Any given week of the year, families can visit the Saint Louis Science Center (5050 Oakland) for ways to inspire kids’ curiosity about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). But four times per year, visitors have the chance to interact with the top experts in the region and to watch those STEM concepts come to life—for free.
The Science Center’s quarterly SciFest, which began in its current iteration in 2022, is intended to connect the community with the STEM innovation happening in their backyard, in daily St. Louis life. “We’re all STEM experts: We get up, breathe, eat, brush our teeth, and solve problems. We use STEM every day, whether we’re aware of it or not,” says manager of STEM events Ruth Watt. “These events let you learn alongside other people who are also doing it in bigger, more ‘wow’ ways.”
The next one-day SciFest event, the Play and Creativity Expo, takes place August 9 from 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
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The event will put a fun spin on STEM. “Education researcher N. V. Scarfe said, ‘The highest form of research is essentially play,’” Watt explains of the theme. “You can’t have play without STEM.”
A range of local institutions will be on hand to show playful, innovative aspects of STEM, including a MADE Makerspace takeover of the Science Center gallery, a non-friction ice demo from the St. Louis Blues, a drone obstacle course, Star Wars costume-making, the science of floating cities via the U.S. Navy, and WashU’s “The Minerals of Minecraft” display.
Watt explains that each of the almost 60 organizations and 300 exhibitors will not only have an interactive STEM experience for guests but also a “next-step” idea for those interested in making that activity a new hobby or even a career.
“Find what you love,” Watt says. “Connect with what you love. Because you’re going to talk to people who love this as much as you do.”
As much as she views SciFest as a resource for the community, she also views it as a community-building endeavor, one that allows individuals to connect with and “geek out” with others interested in the same things.
“I mean, Darth Vader is coming,” she says. “And a 3D-printed basketball that actually bounces like a basketball!”
Ultimately, Watt recommends checking out the program for the interactive demonstrations.
Although the event is free—LEGO tables, robot hall, origami-crafting, and all—there may be a nominal fee for activities that offer take-home pieces, such as design-your-own cuff bracelets, and fantasy figurine pewter-casting. Visitors can make a “sound sandwich” with Sheldon Art Galleries and Concert Hall, see what it takes to design a computer game from scratch with St. Louis Game Developers Group, and stock up on holiday gifts from local makers.
“Our critical role is to be a hub or a connector of the STEM community to the larger community. To reveal to people there’s a whole ecosystem that happens around us,” Watt says. “What better way to do that than to bring together all kinds of people, and say, ‘Look, no matter where you’re from, no matter your background, you can find something that you connect to within STEM’?”
