Calendar of Events

Hands-on gets serious in The Shop! In this material-specific session of Open Build, you’ll use real tools to build nearly anything you can imagine out of wood. Best of all, what you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Meet Penny. She is a third-grade student who has grown up visiting The Discovery with her family. She is an expert at climbing to the top of the Cloud Climber, loves getting messy when doing science experiments, and thinks every scientist is cool, especially female scientists. Penny’s love of learning led her to donate her allowance to the museum. On this Giving Tuesday, we hope you’ll join Penny is supporting The Discovery and make a gift of $50, $100, $250, or more. No matter…

What does a sloth eat? What does a snake’s skin feel like? Find answers to these questions and more during live animal feedings and presentations—part of Survival of the Slowest, The Discovery’s current featured exhibition. Join animal care experts to get up close and personal with some of the animals from the exhibition, and see them enjoy their favorite meals and snacks. See the schedules below for each day’s feedings and presentations.

Our friends from Nevada Humane Society will visit The Discovery to share information about the services their organization provides in our community. Learn more about how to adopt an animal that is right for your home and family and pick up a free coloring book about dog bite prevention.

Join our friends from the Nevada Humane Society for a project in The Shop that will have your pooch or kitty wanting more! Using a variety of fabrics and a gridded mat, you’ll create a toy you can hide treats in to keep your dog our cat occupied for hours. Best of all, what you make is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to…

Visit The Shop to create a classic wooden pull toy. Choose from a variety of materials and go to work with your choice of woodworking tools to create a toy that will fondly follow you wherever you go! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Visit The Shop to create a classic wooden pull toy. Choose from a variety of materials and go to work with your choice of woodworking tools to create a toy that will fondly follow you wherever you go! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

What does a sloth eat? What does a snake’s skin feel like? Find answers to these questions and more during live animal feedings and presentations—part of Survival of the Slowest, The Discovery’s current featured exhibition. Join animal care experts to get up close and personal with some of the animals from the exhibition, and see them enjoy their favorite meals and snacks. See the schedules below for each day’s feedings and presentations.

The Discovery will be open 10:00am to 2:00pm on Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24, 2022. The museum will be closed on Christmas Day, Sunday, December 25 and reopen at 10:00am on Monday, December 26, 2022.

Join us here at The Discovery every Wednesday for a special morning just for young learners ages 5 and under. Hear stories, climb the clouds, create art, and enjoy the entire museum for a full hour before it opens to everyone! Please note: Admission during Small Wonder Wednesday is limited to families with children ages 5 and under only. Visitors with children age 6 and older can visit the museum beginning at 10:00am.

Starting at 4:00pm every Wednesday, admission to The Discovery is just $5 per person! And best of all, the museum stays open until 8:00pm so there’s plenty of time to explore! Members and children under age 1 are always free.

The Discovery will be open 10:00am to 2:00pm on New Year’s Eve, Saturday, December 31, 2022. The museum will resume normal hours on Sunday, January 1, 2023.

What does a sloth eat? What does a snake’s skin feel like? Find answers to these questions and more during live animal feedings and presentations—part of Survival of the Slowest, The Discovery’s current featured exhibition. Join animal care experts to get up close and personal with some of the animals from the exhibition, and see them enjoy their favorite meals and snacks. See the schedules below for each day’s feedings and presentations.

Work with fellow museum visitors in Spark!Lab Smithsonian to create an expansive cardboard city. Build homes, skyscrapers, churches, parks, stores—whatever you can imagine. This is an ongoing collaborative project that will grow and change throughout the day. Please note: This activity includes access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

The Discovery will be open 10:00am to 5:00pm on Monday, January 2, 2023 during Washoe County School District’s winter break. Be sure to check out the museum’s calendar of events to find out everything that’s happening at the museum during winter break.

Visit The Shop to combine a variety of materials and your imagination to design and build a simple animation machine. Bring a beautiful winter scene to life with a machine that creates a simple looping animation. What you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Visit The Shop to create the perfect decoration for winter. Using hammers and nails, you can create a winter-inspired shape to trace with festive winter string. Best of all, what you make is yours to take home! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Hands-on gets serious in The Shop! In this material-specific session of Open Build, you’ll use real tools to build nearly anything you can imagine out of cardboard. Best of all, what you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Hands-on gets serious in The Shop! In this material-specific session of Open Build, you’ll use real tools to build nearly anything you can imagine out of wood. Best of all, what you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can cause injury if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Using a variety of tools and materials in The Shop, you can create a habitat model for your favorite animal. Where would your animal sleep? Where would it hang out? What would it want to eat? Design and build the ideal habitat for the species of your choice. What you make is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the…

Hands-on gets serious in The Shop! In this material-specific session of Open Build, you’ll use real tools like a sewing machine, hot glue and fabric glue to create nearly anything you can imagine out of fabric. Best of all, what you create is yours to keep! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

Develop or refine your carpentry skills when you build a custom photo frame in The Shop. Using a variety of tools and materials, you’ll create a frame perfect for your favorite photograph. Keep it for yourself or give it as a gift! Please note: The Shop offers access to real tools and materials that can be dangerous if used improperly. Parents are encouraged to help young tinkerers use the tools and materials safely in this space.

In the Spring of 2022, a group of DRI scientists traveled to Greenland with the intent of extracting 4,000-year-old ice cores which tell the story of climate, volcanoes, and human activity. The arduous journey and even more arduous task of drilling and extracting ice cores isn’t without risk or danger. Join us to dive into their research, their journey to Greenland, and to hear the stories they found embedded in the ice. Location: Downtown Reno Library, 301 S. Center Street,…

Ready to engage in battle? Register for one of our one-day classes and you’ll learn how to build the ultimate BattleBot using using LEGO® Mindstorm robotics. Then, test your bot’s capabilities when you pit it against your fellow participants in a head-to-head, sumo-style battle. Your objective? Push your competitors’ bot out of the ring to declare victory! Age Group Time Member Nonmember Registration Ages 5-8* 10:00 – 11:30am $25 $30 Ages 9-12 1:00 – 4:00pm $30 $35 *Registrants ages 5-8…