Updated Version of Discovery Park Exhibit Popular with Young Children to Open Spring 2023

Discovery Park of America is working with Boss Display, an award-winning custom exhibits design firm, on a brand new, updated version of the water tables. The company designed and installed the original water tables when Discovery Park opened in 2013. Located next to the entrance of the Giant Man Slide, they provide one of the more memorable experiences at the museum, especially for younger children. The redesign is being funded by the Robert E. and Jenny D. Kirkland Foundation, and the opening will be one of the many events scheduled during Discovery Park’s year-long 10^th birthday celebration.

The designers have opted to shift from two sections to one much larger experience that incorporates many new interactive activities and snakes throughout the entire space. New elements added include a fishing pond, fog and water mushrooms, interactive rain clouds, many new water toys and an activity that encourages children to direct fog using a series of pipes. Movable islands and aqueducts will lead to one activity that will be returning — an opened-top spinning vortex into which colorful balls can be dropped.

“However, even that experience will have a new twist,” noted Jennifer Wildes, Discovery Park’s senior director of collections and exhibits. “The designers have added a conveyor belt that can take the ball on a journey straight up and across the ceiling before it lands into the vortex.”

Boss Display designers and the exhibits team at Discovery Park spoke with educators, parents and children to determine what elements should be included to create a fun and STEAM-friendly experience for children and adults.

“Water tables provide a wonderful, open-ended opportunity for families to learn through the power of play, so it’s no surprise they’re now considered a staple in many museums around the world,” said Steve Farrow, Project manager at Boss Display. “We’re thrilled Discovery Park’s Water Table experience has been such a hit that we get to come back and create something brand new for their 10^th birthday.

The new water table will be open March 2023.