Dino Fest 2025: Helping Kids Love STEM Through Fun, Educational Activities
There’s nothing quite like a festival that sparks curiosity while making learning feel like play—and Dino Fest 2025 is doing exactly that. This free, family-friendly event will take place at the Thornton Arts and Culture Center on Saturday, August 9th and mark the community’s first annual STEM celebration designed especially for kids ages 5 to 18. Without a doubt, the festival will be a hands-on, curiosity-fueled day packed with activities centered around STEM, learning, and—yes—dinosaurs.
We’re excited about this event because one of our very own is helping bring it to life. Our Product Manager, Sheena Skinner, is spearheading the planning and execution of the Dino Fest. Her passion for making STEM accessible and engaging for all kids is something we admire deeply, and it’s a passion our entire team at Golden Software proudly shares.
From the very beginning, we’ve thrived on creating tools that help people better understand and visualize the world around them. Dino Fest brings that same energy to a younger generation, showing kids that science, technology, engineering, and math aren’t just subjects in school. They’re a whole world of exploration, creativity, and discovery waiting to be unleashed.
Why Early STEM Exposure Matters and How Dino Fest Helps
What makes Dino Fest so important—beyond the fun, hands-on activities—is the opportunity it creates for early STEM exposure. Events like this aren’t just entertaining; they’re deeply impactful. Research shows that introducing kids to STEM topics early in life can influence how they think, what they’re interested in, and even the careers they eventually pursue.
When young students engage with science and technology in meaningful ways, they’re significantly more likely to envision a future in STEM. They’re more inclined to study STEM subjects in college—and more likely to land jobs in those fields. Just a handful of classroom experiences or extracurricular activities can dramatically shift a student’s trajectory. The key, however, is ensuring young minds are exposed to STEM.
That’s where Dino Fest shines. By giving kids a chance to explore science, technology, engineering, and math in an approachable, exciting way, the event helps nurture curiosity and confidence. It sends the message that STEM isn’t just for grown-ups in lab coats—it’s for everyone, including the five-year-old who just built a dinosaur skeleton out of toothpicks. And when adults show kids that an interest in STEM is valued and supported, that interest can grow into something lasting—and possibly life-changing.
What’s in Store: STEM Activities That Will Spark Curiosity
To help expose kids to STEM in ways that are exciting and curiosity-driven, Dino Fest will feature a wide variety of hands-on activities designed to make science, technology, engineering, and math come alive for kids of all ages.
At the center of it all will be the Fossil Dig Station—a guaranteed hit. Every child will get the chance to excavate and take home a real fossil. While these won’t be dinosaur bones, kids will uncover treasures like bivalves, shark teeth, petrified wood, and more. With nine pounds of fossils ready to be discovered, every young explorer will walk away with a piece of ancient Earth in their pocket. It will be hands-on, educational, and unforgettable—the kind of experience that fuels a lifelong love of STEM.
In addition to the fossil dig, Dino Fest will offer a host of other engaging STEM stations, each one geared toward sparking new interests and making learning fun. Here’s a look at just some of the activities attendees can enjoy:
- DNA bracelets with pony beads – Kids will learn about genetics by creating bracelets inspired by their favorite animals.
- Marshmallow and spaghetti towers – Engineering will get tasty as kids build tall structures using simple (and edible) materials.
- Dino egg painting – A creative activity where art meets science.
- Felt “Layers of the Earth” project – Young scientists will build a soft, tactile version of Earth’s internal structure.
- Sand pendulum station – Kids will watch mesmerizing patterns form as they explore orbital rotation and physics.
- Elephant toothpaste demo – A crowd-pleasing chemistry experiment with a colorful, foamy reaction.
- Plate tectonics density activity – Kids will compare continental and oceanic crusts in a hands-on way.
- Vinegar and chalk fizz – A classic and satisfying demonstration of chemical reactions with carbonates.
For younger attendees, there will also be a special area inside the Thornton Arts and Culture Center featuring STEM-themed art and science activities that will be sensory-friendly and perfectly suited to smaller hands and growing minds. With so many opportunities to explore, experiment, and play, Dino Fest 2025 will offer visitors a joyful and memorable way to see just how fun STEM can be.
Join Us in Making STEM Fun, Accessible, and Unforgettable
Dino Fest 2025 isn’t just a day of excitement—it’s a stepping stone toward building a more curious, confident, and STEM-savvy generation. Whether kids are uncovering real fossils, experimenting with marshmallow towers, or watching elephant toothpaste erupt, they’ll be doing more than just having fun; they’ll be learning, imagining, and seeing themselves as future scientists, engineers, and explorers.
At Golden Software, we believe in the power of data to transform how people understand the world. That same belief drives our support for events like Dino Fest because when kids are given the tools, encouragement, and opportunity to explore STEM early, they gain more than knowledge. They gain a sense of possibility.
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this incredible event and its mission. Various organizations are already supporting it, including the USGS, Colorado School of Mines Earth Science Museum, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and Snapology. So bring your kids, your curiosity, and your sense of wonder to dig in and inspire the next generation—one dino-mite experience at a time.
Are you an educator or student in STEM? Don’t just support the Dino Fest! Make sure to also check out the Surfer and Grapher licenses we created to specifically support you and your important work!
