Kansas Children's Discovery Center Play Free Program Helps Families

“These are children who are serving a sentence right along with their caregiver, their adult, their parent, through no fault of their own.”

That stark reality drives the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center’s “Play Free” program in Topeka, which since 2018 has provided a vital space for children and incarcerated mothers to reconnect. Roughly 1 in 28 children in America have an incarcerated parent.

Approximately eight times a year, the children’s museum closes its doors to the general public to host these visits. The initiative is designed specifically for mothers and grandmothers who present a low security risk and have no adverse behavior, giving families an uninterrupted day of shared meals, photographs, and child-led play.

Inside the Topeka Museum Closures

While the mothers undoubtedly benefit from the interaction, the primary focus remains safeguarding the emotional well-being of the children.

“When we can protect those children and those children’s self-esteem and their values that helps keep that connection. So, yes, the mothers benefit, but this is about the children.” Dené Mosier

Mosier notes that 94 percent of participating women report that the mere prospect of attending the program alters their daily choices and conduct within the facility.

Documenting the Separation in “Play Free”

The emotional complexities of these family visits form the core of a new documentary titled “Play Free,” by Lawrence filmmaker Stephen Lerner. While filming the museum sessions, Lerner observed an abundance of genuine familial joy, tempered by a palpable undercurrent of sadness as mothers and children faced their inevitable departure.

Lerner acknowledges that the initiative faces external skepticism from critics who question offering special privileges to individuals serving time. Yet he frames the program through the lens of long-term public interest and rehabilitation.

“Even somebody who thinks the women don’t deserve privileges, why would they be against the women improving themselves so that when they get out, they’re going to have a good pathway ahead of them?”

The Lawrence Arts Center will host a free public screening of the documentary on November 12 at 940 New Hampshire St., Lawrence, Kansas 66044, bringing the realities of maternal incarceration and community-based bonding to a broader public audience.