Any suugestions for day or overnight trips near vegas?

I am taking my family (2 kids ages 8 and 6) to vegas for 5 days with the idea of exploring the surrounding areas. Does anyone have a suggestion for a good resort outside vegas where we can explore some of the natural beauty surrounding vegas for a day or 2?

Any suugestions for day or overnight trips near vegas?

Red Rock Canyon is a short drive from Vegas to the west where a few mile long road takes you right up into the red rocks. This is a slow, very nice drive where you can make stops and get out for pictures etc and very inexpensive. Also there is a large public ranch right near there for mule/donkey/horse riding/hiking. Laughlin Nevada(about one and one half hours drive to the south east) Is kind of like a mini Atlantic city as the seven or so casinos are lined up along the river with a small boardwalk stretching along connecting all the casinos. The casinos are fairly close together and there are water taxis which are very cheap to take instead of a cab. Many sea-doos will be tearing along the river all day. It is much quieter in Laughlin than Vegas. A 45 minute drive south of there you can find a town called Oatman along Hist. route 66 where the donkeys roam the streets and eat out your hand. There will probably be a live gunfight when you go there. Pahrump Nevada(about an hour or so west of Vegas might have a resort type of place to stay but besides the mines I don%26#39;t know what else there is to see besides maybe a ghost Town. Apparently this Pahrump is the fastest growing city by percentage in the U.S. Sorry I couldn%26#39;t be of more help but for kids, Nevada is a hard place to find positive entertainment.