Panoply of Penguin Inspiration

The popularity of penguins in Kansas City has exploded with the recent opening of the state-of-the-art Helzberg Penguin Plaza at the Kansas City Zoo! January is the perfect time to celebrate our favorite feathered friends from Antarctica .

First up, the Kansas City Zoo is one of our favorite year-round attractions, and with the Penguin Exhibit, Polar Bear Passage, Tropics and Discovery Barn all near the entrance and all with indoor exhibits, a January outing to the zoo is more fun than ever!

On Jan. 15 at 10:00, Jo Ho the Storyteller will be presenting at the Johnson County Museum (6305 Lackman Rd., Shawnee, KS, ‎913.715.2550). The theme Little Polar Bear and Friends includes a tale of a young bear’s meeting a lost penguin and helping him find his way home.

Outdoor play isn’t entirely out of the question with the variety of temps the Midwest experiences in winter months. One of our all-time favorite parks (for generations), Penguin Park located at the intersection of N. Vivian Road & N. Norton Avenue in Kansas City, MO, is the park a child would design if asked to create a dream playground. Gigantic friendly animals are the centerpiece of the park, where you can climb up through a kangaroo's pocket, slide down a penguin, explore an elephant playground and bounce and slide on frogs, ducks and more.

If you’re looking to snuggle up in the warmth of the indoors, consider watching one of these five penguin-themed flicks (borrow at your local library or on Netflix):

• Mr. Popper’s Penguins Jim Carey stars in the film about a man who finds himself owning and living with penguins in a New York apartment. This is one the entire family will enjoy.
• Happy Feet The animated film about an emperor penguin who cannot sing is artfully drawn.
• Mary Poppins Granted, this isn’t a penguin movie, but Dick Van Dyke’s dance number with animated penguins is one of childhood’s most beloved film memories.
• The Pebble and the Penguin The 1995 animated film is a fictitious tale of an introverted penguin named Hubie.
• Madagascar Okay, this one is about a group of animals escaping the New York City Zoo to return to their home in Africa, but along the way some incompetent penguins become some of the most memorable and hysterical characters in the entire film.