STEAM Camp in a Box

Everything you need to run a hands-on STEAM program, right out of the box. Activities, materials, and curriculum guides, all ready to go. No prep stress, no sourcing headaches—just engaged students discovering, building, and creating from day one. Perfect for after school enrichment, summer camps, or classroom extension/ELO-P.

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Request a District Quote

Watch STEAM Camp in a Box Come to Life

See how educators are using our turnkey kits to transform their programs.

Built For Your Setting

Whether you run a summer camp, after school program, school district, or community center, STEAM Camp in a Box fits your schedule, your staffing, and your standards requirements.

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Afterschool & Expanded Learning

Turnkey units that fit perfectly into daily afterschool rotations. Aligned with California's ELO-P, New York's LEAPS, Texas ACE, and other state expanded learning mandates. Meets all duration, ratio, and enrichment requirements.

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Summer Camps

Designed for high energy and engagement. Projects students love to showcase, making summer learning unforgettable. Available in 15-hour (one-week) and 30-hour (two-week) formats ready for immediate deployment.

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Districts & Schools

Streamlined procurement and large-scale deployment. Maintain curriculum consistency across multiple sites for year-round STEAM. Volume pricing and custom district proposals available.

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Community Centers

Low-barrier, easy-to-implement programming for youth centers, YMCAs, Boys & Girls Clubs, libraries, and community hubs during school breaks. No STEM expertise required to facilitate.

Everything You Need. Just Add Students.

We provide the complete engine—the content, curriculum, lesson plans, and all materials—enabling any school or organization to run their own high-quality STEAM program with zero stress.
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✅ Standards-Aligned Curriculum

Full lesson plans mapped to NGSS and Common Core for every session, with clear learning objectives and assessment rubrics.

✅ Teacher-Ready Facilitation Guides

Step-by-step guides that require zero prior STEAM expertise. Includes pacing notes, discussion prompts, differentiation tips, and extension activities.

✅ Pre-Sorted Activity Materials

All upcycled and supplemental materials individually bagged and labeled per student—ready to distribute on day one.

✅ Printed Student Journals

Guided workbooks for each student with reflection prompts, design sketches, story scaffolds, and self-assessment pages.

✅ Flexible Class Capacities

Sets for 10 or 20 students. Every child receives their own kit of upcycled materials to build and keep.

✅ Program Plans for 15 or 30 Hours

Curriculum maps for 1-week intensive camps or multi-week enrichment rotations, with daily schedules pre-built.

✅ SEL & Literacy Integration

Built-in Social-Emotional Learning activities and narrative writing components woven into every engineering challenge.

Choose Your STEAM Adventure

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Found in Space

Grades: TK–8 Duration: 30 Hours

Launch rockets, explore the solar system, and master gravity as aerospace engineers. Key skills: Trajectory Physics (Math) & Mission-Control Teamwork (SEL).

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Living World

Grades: TK–8 Duration: 15 / 30 Hours

Explore bio-diversity and habitat engineering. Students discover the interconnection of living systems through hands-on modeling and field investigation.

Learn More
available

Groovy Machines

Grades: TK–8 Duration: 15 / 30 Hours

Think like a master toymaker to build interactive mechanical automata and study principles of motion. Key skills: Geometric Modeling (Math) & Iterative Prototyping (SEL).

coming soon

CSI / Forensics

Grades: TK–8 Duration: 30 Hours

Use scientific analysis and investigative logic to crack hypothetical cases. Key skills: Evidence-based Reporting (Literacy) & Critical Thinking (SEL).

coming soon

Marionette Theater

Grades: TK–5 Duration: 15 / 30 Hours

Blend mechanical engineering with playwriting to bring characters to life through moving puppets and performance. Key skills: Proportional Mechanics (Math) & Scriptwriting (Literacy).

coming soon

Environmental Stewardship

Grades: TK–8 Duration: 15 / 30 Hours

Engineer solutions for eco-issues and advocate for a greener planet through sustainable design. Key skills: Data & Stats (Math) & Community Leadership (SEL).

coming soon

Gadget Design Lab

Grades: TK–8 Duration: 15 / 30 Hours

Invention-based engineering and tool creation. Students become product designers, iterating through prototypes to create functional, original gadgets.

coming soon

Character Creator

Grades: 6–8 Duration: 15 / 30 Hours

Master the Hero's Journey and Story Circle scaffolds to complete full narrative arcs. Key skills: Creative Writing (Literacy) & Self-Discovery (SEL).

