In 2014 Scotland welcomed the Commonwealth Games to Glasgow. Objects from our collection give an insight into the history of the games.

The Wester Kittochside Farm at National Museum of Rural Life was owned and run by the Reid family for more than 400 years. Find out how the tenth laird and his family celebrated Christmas and New Year on the farm.

Ancient Egypt was one of the earliest and longest-lived civilisations, spanning almost 4000 years of history. Explore the world of Ancient Egypt by playing our games.

Excavated in 1908, the complete burial of the ‘Qurna Queen’ expands our understanding of a tumultuous time in Egypt’s history.

Join Galloway Hoard researcher Dr Adrián Maldonado as he reacts to depictions of the Viking Age in movies, TV and video games.

Welcome to the world of the Lewis chess pieces! Discover all there is to know about these mysterious figures in this interactive resource.

Who were the Picts? Where did they live and what did they wear? What do Pictish symbols mean? Explore their world with our interactive games.

Journey through a brief history of the early bicycle and discover some of our modern cycling treasures.

Do you prefer stadium anthems or low-fi acoustic sessions? Snakebite or champagne? Find out what kind of Scottish popster you are in our ultimate pop test!

Featuring over 100 playable games, Game Masters showcased the work of more than 30 leading videogame designers.

Create your own tunes with musical samples from around the world.

Explore stories, films, games and resources from the museums’ collections.

Discover more about our amazing objects through stories, films, games and resources.

Iron Age Scots lived in roundhouses made from wood, turf and animal hide. Can you choose the right materials to build your own roundhouse?

Help our dinosaur evolve to face changing conditions. How long can he survive?

The Lewis chess pieces live in the National Museum of Scotland. Colour them in or cut out and make your own chess piece here.

Communications, transport, industry, engineering, energy and medicine: how have scientific and technological inventions changed our lives?

Explore a range of activities suitable for pupils working at Third and Fourth Levels and Senior Phase including the First World War, Parasites and Fashion.

Some robots have arrived at the Museum needing our help! But sometimes the best person to fix a robot... is another robot!

How can you travel around the world without leaving Scotland? By visiting our World Cultures galleries.

Fly across Scotland with Dolly the sheep, hitch a ride to space on a rocket and collect museum objects along the way.

These medieval chess pieces from the Scottish island of Lewis are among our most popular collections. They give us fascinating insights into the international connections of western Scotland and the growing popularity of chess in medieval Europe.

This beautiful botanical prosthetic arm was designed by Sophie de Oliveira Barata for model Kelly Knox.

National Museums Scotland is collecting history as it happens. Our new film series, Collecting the Present, explores objects we have collected recently that document cultural, political and social change in Scotland.

This display highlights a small selection from our Scottish History & Archaeology collections, showing how research and collecting at National Museums Scotland is reshaping understandings of Scotland in the past, and reflecting the Scotland of today for future generations of museum visitors.

The Museum’s East and Central Asian collections, comprised of over 36,000 objects, are of national and international importance. The collection includes ceramics, lacquer, prints and paintings, clothing and textiles, ivory, metalwork, jade, furniture, contemporary art, and coins.