You may have played tic-tac-toe hundreds of times, but never like this! Visitors jumped as high as they could, crushing a plastic bottle and sending balls soaring onto a vertical game board (shown at right). Every month, families try out STEM challenges like these as part of ExxonMobil MindFest. Some of the most popular activities have included painting with a ten-foot-tall pendulum and making contraptions to hit a dunk tank target.
Visitors have been excited to try each challenge, and survey results have been impressive: 97% of families plan to seek out more STEM learning opportunities in the future, 97% reported increased confidence exploring STEM as a family, and 93% of parents said their child gained knowledge/skills.
Families have commented that they enjoyed “the excitement of completing the task,” “the thrill of the dunk tank,” “the accomplishment,” and “building a masterpiece that worked on the first try.” One parent shared that her kids “are very shy…[so] it takes some time to get into it...But a few minutes later they can’t stop.”
More projects are planned, including the ExxonMobil MindFest Finale in December. All of this programming is part of the Museum's Full STEM Ahead initiative, which is generously underwritten by ExxonMobil.
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Sep 10, 2026
You may have played tic-tac-toe hundreds of times, but never like this! Visitors jumped as high as they could, crushing a plastic bottle and sending balls soaring onto a vertical game board (shown at right). Every month, families try out STEM challenges like these as part of ExxonMobil MindFest. Some of the most popular activities have included painting with a ten-foot-tall pendulum and making contraptions to hit a dunk tank target.
Visitors have been excited to try each challenge, and survey results have been impressive: 97% of families plan to seek out more STEM learning opportunities in the future, 97% reported increased confidence exploring STEM as a family, and 93% of parents said their child gained knowledge/skills.
Families have commented that they enjoyed “the excitement of completing the task,” “the thrill of the dunk tank,” “the accomplishment,” and “building a masterpiece that worked on the first try.” One parent shared that her kids “are very shy…[so] it takes some time to get into it...But a few minutes later they can’t stop.”
More projects are planned, including the ExxonMobil MindFest Finale in December. All of this programming is part of the Museum's Full STEM Ahead initiative, which is generously underwritten by ExxonMobil.
