Creative Discovery Museum announced that the Good for You: Healthy Fun on the Run exhibit will return on Saturday, Feb. 1 and will be on display until Sunday, May 11.
With childhood obesity ranking as one of the most important issues facing the United States, the exhibit is part of the Museum’s health initiatives to teach children and their families that living healthy, active lifestyles can be easy and fun, said officials. The bilingual exhibit was developed and produced by Creative Discovery Museum and has just completed a two-year tour across Tennessee with stops in Johnson City, Memphis and Nashville.
The children’s book, Good for You: Adventures with Ginger and George, tells the story of Ginger and her friends in the Good for You Crew. Ginger is a potato chip eating, soda guzzling, couch potato who loves to watch TV. When her mother orders her out of the house, she and her faithful dog George begin an adventure that leads to a world of healthy foods and active play. The Good for You: Healthy Fun on the Run exhibit follows the story line of the book and includes the following areas:
Entrance Area: Visitors are greeted by life-sized cutouts of Ginger, her dog George and all the members of the Good for You Crew: Sam, Maria, Michael, Lea, Josh and Nelson. The entrance graphic provides a photo opportunity for children to join the crew.
Introductory Area: In this area, visitors can listen to their heart as a red light flashes and a drum plays in exact sync with the user’s heartbeat. An interactive game illustrates the importance of balancing food choices (energy in) with physical activities (energy out). This area also features an interactive video wall where children need to use their bodies to capture floating images of food and create a balanced meal on their plate.
Sam’s Garden and Kitchen allow visitors to experience “food from the garden to the table” as they plant food and gather it to cook. The garden includes furrows for planting and picking authentic looking vegetables as well as vines and trees holding fruit. After planting and gathering food, children will take the food to a play kitchen where they can be chefs using recipes and equipment just their size. Children will learn about nutrition and discover how healthy it is to eat foods of many different colors in the “eat a rainbow” activity.
At Maria’s Farmers’ Market, with its bins of fruits, vegetables and other products, visitors can investigate healthy food choices and discover what parts of a plant they can eat: fruit, root, or leaf. Costumes and cash registers are provided so children can take on the role of shoppers or sellers.
Nelson’s Treehouse provides opportunities for climbing and encourages healthy outdoor play. Visitors will raise the flag, use pulleys to move supplies up the treehouse and let their imaginations run wild in their treetop clubhouse.
Visitors will have an opportunity to explore more ways to enjoy physical movement and also connect with nature at Michael and Lea's Campsite. Kids can traverse a climbing wall, try out a whitewater kayak, go camping, “sleep” in a tent and explore a cave.
Healthy House: Josh’s Living Room provides guests with a variety of active movement based activities for fun indoor play. Guests can build forts, play dress up and engage in board games.
“Giving children the opportunity to make choices and showing them that they can easily balance their food choices and enjoy physical activity, provides them with the necessary tools to live a healthy lifestyle,” said Dr. Jayne Griffin, director of Education for the Museum. “Our goal is to teach kids and their families that being healthy is the result of making good food choices and exercising your body. Most importantly, making good choices can be done by everyone and it can be fun, too.”
Good for You: Adventures with Ginger and George, and the exhibit Good For You: Healthy Fun on the Run are made possible by grants from BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Creative Discovery Museum is a Good to Grow Museum as designated by the Association of Children’s Museums.