To mark the arrival of the 21st century, Perth Museum has mounted a major exhibition with three galleries full of artefacts from the collection which are BIG in size andor importance. The museum dates back to 1784 and some of the BIG items on show have never been displayed before.

The exhibition includes an Inuit kayak, brought back by a local adventurer, the footprint of a dinosaur, a complete 18th century Perthshire window box, and a copy of the Elgin Marbles.

Royal Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh: “Gateway to Greenland” until March 31, tel: 0131 225 7534.

Boats covered in animal skin and tiny carvings made from walrus tusk feature in an exhibition which traces the development and movement of Eskimo culture from its origins around the Bering Strait near Alaska, eastwards towards Greenland, some 4,000 kilometres away. The boats include Greenlandic umiaqs which were used by Eskimo women. The carvings, some thousands of years old, show creatures from the Arctic animal world.

Aberdeen Maritime Museum “Help! Rescue on Land and Sea” until March 19, tel: 01224 337700.

Younger primary school children have been particularly attracted to this dramatic exhibition on Scotland’s air, sea and mountain rescue services. It uses eqipment, including a fully inflated life raft that visitors can climb in to, as well as photographs, paintings and videos to tell of modern and olden-day emergencies, from a wrecked steamship to a helicopter in need of a tow.

Inverness Museum and Art Gallery: “Travelling Folk” until April 1 and “Scotland on Camera” from February 28-March 24, tel: 01463 237114.

“Travelling Folk” gives glimpses into the lives of Scotland’s travelling people in the early part of the 20th century using photographs and oral history insights from travelling families. “Scotland on Camera”, organised by the Scottish Down’s Syndrome Association, got adults with Down’s syndrome to photograph their own areas of Scotland in a bid to quash the myth that they are passive people with little to say about the world they live in.

St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Glasgow “Hands on Religion”, tel: 0141 553 2557.

New attractive displays at the museum give visitors of all ages the chance to explore the world’s major faiths in an interactive way. Discover the importance of meditation in Buddhism and have a go at spinning a prayer wheel. Investigate the symbol of the cross in Christianity and make a Celtic cross rubbing. Find out about the Hindu god Ganesha, handle a Muslim prayer rug, explore a Jewish festival and make a special Sikh flag.