Steve & Kate's Camp - Palo Alto
Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, 450 San Antonio Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306
About
Steve & Kate's Camp - Palo Alto offers a wide range of activities, including coding, robotics, sewing by hand and machine, baking, and various making projects. Campers can also spend time filming, creating stop-motion animation, exploring 3D worlds through an interactive virtual reality experience, using interactive art apps and 3D pens, lounging, and taking part in traditions like Find Chuckie and Friday Pie-Day. Additional options include Sports & Rec with classic sports and made-up games, a go-kart experience, weekly specials, water play with water tag, inflatable slip n’ slides and a giant sprinkler, tabletop games, building marble mazes and forts, using sensory objects, reading from a thoughtfully stocked bookshelf, and enjoying the Wacky Obstacle Course inflatable.
• Ages: 4–12 years old
• Schedule: Camp dates Jun 15–Aug 14, with camp hours from 8:00am to 6:00pm; weekly special Wacky Obstacle Course inflatable runs Monday–Friday for the weeks Jun 15–19 and Jun 22–26
• Price: Mentorship Day Pass Rate: $99; Mentorship Day Pass (15+) Rate: $84; Mentorship Summer Pass Rate: $2,520; Returning Mentees: $0
Steve & Kate’s Camp states that all year long kids are in rigid structure, and that in summer the camp gives them freedom to expand and evolve by letting campers choose which activities they do, whom they do them with, and for how long. The camp describes this experience as pure joy for kids and as a kind of training ground for life where they are empowered, independent, resilient, and responsible for their own decisions. Steve & Kate’s Camp has operated this way since 1980, beginning in Mill Valley, California, and the Palo Alto site lists Shannon as the Director.
The program includes several unique features, such as allowing families to buy any number of days and send their child to camp on any day within the season, and to drop off and pick up at any time within camp hours, with long camp hours included. Meals and snacks are included, and unused days are automatically refunded at the end of summer. The camp also offers weekly specials that can include giant inflatables, musical performances, movement workshops, or popup petting zoos, and maintains decades-old traditions like Find Chuckie and Friday Pie-Day. Registered families receive a local camp virtual orientation by email before summer.
Steve & Kate’s Camp runs a Mentorship Program intended exclusively for children ages 14–15, in which mentees help facilitate camp activities, engage with campers, and encourage camper connection and participation, using a self-directed learning model. Mentorship Day Passes receive automatic refunds for unused days at summer’s end, and if a Mentorship Summer Pass is used fewer than 30 days, the cost is recalculated at the daily rate and the difference is refunded automatically.
For the Palo Alto location, all food provided will be vegetarian, with the exception of fish, and families who bring food from home are asked to follow the same guideline. Steve & Kate’s Camp uses Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School as its host school for this site, and the school is ADA accessible.
Testimonials about Steve & Kate’s Camp include comments from Andrew Stanton, Director of WALL-E, Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory, who says that children at the camp blossom and discover a freedom of identity and that kids find their thumbprint there. Apple’s Hot News states that if kids ruled the world, it might look something like Steve & Kate’s Camp. Variety magazine notes that, given the camp’s philosophy, it is not surprising that many children of people at Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic attend. The Washington Post describes Steve & Kate’s Camp as a blend of traditional camp with a modern, tech-savvy touch, with a laid-back aura and Silicon Valley-inspired approaches to programming and payment. The Chicago Tribune states that working parents’ worries dissipate as they contemplate Steve & Kate’s model.
Last updated April 30, 2026.
• Ages: 4–12 years old
• Schedule: Camp dates Jun 15–Aug 14, with camp hours from 8:00am to 6:00pm; weekly special Wacky Obstacle Course inflatable runs Monday–Friday for the weeks Jun 15–19 and Jun 22–26
• Price: Mentorship Day Pass Rate: $99; Mentorship Day Pass (15+) Rate: $84; Mentorship Summer Pass Rate: $2,520; Returning Mentees: $0
Steve & Kate’s Camp states that all year long kids are in rigid structure, and that in summer the camp gives them freedom to expand and evolve by letting campers choose which activities they do, whom they do them with, and for how long. The camp describes this experience as pure joy for kids and as a kind of training ground for life where they are empowered, independent, resilient, and responsible for their own decisions. Steve & Kate’s Camp has operated this way since 1980, beginning in Mill Valley, California, and the Palo Alto site lists Shannon as the Director.
The program includes several unique features, such as allowing families to buy any number of days and send their child to camp on any day within the season, and to drop off and pick up at any time within camp hours, with long camp hours included. Meals and snacks are included, and unused days are automatically refunded at the end of summer. The camp also offers weekly specials that can include giant inflatables, musical performances, movement workshops, or popup petting zoos, and maintains decades-old traditions like Find Chuckie and Friday Pie-Day. Registered families receive a local camp virtual orientation by email before summer.
Steve & Kate’s Camp runs a Mentorship Program intended exclusively for children ages 14–15, in which mentees help facilitate camp activities, engage with campers, and encourage camper connection and participation, using a self-directed learning model. Mentorship Day Passes receive automatic refunds for unused days at summer’s end, and if a Mentorship Summer Pass is used fewer than 30 days, the cost is recalculated at the daily rate and the difference is refunded automatically.
For the Palo Alto location, all food provided will be vegetarian, with the exception of fish, and families who bring food from home are asked to follow the same guideline. Steve & Kate’s Camp uses Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School as its host school for this site, and the school is ADA accessible.
Testimonials about Steve & Kate’s Camp include comments from Andrew Stanton, Director of WALL-E, Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory, who says that children at the camp blossom and discover a freedom of identity and that kids find their thumbprint there. Apple’s Hot News states that if kids ruled the world, it might look something like Steve & Kate’s Camp. Variety magazine notes that, given the camp’s philosophy, it is not surprising that many children of people at Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic attend. The Washington Post describes Steve & Kate’s Camp as a blend of traditional camp with a modern, tech-savvy touch, with a laid-back aura and Silicon Valley-inspired approaches to programming and payment. The Chicago Tribune states that working parents’ worries dissipate as they contemplate Steve & Kate’s model.
Last updated April 30, 2026.