‘Potter the Otter’ exhibit at Children’s Discovery Museum.
First 5 Santa Clara County’s health-conscious critter encourages physical activity, smart choices
Santa Clara County kids have learned a lot from Potter the Otter for nearly a decade, and now kids throughout the state soon will have a chance to take their cues from the health-conscious critter.
The new exhibition “Potter the Otter: A Healthy Adventure” was dedicated Friday at the Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose. Nearly two dozen kids from the Ben Painter and Cesar Chavez First 5 Family Resource Center stampeded past all the grown-ups to join Potter himself at the ribbon-cutting of the new play space.
Visitors can join Potter on a journey through his home to catch a rainbow racer fish in his quest to make his school’s water polo team, can learn about healthful vegetables in a kidsized market and can use hand cranks to race swans around a blue lake. There’s even a “garden”
for infants and crawlers with blocks and foam “logs” to play around. Other interactive displays reward kids with smiley faces for choosing physical activity over using a tablet (and that’s one display adults could afford to spend some time at, too.)
First 5 Santa Clara County made Potter the Otter the star of a children’s book about the importance of drinking water in 2012, and a partnership with the Children’s Discovery Museum almost immediately brought him to life in interactive plays (and, more importantly, led to more hydration stations at the downtown San Jose learning center). Through the partnership, Potter since has appeared in books, videos and puppet shows, spreading his message of a healthful lifestyle throughout elementary schools in Santa Clara County (and even on Facebook).
“We’ve had a long relationship with Potter the Otter. He’s practically grown up at Children’s Discovery Museum, like many other kids,” Children’s Discovery Museum Executive Director Marilee Jennings said.
“As Potter continued to grow up and take on new adventures, the museum created ways for visitors to stay engaged with him and his important messages.”
The new exhibition will be open at the Children’s Discovery Museum through May 10, when it’ll begin a tour of museums and libraries around California.