Avery Inman, 2, colors a Kansas state seal after cutting out a sunflower with her mother, Brenda Inman, Lawrence, during a K

Amphibians, sports and extreme heat were among the things Lawrence children said they enjoyed most about Kansas, which is celebrating its 146th birthday today.

“I like how it’s real hot in the summer,” said Tara Sacerdote, 10, as she cuddled with her mother on a Massachusetts Street bench.

“All the sunflowers,” said 11-year-old Madison Jenkins.

“I like ‘Home on the Range,'” said Haris Hilger, 3.

Haris’ parents took him Saturday to the Watkins Community Museum of History, where curator Kerry Lippincott taught him and a few other children a lesson about the history of Kansas.

Haris’ parents said they also took him to the Lawrence Public Library earlier in the week to learn even more on what the Sunflower State’s all about.

“This is where they live, they need to know” the history, said Russ Hilger, as he helped his son and two nephews craft sunflowers out of construction paper.

While most Kansas kids could only rattle off a few state symbols, like the sunflower and buffalo, Haris remembered the ornate box turtle, which was adopted as the official reptile of Kansas in 1986.

Haris also recalled learning about the more recently designated state amphibian, the barred tiger salamander, which, according to Kansas statute, is “a strikingly marked species, with robust body, and living in a range from the humid tallgrass prairie of eastern Kansas to the arid high plains at the western border.” The legislation went into effect in 1994.

Anton Bratton, 7, stuck to the basics when it came to discussing his favorite part about the state.

“Basketball, because I like to play it,” he said, as he walked downtown with his father.

Unlike some other states, Kansas does not have an official sport.