Scheels - Sparks/Reno

After barely leaving the house for WAY too long thanks to all the snow lately, we decided to take advantage of the glorious sunshine on Saturday to head up to Reno for the day. We knew we wanted to visit the Discovery Museum again (they have a great new exhibit perfect for school age kids), but we also wanted to visit somewhere new. A few minutes on Google gave us the idea of going to visit Scheels and it did NOT disappoint! 

Scheels is a sporting goods store that is absolutely HUGE! They sell everything from hunting/fishing gear, to basektball stuff, to home decor and more. There is a candy store, and a toy store, and dang near everything you could wish for! In addition to all the fun merchandise, they have put a lot of effort into making their store a fun place to be for the whole family. 

 Inside each entrance there is an enormous fish tank, one is salt water with tropical fish, the other is fresh water with trout and catfish and other interesting critters. The kids were captivated! So was my Fish Biologist Hubby. :)
Another fun feature was the play structure over in the children's clothing section. It has a climbing wall and everything! I sent Hubby and the kids over here to hang out while I went to go buy tokens for the main attraction; the Ferris Wheel! Tokens are purchased at any of the regular cash registers, and are only $1 per person. Good luck finding prices that great at any of the little carnivals that come to town all summer long!
The Ferris Wheel was SO much fun! Kids had to be 36 inches tall to ride, and 48 inches tall to ride without an adult. Absolutely no lap-sitting aloud, each child must have their own seat. They let us sit 3 to a seat, which worked out really well for our family of 5 so that none of the kids had to ride alone, or wait for one of us adults to be able to go with them.

 Upstairs in the toy area of the store, there is more fun to be had. They have a fun little LEGO table where kids can sit and create their own masterpieces. There is also a small selection of arcade games that had our kids totally mesmerized.

 Elsewhere in the store there is a virtual shooting range, as well as other virtual sports experiences. We didn't try any of these out, but the virtual shooting range was pretty tempting. I believe it was $10 for a session.

 Other attractions include this coin-operated shooting gallery, life size statues of the presidents of the United States (some of them animated),

 ...a wide variety of taxidermy wildlife, fun photo booths,

 ...and a miniature bowling alley ($2 per person for a game).

Honestly, I think it would almost be worth the drive to Sparks just to hang out here for a day, but it's nice to know that there are lots of other fun options around the area in case you get bored. We're looking forward to getting to explore more of them in the coming months!

Essential Details:
Scheels
1200 Scheels Drive, Sparks, NV 89434
Website