San Jose Discovery Museum

On Sunday, August 21 Frank and I took Alex to the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. We considered it a COVID-safe outing. Masks were required by everyone. The museum has a theme of rubber duckies and even has a huge one up on the roof. Once entering the building there is an entire collection of rubber duckies in all sorts of dress-up costuming. I had Alex pose near the shelving that displayed a large number of them.

Once passing through admissions, there was a huge air maze off to our right. Clear plastic corrugated tubing was hooked up to a vacuum system which whisked fluffy, bright-colored yarn pompoms through the twisty, turny pathway and spits them out from various heights and locations. It fascinated Alex – and Frank and me. Alex did not tire of picking up the soft balls and shoving them back in various portals for a repeat performance. The balls of fluff bouncing off our heads occasionally upon exiting elicited a few giggles.

On a similar air-powered note, there was an activity where a ball bounced suspended in an air stream. Alex tried repeatedly, and unsuccessfully to shove the ball back into the hole that was the source of the air stream. Frank tried to get two balls suspended at once, also unsuccessfully. Much to his chagrin, another museum attendee did manage to get two balls at once to stay up in the air. Alex liked collecting the wayward balls in a big, green bucket.

There was a full size Fire Engine to climb in and explore. Alex cheerily moved over to let his dad drive.

There was also a Stage Coach to get in. I do not know if it was refurbished or just preserved in great shape.The tapestry ceiling and walls were impressive. Alex looked pensive as perhaps he was pondering the days of the wild, wild, west.

Another one of Alex's favorites was a bump bridge. Two humps in it changed position as the pedestrian crossed it. I was amazed that balance was not an issue at all for him and he laughed heartily as it shifted beneath his feet. He liked it well enough we came back and did it a second time before leaving.

A display area about the mammoth has statue posed outside the window. Look out Alex! He is behind you! Perhaps a cool profile view would be appropriate. Unphased by the huge behemoth looking on, Alex concentrated on arranging and re-arranging the story tiles on a slant board.

An entire water play area was as much fun to watch as to participate. Alex got into the action of tossing balls high into the air and into a whirlpool that sucked them down and spit them out into a river flowing from its base. His aim got better and better and soon he was not throwing over the tank and onto the heads of people on the other side. Three other waterways, each from a different activity, coalesced into a central pond with a bridge and several other fascinating ball gyrations to watch. Even just keeping up with picking up all the escaped ball was fun for Alex.

A big area was set aside for building with super sized foam blocks. Stacking a carrying them around engaged Alex. The smile on his face showed he was enjoying himself and quite proud of his creations.

On the upper level was an area devoted to "Circle Secrets". Alex concentrated hard on stacking fist-sized wooden "bead" on a stake. He was a bit reluctant to move on but other kiddos were waiting. He found a shape sorter not quite as interesting but certainly worth a bit of time investment.

We'd been at the museum a couple hours and it was time to think about going home. Alex insisted on another go on the bump bridge. This time Frank challenge him with a bit more bounce interjection.

Still on our way to the exit, we passed a pin screen that we had somehow missed on our first go around. With people on the other side pushing, too. the pattern of pins popping out was ever surprising. Alex showed curiosity in the new tactile experience.  Frank and I liked playing with it too. It was kind of mesmerizing.

We were tiring out by now but swung by the water play area once more. At its entrance we took shelter in a dome shaped structure where we could hear the sounds of rivulets to torrents of rain above our heads. Then Alex pretty much relaxed on a bench and was content smiling at the water play activities, sporadically laughing at the splashes and occasionally chasing the errant escaped ball.

Before leaving I wanted one last picture with Alex next to the full height of the cabinet containing the rubber duckies. He sure looked happy. As I was writing this blog post and enjoying the pictures once more, I noticed a goof. Alex's shoes were on the wrong feet! This faux pas did not seem to detract from his pleasure. Perhaps it even helped his balance on that bump bridge.