Move With the River
Louisiana Children’s Museum
Decades of Experience
Boss Display was contacted by Gyroscope Inc. to build Move With the River, an interactive water gallery including a 100 foot water table for the Louisiana Children’s Museum. We began working to create an exhibit that would engage visitors in learning about the mighty Mississippi River through fun, hands-on interactions. The table, one of our largest to date, includes imaginative play through cargo ship loading and flood management, as well as build-a-pipe and dam sections.
Making Something Marvelous
Each piece fits together precisely to create the lengthy winding river while also sloping gently to create a smooth path for the water and ships. The sides of the table are covered with more than 80 unique graphic panels showcasing license plates from across the country, illustrating the wide reach of the Mississippi River. The greatest challenge was developing the intricate water distribution system which maintains water levels across the river while also allowing for open-ended engagement with the many pumps, gates, and channels. Due to the fact that we fully fabricate all exhibits in our shop prior to installation, museum staff and Gyroscope Inc. designers were able to visit our fabrication facility and witness the table in action and see live testing of any changes they suggested.
Imaginative Interactions
The Mighty Mississippi, the large central water table, begins with water flowing through chains of funnels over the river head, inviting visitors to imagine the Mississippi’s origin in rainfall. Children use trial and error exploration to see how the boat locks and dams they operate affect the water’s flow, even engaging them to take the perspective of ships traveling down the river. Kids work socially at the Sedimentation Table to construct their own rivers and explore the science behind them. Rocks and Springs Tots Spot, the water table for young children, provides further fun and hands-on cognitive development, ensuring the gallery engages the creativity of all ages.
“Boss Display built the most amazing interactive water table for our project. The staff are all very creative, professional and responsive. We will definitely work with them again. Fantastic people that take pride in their work.”
Encouraging Exploration
Before the Mighty Mississippi reaches its end at the Gulf of Mexico, it passes through a model of New Orleans including a 3D printed miniature of the museum itself. Water slowly fills the city and must be pumped out, engaging children to develop social and emotional skills while collaborating to solve the real-world problem. Dozens of foam barges and blocks invite constructive STEAM thinking as visitors watch their ships complete the journey through the Mississippi delta. Move With the River encourages inclusive and fun interactions with water while providing opportunities to build confidence through open-ended exploration.
Features:
100 foot “Mighty Mississippi” Water Table
Integrated Educational Graphics
License Plate Skirting
Floor Mounted Hand-pumps
Waterfall Chains with Funnels
River Stones
Valve Operated Boat Lock
Dam with Manual Gates
Spinning Targets
Tippy Buckets
Build-a-Pipe Stations
“New Orleans” Raining Ring
Canal Draining Interactive
Mechanical Container Crane and Ship
Floating Foam Barges and Containers
Rocks & Springs Tots Spot Water Table:
Rectangular Raining Trough
Sprinkler Fountain
Bubble Fountain
River Stones
Sedimentation Table
Water Source Spigots
Interactive sediment for creating river ways
Other Featured Work
