9 Marvelous Museums in California for the Curious Kid

You know it’s good when you don’t even realize you’re learning. When you’re so immersed in the subject matter that you forget the outside world even exists. When you enter with an interest and leave with an obsession. 

The museums on this list fight fires, rescue astronauts, and glow in the dark; they have record-breaking collections of both the big and the small; they tell of hidden histories, secret missions, and scientific breakthroughs that changed the world; and best of all, they’re wildly interactive—ever walk through an enclosed mini-tornado, or conduct your own train?

Whether you get your kicks in the air, on the rails, or in comic-strip form, California’s got just the museum—or more likely, museums—for you.