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Museum Children’s Exhibits

While Las Cruces may not have a dedicated “Children’s Museum,” we have several fun exhibits and interactives for the young and young at heart!

Our interactives on space and the railroads are focused on problem solving, investigation, cooperation, learning, and fun! We have interactives that engage and excite all ages with themes of space, railroad history and science, light, and so much more. Take a tour through some of our interactives here, then stop by the museums during regular business hours to interact with them in person.

The logo for all four city museums in the shape of a sun with three crosses inside it and a mountain motif made of red, blue, green, and brown.

Contact Us

Phone: (575) 522-3120
TTY: 711

Hours of Operation
Tuesday – Friday, 10AM – 4:30PM
Saturday, 9AM – 4:30PM

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Railroad Museum

Located at 351 North Mesilla Street, Las Cruces, NM 88005, this museum is inside a historic Santa Fe Railroad depot, and has everything from historical artifacts to model trains! It also features two great interactives:

A picture of a play table with raised edges at the Railroad Museu. On the table, there are several pieces of toy railroad track and small toy BRIO Trains.
Play Table Interactive
A picture of he "Build Your Own Train!" interactive at the Railroad Museum. It is a large, tiltted screen with a stool in front of it showing title text and trains.
"Build Your Own Train!" Interactive

The red highlighted sections in the image below are interactive hotspot zones that allow you to click on different areas of the image to learn more about our museum’s offerings

“Build Your Own Train” is an exciting new puzzle solving interactive at the Railroad Museum! Use touch screen controls to carefully couple your train in the right order and get it ready to go. Play through the game and learn about trains in both English and Spanish. 
 

Check out our three model trains! These models each feature a different scale and landscape, with different parts to look out for! We have an O scale, an HO scale, and an N scale model! Can you find things like a dinosaur, a man in a bathtub, and Bigfoot in the scenes? You’ll just have to visit to find out. 
 

Overhead view of a detailed model railroad scene at the railroad museum, showing miniature trains, tracks, buildings, a water tower, and landscaped hills inside a glass display case.

Check out our three model trains! These models each feature a different scale and landscape, with different parts to look out for! We have an O scale, an HO scale, and an N scale model! Can you find things like a dinosaur, a man in a bathtub, and Bigfoot in the scenes? You’ll just have to visit to find out. 
 

Model train display at the railroad museum with miniature buildings and tracks, alongside an “I Spy” sign listing items to find as the train passes.

The Brio table is a perfect place for guests to engineer and create with the many modular pieces available. Design railroad tracks, drive your train around, or even craft a whole story in your head as you play with this classic interactive. 
 

Close-up of a wooden train play table at the railroad museum, featuring toy tracks, small vehicles, and a yellow crane loading area.

Museum of Nature & Science

Our Museum of Nature & Science at 411 N Main Street Las Cruces, NM 88001, is the home to our living collection of native Chihuahuan desert animals, a view of the Prehistoric Trackways and other fossils, and a journey into space through fun and interactive exhibits! Recently, several pieces have been added to enhance the Museum of Nature & Science through fun new interactives. They include:

A picture of a large white and orange telescope with a screen displaying a 3d rendering of space.
"Grazer Gazer" Interactive
A picture of large, complicated interactive with gears, tubes, wheels, and more in the shape of a spaceship in front of Pluto.
Space Interactive
A picture of a table made of two screens showing space with several spots containing suns and planets for players to add onto the space background
"Stellar Playground" Interactive
A picture of the Journey to Pluto interactive made of 5 large wall-mounted vertical screens creating a vision of our solar system, with a central console screen with descriptive information on it.
"Journey to Pluto" Interactive

The blue highlighted sections in the image below are interactive hotspot zones that allow you to click on different areas of the image to learn more about our museum’s offerings

The Peg Board Interactive is a constantly changing canvas for your creativity to flow! With interchangeable pieces, this giant station allows for multiple participants to work together or independently to create everything from moveable art to functioning racetracks!   
 

Three … Two … One ... Lift Off! The new Spaceship interactive in the Museum of Nature & Science Atrium is an out-of-this-world one of a kind interactive, with tactile pieces for all to enjoy. With tubes powered by the vacuum of space, to the laser maze that really gets Pluto glowing, this is one to play with time and time again and see if you can find all its fun quirks! 
 

Our Grazer Gazer replica has been scaled up from the original made by Clyde Tombaugh. This interactive gives you a glimpse of space! With an adjustable height, astronomy-lovers of all sizes can look into a multi-angled view of the cosmos!  
 

Orange and white interactive telescope exhibit inside the museum, positioned near large windows with painted outdoor-themed designs.

The yellow highlighted sections in the image below are interactive hotspot zones that allow you to click on different areas of the image to learn more about our museum’s offerings

Step into the Tombaugh room and straight out into space with “Journey to Pluto!” Cruise through space, while learning about the planets and dwarf planets in our solar system. 
 

“Journey to Pluto” exhibit at the Museum of Nature & Science. In the photo, it is seen featuring a large multi-panel display of Earth in space, with interactive touchscreen kiosk and educational information about the planet and its moon.

“Stellar Playground” is the perfect place to experiment with gravity, stars, and other celestial bodies with up to nine other players at once! Make planets orbit their suns to create life and watch it flourish or send the stars into one another to create a massive black hole! The fate of your solar system is in your hands with this touch screen interactive in the Museum of Nature & Science. 
 

Visitors use a large interactive touchscreen table at the Museum of Nature & Science’s Stellar Playground exhibit, exploring a digital star field and space simulation.

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