many games and events for families and kids. Plus, they have over 14 outdoor games plus a walking trail to a tower and to see a natural waterfall! I created a bucket list activity for you to print and take with you for your next visit!
Talking Rocks Cavern Bucket List has just a few things you can do besides visit the cave while on your trip! Look for some amazing ancient artifacts, cave sculptures, and activities while on your trip!
Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail Printable Activity
Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail are gorgeous and a 2.5-mile golf cart ride through a cave and nature trails where you can park and enjoy your adventure throughout the day. This trail is great for anyone of all ages. The cave is a quick tunnel that our group actually drove through twice on our trail so we can switch seats and get different views. The waterfalls are amazing and stunning!
As for the Cave Tour it is self-guided so you aren’t really sure what you are looking at unless you have learned about Caves before. If you haven’t but enjoy a beautiful resort feel of a vacation with the ability to visit a museum, play areas, and even a spa then this place is for you!
This is the cave you will want to pack your nice camera and be ready to photograph all your family members. It is also very scenic and would be a perfect spot for an engagement backdrop.
Print out our Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail Bingo Sheet for you and your kids to see who can get all the squares completed before you end your trail drive through the cave, gardens, and bridges of the trail.
Marvel Cave at Silver Dollar City Find the Difference Game
I remember being younger and taking a family road trip to Silver Dollar City and visiting Marvel Cave. I was getting a few flashbacks on this visit. Now if you plan on visiting this cave, wear good shoes and dress in layers. You might get chilly and hot at the same time. Silver Dollar City is in Branson which is only about 30 minutes from Springfield.
You can only visit Marvel Cave with admission to Silver Dollar City. This is a huge theme park themed to the 1800s. I was so impressed with the park and its cleanliness! Every shop was gorgeous, clean, and very well managed. While touring we enjoyed a very delicious meal, purchased some homemade sweets, visited the glass-making shop, and more!
You can visit Marvel Cave and the theme park 11 months out of the year with the Christmas season being one of the most popular seasons to visit.
I created an activity of the Marvel Cave Sign you can see before touring the cave with 5 edits and differences you need to find! They are pretty tough so you might need to help your kids with this printable!
Fantastic Caverns Scramble Printable Worksheet
While I live in Kansas City, I have seen Fantastic Caverns signs everywhere around the Midwest. This cave experience is perfect for those who might need Wheel Chair access, love comedy, and Branson-style cave jokes, along with not want to be too adventurous.
During this cave tour, you get to ride a jeep with a trailer attached and get to make stops along the way to learn about the cave. Fantastic Caverns works with a lot of school groups so I created a Scramble Worksheet about different structures of the cave.
As your kids learn about it, they can unscramble the words and at the end, they can ask their guide to help them with the ones they couldn’t find!
Crystal Cave
Crystal Cave was my second favorite cave! It also wasn’t as adventurous because there was no need to be afraid if you were afraid of heights, but it was a good workout with all the ducking we had to do to get from room to room. The cave felt huge compared to the other ones we visited with the most stunning rooms I had seen on this Springfield Cave tour.
You can also find so many little Salamanders there we even found a pregnant momma on our trip. You will learn a lot about Science on this trip with some unknown cave formations.
If you are claustrophobic you may not want to visit this one because of how you have to duck into each room. Cave structures are really safe and if you understand the science behind them, you won’t be scared. I would definitely take my kids to this cave.
Print off the Crystal Cave Treasure Map printable I created for your family. Not all the rooms are listed but you can cross off the rooms you visit while you learn about each one.
Caves from Least to Most Adventurous
Smallin Cave
Lost Canyon
Fantastic Cavern
Marvel
Crystal Cave
Talking Rocks Cavern
*To print these printables for personal use only, please save the image and send it to your printer. Do not republish but feel free to share this post and link back to enzasbargains.com.
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