Sustainability Meets Academic Rigor

Our field-tested innovation system combines 30 years of hands-on pedagogy, upcycled materials, and standards-aligned curriculum into one seamless experience for educators and students alike.
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Upcycled Materials - Circular Innovation

Every kit is powered by RAFT's signature upcycled materials—industrial surplus transformed into high-impact learning tools. Students don't just follow assembly steps; they engineer solutions with non-traditional materials. This isn't crafting—it's Found Engineering.

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Zero-Prep, Plug-and-Play

No specialized STEM background required. Every box arrives with pre-sorted materials, printed student journals, and expert-level Teacher Facilitation Guides. From unboxing to "wow" moments in minutes, not hours of lesson planning.

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NGSS & Common Core Aligned

Engineered in our Silicon Valley R&D Lab, every activity meets rigorous Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core benchmarks. Standards-aligned academic programming that districts can justify with confidence.

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30 Years of Research-Backed Pedagogy

Refined and validated at our Silicon Valley STEAM Dream Camp—the living laboratory where real students test every curriculum before it ships. Three decades of proven methodology in fostering Growth Mindset and long-term engagement.

How Young Engineers Think, Build, and Grow

Aligned with NGSS Engineering Design standards across all grade bands (K-2, 3-5, 6-8), our curriculum guides every student through the same creative problem-solving cycle used by real-world innovators, scaled to their developmental level.
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Identify
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Research
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Imagine
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Plan
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Build
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Test
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Improve

K-2: Wonder & Explore

Young learners ask questions, observe the world around them, and build simple models from upcycled materials. They compare what works and what doesn't, learning that "trying again" is how every inventor starts.

K-2: Wonder & Explore

Young learners ask questions, observe the world around them, and build simple models from upcycled materials. They compare what works and what doesn't, learning that "trying again" is how every inventor starts.

3-5: Design & Test

Students define problems with specific goals, brainstorm multiple solutions, and run controlled tests. They learn to use evidence—not just guessing—to decide which design works best and why.

6-8: Optimize & Communicate

Middle schoolers tackle multi-step engineering challenges, analyze data to improve their designs, and present solutions to peers. They experience the full innovation cycle from problem to polished prototype.

Every "mistake" becomes a discovery. Every iteration builds confidence. This is how students develop the persistence, teamwork, and critical thinking skills they need for the future.

Every Project Is a Triple Win

Our curriculum moves beyond "crafting" into rigorous, multi-disciplinary skill building. Each activity simultaneously develops three critical competency areas.

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Math in Motion

Students apply measurement, proportional reasoning, geometry, and data logic to solve real-world engineering challenges—not worksheets, but tangible problems that make math come alive.

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Narrative Literacy

From building models to building stories. Using frameworks like the Dan Harmon Story Circle, students master narrative structures and creative writing - connecting STEAM to the power of communication.

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Resilient SEL

Social-Emotional Learning through doing. Working with upcycled materials teaches students to navigate "productive struggle," build empathy through collaboration, and find strength in iteration and failure.

Moments from Our STEAM Dream Camp

Every photo here is from a real RAFT program. These are the same activities, materials, and experiences inside every STEAM Camp in a Box.

"RAFT gave our teachers the confidence to lead real STEAM experiences—no prep stress, no guesswork. The kids were building, failing, iterating, and beaming with pride. That's learning you can't get from a textbook."

