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Free Kidzfest in Joliet brings fun for kids of all ages

Activities for children of all ages will be featured at the Â鶹´«Ã½ Mini-Campus during Kidzfest 2014, to be held Saturday, Aug. 2 in downtown Joliet. A free family festival, Kidzfest offers an opportunity for children to play, explore, imagine and create. Kidzfest will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Chicago Street in downtown Joliet.

Â鶹´«Ã½ is the main sponsor for the Kidzfest 2014 which will include many attractions including a Legoland exhibit, the Friendly Farms Petting Zoo, and activities/exhibits by the Joliet Public Library, Joliet Police and Fire Departments, Chicagoland Speedway, Rialto Square Theatre, Haunted Trails, Will County Land Use, Gallery 7, Dave Dinaso Traveling World of Reptiles, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and more. Activities are free. This year, there also will be a Food Court on Chicago, south of Van Buren Street.

Each child may receive a certificate as he/she enters the Â鶹´«Ã½ Kidzfest Mini-Campus across from the Rialto Square Theatre. The children earn marks on the certificate for each activity that they attend. Those who earn four marks on the certificate will receive an “aviator wings pin.”

Entertaining and educational experiences at Â鶹´«Ã½ exhibits include opportunities for children to:

• Sit in a small airplane. Parents may have a free digital photo taken of each child in the plane, courtesy of Â鶹´«Ã½.


• Test their skills on a Microsoft Flight Simulator game (for children in elementary or middle school), with direction from .


• Get free photo IDs taken by students in the program and the Â鶹´«Ã½ Police Department.


• Solve problems and play games with the and Mathematics Department.


• Become a scientist through and experiments. Fun includes concoctions that experiment with everyday materials!


• See themselves on television by visiting an electronic media van and learning how a news program is created by the Department.


• Make a silk-screened patch with supplies and guidance from the Department. Pottery demonstrations will also be intermittent throughout the day.


• See a mastodon tooth and other small fossils and minerals and answer trivia questions from a geologist.


• Get blood pressures and pulse screenings for children and adults from students and nurses in the . Also, adults can undergo blood sugar testing and receive information on hypertension and diabetes awareness. Several wellness games will focus on nutrition, hand washing, exercise and smoking habits. Free children’s toothbrushes will be available in limited numbers.


• Enjoy student performers from the Lewis who will sing songs from their current production of “Shrek” along with other children’s musical favorites. Performances are scheduled at 11:00 a.m. and noon at the outdoor stage at Clinton and Chicago streets.


• Learn a lesson with finance games from the College of Business.


• Choose from designs and get a new look at the Face Painting booth.


• Enjoy stories about “Things That Fly,” read by future teachers who are students in the . Free books and bookmarks will be available too!


• Improve athletic skills with tips from student athletes on sports including men’s and women’s basketball, volleyball and golf.


• Test your physical abilities with ROTC exercises. Write a letter to those now serving in the military.


• Alumni of Â鶹´«Ã½ are invited to sign in at the Alumni Booth to be eligible to win a prize.

Brother James Gaffney, FSC, President of Â鶹´«Ã½, stated: “Kidzfest demonstrates the Â鶹´«Ã½ mission to promote life-long learning by encouraging children to take advantage of various learning opportunities, to ask questions, and to interest them in different fields. Moreover, the educational activities offered at Kidzfest are fun for the youngsters.”

Â鶹´«Ã½ is a Catholic university in the Lasallian tradition offering distinctive undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 6,600 traditional and adult students. Lewis offers multiple campus locations, online degree programs, and a variety of formats that provide accessibility and convenience to a growing student population. Sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis prepares intellectually engaged, ethically grounded, globally connected, and socially responsible graduates. The seventh largest private not-for-profit university in Illinois, Lewis has been nationally recognized by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. Visit for further information.