"Minecraft" meets its match in Museum Day Live!-text react-text: 712 /react-text

The Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C., as it is rebuilt in "Minecraft." Fans of the video game can let their own imaginations run wild this Museum Day. Photo from: Museum Day Live! Have you ever played the video game "Minecraft"? Players in this game can build all kinds of things. Some build old, blocky forts. Others build sleek new skyscrapers. The only limit is your imagination. 

In this way, "Minecraft" is a lot like a museum that is coming up soon. It is called Museum Day Live!, and it takes place on September 23.

Museum Day Live! lets museum visitors explore and create — just like the "Minecraft" game. More than 1,000 museums in the United States will participate. 

"Minecraft" And Museums Are Full Of Treasures!Museums are full of treasures waiting to be discovered. What you make of those treasures is up you. That is another way Museum Day is like "Minecraft"!

"Minecraft" players like to know what things are made of. That is important for building new structures. Photographer Todd McLellan agrees. He has a museum show called "Things Come Apart." The show is at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum. It is in Bristol, Virginia.

For the show, the photographer took apart everyday things. He took apart computers, hair dryers and wristwatches. He laid out all their parts. He arranged them nicely. Then he photographed the results.McLellan shows visitors what is inside everyday things.

Visitors look at McLellan's photos at the museum show "Things Come Apart." Photo: Billie Wheeler, © Birthplace of Country Music."Minecraft" fans know the value of digging. Paleontologists do, too! These scientists dig up fossils to study. Fossils are the remains of living things from long ago. 

Learning Lots From DiggingOn Museum Day, a team of paleontologists will examine a T. Rex skeleton. The skeleton is 65 million years old! Museum visitors will get to watch the scientists. They will see what scientists can learn from lots of digging. This event will happen at the Burke Museum. It is in Seattle, Washington.

A young visitor inspects a massive triceratops skull at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. On Museum Day, scientists will study a T. rex skull. Visitors will get to watch them examine it. Photo: Carol Swales via Museum Live!Technology is an important part of the "Minecraft" game. Players make stronger and stronger equipment. This helps them build better and better structures. Helicopters And HistoryOn Museum Day, some museums will focus on technology. One is the Aviation Museum in College Park, Maryland. It will teach visitors all about helicopters. The museum will show how these flying vehicles improved over time. "Minecraft" players like to know the history of a place. They ask questions about each new location they reach. They want to know: Who was here before me? What has shaped this land? How can I build on what has already been done here? 

Important QuestionsThese are important questions. They do not only apply to "Minecraft." We can ask the

same questions about our history. Museum Day will help us do so.

For example, a museum in Georgia will have a special collection of artwork. It includes paintings and sculptures. Together, these artworks tell a story. They answer questions about 150 years of history in the Southern United States. The museum is called the Booth Western Art Museum. It is in a town called Cartersville.

Do you love "Minecraft"? If so, you will probably love Museum Day Live! No matter which museum you choose, you will find lots of fun things to do and explore. Find your nearest museum and pick an activity. Then start "digging"!