- [Replace with real testimonial]

Two Proven Program Formats

Standardized modules designed to fit seamlessly into any summer camp, after-school program, or extended learning schedule.
15-Hour Lite Program
$850
per set  ·  materials for 20 students
  • Optimized for half-day programs or weekly enrichment
  • Core STEAM concepts & rapid prototyping
  • Pre-sorted materials for 20 students
  • Printed Student Journals
  • Expert Teacher Facilitation Guide
  • NGSS & Common Core aligned
  • Nationwide shipping
30-Hour Deep Dive
$1,500
per set  ·  materials for 20 students
  • The full "Expedition" for intensive summer learning
  • Extended engineering cycles & narrative mastery
  • Pre-sorted materials for 20 students
  • Printed Student Journals
  • Advanced Teacher Facilitation Guide
  • NGSS & Common Core aligned
  • Deeper SEL & Literacy integration
  • Nationwide shipping

We Help You Justify the Investment

RAFT programs are a high-impact, compliant use of federal and state education grants.

Funding SourceScopeHow RAFT Aligns
Title I, Part AFederalCloses the achievement gap for disadvantaged students through high-interest academic recovery and hands-on engagement.
Title IV, Part AFederalSupports the "Well-Rounded Education" mandate by integrating STEM and the Arts into a cohesive, standards-aligned curriculum.
21st Century CCLCFederalMatches requirements for high-quality, expanded learning and after-school enrichment programming nationwide.
ESSER / ARPFederalTargeted for Learning Recovery—addresses academic loss and student social-emotional wellness.
GEERFederalGovernor's Emergency Education Relief funds for innovative learning solutions during and after disruptions.
CA ELO-P / ASESCaliforniaMeets all ELO-P duration, ratio, and enrichment mandates for expanded learning (TK-6). Also aligned with ASES grants.
NY LEAPSNew YorkQualifies under the Learning and Enrichment After-school Program Supports for afterschool STEAM enrichment.
TX ACETexasAligned with Texas Afterschool Centers on Education (21st Century CCLC state implementation) requirements.
Other State FundsNationwide26 states collectively invest $5B+ in expanded learning. Contact us for alignment documentation specific to your state.

From Our Summer Camp to Your Classroom

STEAM Camp in a Box isn't a product we designed in a boardroom. It's the distillation of three decades of running the Bay Area's most beloved STEAM Dream Camp - the live laboratory where every activity, every facilitation guide, every upcycled material kit was tested, refined, and validated by real students and real educators.

Resource Area For Teaching (RAFT) is a premier 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1994 in the heart of Silicon Valley. For over 30 years, we've been transforming corporate industrial surplus into high-impact STEAM learning tools—diverting 300 tons of materials from landfills annually while providing 8,000+ educators with the resources to ignite discovery in 150,000+ students.

Our core competitive advantage is our Upcycled Materials model—breathing new life into industrial surplus by engineering it into rigorous, standards-aligned STEAM kits. When students build with non-traditional materials, they don't just follow steps. They learn to think like the innovators who built Silicon Valley: resourceful, resilient, and endlessly creative.

From Order to "Wow" in Days, Not Weeks

1

Choose Your Theme & Format

Select from 8 immersive themes and pick a 15-hour or 30-hour program. Every option ships with complete materials for 20 students.
2

Unbox & Go

Everything arrives pre-sorted with printed journals and expert Facilitation Guides. No lesson planning. No materials sourcing. Your educators are ready to teach on day one.
3

Inspire & Impact

Watch students ask, imagine, plan, prototype, and iterate - building 21st-century skills through the same hands-on process that powers Silicon Valley innovation.

Empower Your Students to Build a Better Future.

Join thousands of educators bringing Silicon Valley innovation to their classrooms—sustainably, affordably, and with zero prep.

contact@raft.net · www.raft.net · (408) 451-1420 · 1355 Ridder Park Dr, San Jose, CA 95131