Steve & Kate's Camp – Santa Rosa Summer Camp

Steve & Kate's Camp – Santa Rosa Summer Camp offers activities such as stop-motion animation, film, digital art, music production, electronic music, and coding. Campers can also take part in sewing and hand-sewing projects using colorful custom fabric patterns and machine sewing, work with leading-edge robotic technology and custom mazes, and experiment with 3D pens and custom “maker packs.” The camp includes baking, arts and crafts, tabletop games, building marble mazes and forts, sports, go-karts, water play with water tag, inflatable slip n’ slides, a giant sprinkler, balloon tosses, sprinkler runs, splash games, and time in Jungle Combo and Castle Combo Bouncers, along with traditions like Find Chuckie and Friday Pie-Day.

• Ages: 4–12 years old
• Schedule: Camp dates Jun 8–Aug 14, closed July 3; camp hours 8:00am–6:00pm, with weekly specials such as Water Play and inflatables running Monday–Friday, Go-Karts on Tuesday and Thursday, and Pie Day on Friday for specified weeks

Steve & Kate's Camp was founded in 1980 by Steve and Kate Susskind. The leadership team includes VPs Kevin and Mike, who have a combined 55 years of Steve & Kate’s work experience, 47 of those years alongside the founders. Mike started as a counselor at Steve & Kate’s in 1998 and now leads the team with the camp’s original philosophy, and Kevin is a former Steve & Kate’s camper who later joined the operations staff.

According to the camp’s mission statement, when summer comes, the camp gives children freedom to expand and evolve, and at Steve & Kate’s, campers choose which activities they do, whom they do it with, and for how long. The mission statement also describes camp as pure joy for kids and as a kind of training ground for life where they will need to be empowered, independent, resilient, and responsible for their own decisions.

The camp includes a Media Lab with custom-built animation stages, carefully selected iPad apps for coding for both early and advanced readers, interactive art apps, and robot landscapes. Daily or weekly specials can include giant inflatables, musical performances, movement workshops, and popup petting zoos, with the lineup announced in spring 2026. All camp hours from 8:00am to 6:00pm, snacks, lunch, and any activities that interest the child are included in all-inclusive rates, and families can buy any number of days to use whenever and wherever throughout the summer or buy a Summer Pass for unlimited use. The program offers automatic full refunds for unused purchased Day Passes at the end of the season, and campers can be dropped off and picked up at any time during camp hours.

For Water Play, campers should bring a labeled swimsuit, towel, and water shoes or sandals. For Go-Karts, kid-friendly electric or pedal go-karts and helmets are provided, and families can send a labeled helmet from home if they prefer. All campers must be fully toilet trained, able to speak up for their needs, and able to get through the camp day without a nap. Registered families receive a virtual camp orientation link before summer with information on what to bring and not bring, and an additional link is emailed after registration for submitting state-required paperwork before a child’s first day of camp.

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 Steve & Kate’s blossom and discover a freedom of identity and that kids find their thumbprint at the camp. Apple’s Hot News states that if kids ruled the world, it might look something like Steve and Kate’s Camp. Variety magazine notes that Steve and Kate’s Camp did not set out to cater to children of people at Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic, but that many attend given the camp’s philosophy. The Washington Post describes Steve and Kate’s Camp as a blend of traditional camp experience with a modern, tech-savvy touch, with a laid-back aura and Silicon Valley-inspired innovative approaches to programming and payment, and the Chicago Tribune states that working parents’ worries dissipate as they contemplate Steve & Kate’s model.

Last updated January 9, 2026.