Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Las Vegas, NV

If you've ever taken your kids to a baseball game, kids, concert or fair at Cashman Field Center, you've probably driven by the Old Mormon Fort on the corner of Washington Ave. and Las Vegas Blvd. You've probably thought, Hmmm. One of these days we should check that out. Well, you're right. You should.

While you can get a great comprehensive history of the city at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, you'll get a great close-up look at some of the first non-native settlements in the Valley where back in 1855, a group of Mormon missionaries constructed their adobe fort.

When you get there, you can:

• See the remnants of the original adobe fort
• Tour the Visitor Center with interpretive displays, exhibits and artifacts
• Participate in one of their kids programs

Regardless of your religious background, it's hard not to appreciate the challenges and hard work these missionaries faced in traveling through the desert to build a community where they could live and worship in peace.
Some of the history can be a little heady for a preschooler, so engage in simpler discussions by talking about how lived in simpler times. How did people get around before cars? How did they cook? Where did their water come from? What games did the kids play? Where did they go to school?
It's a nice way to remind our tech-savvy offspring that life in our Valley didn't start when Bugsy Seigel came to town.