Come Out and Get Involved at STEM Fest!
by Becky Swiontek, NIU STEAM Educator
Are you looking for an awesome opportunity to experience a university campus while engaging in fun STEAM activities? Then you should come out to STEM Fest 2025 in the heart of NIU’s central campus!
If you haven’t attended STEM Fest before, this is not your average STEM fair. Our event has grown to bring roughly 5,000 people to campus each year. We have large groups of students who come from schools throughout the state to learn more about STEAM in the world outside of the classroom. There are families who come out with their younger kids to have fun with interactive STEAM activities and to check out some of their favorite authors reading from their books. High school and college-aged kids are eagerly coming to meet some of our industry partners to learn about career opportunities. We have something for everyone!
STEM Fest is awesome because we have so many exhibitors with a wide range of experiences to share, and we are spread across multiple buildings on campus. Some of us attending are super comfortable talking to new people and know exactly how to jump in. But we also know that some of us are a little more shy and need some extra support on how to engage as a visitor.
If you’re looking for resources to support your explorers as they travel throughout STEM Fest, check out the links below. The exploration guides are targeted more for groups of students who are attending STEM Fest as a school field trip. These allow them to document their journey with some specificity, which will help them recall and share their experiences with their friends and family back home. Please note that we have one version to support our elementary learners and a second version to support our middle and high school learners.
If you are bringing kids and looking for an option that is a little less involved, check out our bingo cards. We again have two versions to consider. The first option has brief descriptions in each box with ideas of people and places to check out. The second option mimics the first, but instead of words, we have icons that represent the different people and places. This version could be great for kids who are early readers or those who are English Language Learners. It might be helpful to keep a copy of the one with word clues handy, just in case you aren’t sure what the icons represent. We also have a list of suggested questions that could help anyone better engage with our exhibitors.
Please print out any materials you would like to use and bring them with you the day of STEM Fest. To cut down on paper waste, we will not have printed copies available upon your arrival.
Check out our website for additional details on attending! There’s pictures from previous years that highlight some of the very amazing exhibitors who come out year after year to support our mission of proving a free event for the public.
We look forward to seeing you on September 20th on our NIU campus!
Becky Swiontek, MS Ed. is a NIU STEAM Educator, specializing in inquiry education for students, as well as standards-aligned curriculum and assessment.
