“Don’t let your studies interfere with your education.” When we were young it was always the field trip that got us out of the classroom to see for ourselves what our teachers wanted us to learn. The museum is always a place of wonder; a time machine that transports you to places where there were no smart phones or computers, let alone electricity and flushing toilets. In Carson City we have three great museums filled with enough old time artifacts, pictures and interactive learning centers to intrigue parents and their kids.

The Nevada State Museum is a virtual timeline walk through Silver State history. You’ll be able to see first hand what lurks in underground mines and meet some of our seldom seen animals like the desert bighorn, desert tortoise, black bear, Great Basin rattlesnake and Lahontan cutthroat trout. Kids will especially dig the museum if they are into the prehistoric once they lay eyes on the largest Columbian mammoth found in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. The Pleistocene Nevada Exhibit reconstructs the mammoth in a fight for life scene from a mud-glazed water hole.

The largest Columbian mammoth found in Nevada's Black Rock Desert.

You’ll also want to check-out the amazing Changing Earth Exhibit which explores the state’s geologic history from 1,750 million years to 40 million years ago. The story is told through the use of original illustrations together with rock specimens and field photographs, as well as a walk-through Devonian Sea.

While you’re at the museum, take your kids to Explore Under One Sky, a Native American exhibit from their perspective and in their own words. Learn when humans first occupied the Nevada portion of the Great Basin, the natural foods they collected and the skills they used to hunt, fish, fight and survive. You’ll also see a reconstruction of a Great Basin cave containing evidence of past cultures, climate and the art they maintained.

Today we take simple things like the penny, for granted. We’ll see one on the ground and sometimes debate whether it is worth our time to pick it up. Well, if you’re one of those debaters you won’t be after going through the Mint display at the Museum. Carson City used to be one of the country’s most prominent Mints. Walk through time and see how money was minted from 1870 to 1893.

On display are 57 issues of silver, all bearing the distinguishing “CC” mint mark. There’s the formidable Coin Press No. 1 and a complete set of Carson City Morgan dollars. Open Wednesday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Located at 600 N. Carson St.

Coin Press No. 1

For railroad buffs young and old, the Nevada State Railroad Museum features the railroad heritage of Nevada, including locomotives and cars of the famous Virginia & Truckee and other railroads of the Silver State. The museum is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Located at 2180 South Carson Street.

For families looking to introduce history to their children, the Children’s Museum of Northern Nevada is a must-visit stop. According to kids, among the best displays, is the STARLAB portable planetarium. This inflatable dome holds about 25 kids and has a cylinder projector that is not only able to show the night sky devoid of any light pollution but it can take kids on a journey from the South Pole to the Equator and on to the North Pole. We can see the sky as it looks right now in New Jersey as well as at the far end of the Australian outback.

The museum is dedicated to providing exhibits and programs that focus on the arts, sciences, and humanities.  While also being fun, exhibits and programs are based on Nevada educational standards, current and historical culture, or kinetic movement. These exhibits entertain youth ages 2 to teen and their families. Located at 813 N. Carson Street, the museum is open daily 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.