The Children's University at the University of Žilina (CHUZ) in Žilina organized its 20th year this year. The Children's University endeavors to conduce to solving an extra important public problem – the increase of the education level of the nation with emphasis especially on the young generation to show research and development importance for the future public improvement. It is necessary to teach young people to think and not only to absorb presented knowledge. It is necessary to reduce the quantity of encyclopedic knowledge and to underline the requirement of the knowledge depth and creative mind, too.

The basic aim of the Children’s University is to bring technical science to the attention of the school-age children, to eliminate their respect of such subjects as mathematics and physics, and to near them the meaning of research and the application of its results in everyday life.

The scheme of the CHUZ has evolved for the popularization of results of science and technology, the schematic discovery of technical subjects and the elimination of respect for these subjects, the stimulation of independent creative thinking.

The CHUZ is organized during the summer holiday. The aim of the “holiday studying” is to attend lectures and laboratory exercises in natural sciences, which are led by university educationists in an unusual way. The topics of lectures are based on the professional activities of particular lecturers but tailored to the age and the interests of children. On the contrary to the classical way of studying at the elementary school, children are active participants in these lectures and they work individually and creatively during laboratory exercises.

Our Children’s university is based on popularization of science and technology results through lectures and practical exercises.

In 2005, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of Žilina organized for the first time the "Children's University of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering". Due to the positive response to this event, we extended the possibility of participation to other children from the wider area and offered cooperation to other faculties of University of Zilina (UNIZA). Due to the cooperation with the city of Žilina and the mayor of the city, in 2007 the name of the activity was changed to Children's University of Žilina.

CHUZ is designed for children from 8 to 12 years old. (The program was originally planned and implemented in 2005 for children aged 6 to 10 years. It was found to be tiring and demanding for younger children, so the age of participants was moved to 8 - 12 years).

The weekly program of the CHUZ consists of about 15 lectures in the morning (3 each day) followed by 2-3 exercises in the afternoon in the University's laboratories (about 11 in total), the children also visit the City Hall and the airport, and a graduation ceremony for the young graduates is scheduled for Friday afternoon. At the CHUZ, it is possible to obtain two "degrees": the first degree can be obtained in the "Little Bachelor" program for children who have completed the 2nd and 3rd year of primary school. After obtaining this degree, children can go on the following year to obtain the "Little Engineer" degree, which is for children who have completed the 4th and 5th years of primary school.

Every year at the end of the CHUZ children answered several questions by means of questionnaires. The results and discussion will be presented in this paper.

Keywords: STEM education, children's university, non-formal education.