About
Steve & Kate's Camp offers a wide range of activities, including coding, robotics, sewing, baking, making, sports, filming, lounging, stop-motion animation, and film projects. Campers can work with 3D pens, create 3D worlds with an interactive virtual reality experience, use interactive art apps, hand-sew and machine sew to design and create garments, accessories, and other cloth creations, and explore new baked creations with different fillings, spices, and add-ons. They can also tinker with arts and crafts using custom maker packs, play tabletop games, build marble mazes and forts, take part in water tag with inflatable slip n’ slides and a giant sprinkler, and join traditions like Find Chuckie (a rubber chicken game) and Friday Pie-Day, along with special events such as an Under the Sea camp-wide mural, Red Clay Dance Workshop, Improv & Performance Workshop, and Karaoke Day.
• Ages: 4–13 years old
• Schedule: Camp hours 8:00am–6:00pm, running June 8–August 7 and closed July 3
• Price: Mentorship Day Pass Rate: $98; Mentorship Day Pass (15+) Rate: $84; Mentorship Summer Pass Rate: $2,520; Returning Mentees: $0
Steve & Kate’s Camp uses a camp model where campers choose which activities they do, whom they do them with, and for how long, and where kids rule the roost and are in charge of their choices. The camp offers summer day camps for kids aged 4–12 and is designed for children entering PreK through 7th grade, and it generally accepts children aged 4 to 13 years old, with all campers required to be fully toilet trained, able to speak up for their needs, and able to get through the camp day without a nap. Families can buy any number of day passes, send their child to camp any day within the season, drop off and pick up at any time within camp hours, and receive automatic full refunds for unused Day Passes and partial refunds for underused Summer Passes, with no additional fees because rates include all camp hours, snacks, lunch, and activities.
The camp offers a Mentorship Program for ages 14–15 that uses self-directed learning to give participants a taste of being a counselor and to develop leadership skills, with specific mentorship day and summer pass rates and no cost for returning mentees. Steve & Kate’s Camp has been using its self-directed camp model since 1980 and operates more than 90 summer camp locations. The stated mission is that when kids are empowered to make their own choices and be their own bosses, they discover new reserves of confidence, resiliency, and creativity.
Weekly specials can include giant inflatables, musical performances, movement workshops, and a popup petting zoo. Community partners include Chicago’s Red Clay Dance Company for the Red Clay Dance Workshop and Brainchild Collective for the Improv & Performance Workshop. The camp director is Syd, and registered families receive a virtual camp orientation before summer with information on what to bring and not bring, including guidance that campers should bring a labeled swimsuit, towel, and water shoes or sandals to participate in the inflatable slip n’ slide.
Testimonials describe the camp as a place where children “blossom and discover a freedom of identity” and “find their thumbprint,” according to Andrew Stanton, Director of WALL-E, Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory. Apple’s Hot News notes that “if kids ruled the world, it might look something like Steve and Kate’s Camp,” and Variety magazine reports that many children of people working at Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic attend the camp. The Washington Post describes Steve & Kate’s Camp as combining a traditional camp experience with a modern, tech-savvy touch and 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 April 30, 2026.
• Ages: 4–13 years old
• Schedule: Camp hours 8:00am–6:00pm, running June 8–August 7 and closed July 3
• Price: Mentorship Day Pass Rate: $98; Mentorship Day Pass (15+) Rate: $84; Mentorship Summer Pass Rate: $2,520; Returning Mentees: $0
Steve & Kate’s Camp uses a camp model where campers choose which activities they do, whom they do them with, and for how long, and where kids rule the roost and are in charge of their choices. The camp offers summer day camps for kids aged 4–12 and is designed for children entering PreK through 7th grade, and it generally accepts children aged 4 to 13 years old, with all campers required to be fully toilet trained, able to speak up for their needs, and able to get through the camp day without a nap. Families can buy any number of day passes, send their child to camp any day within the season, drop off and pick up at any time within camp hours, and receive automatic full refunds for unused Day Passes and partial refunds for underused Summer Passes, with no additional fees because rates include all camp hours, snacks, lunch, and activities.
The camp offers a Mentorship Program for ages 14–15 that uses self-directed learning to give participants a taste of being a counselor and to develop leadership skills, with specific mentorship day and summer pass rates and no cost for returning mentees. Steve & Kate’s Camp has been using its self-directed camp model since 1980 and operates more than 90 summer camp locations. The stated mission is that when kids are empowered to make their own choices and be their own bosses, they discover new reserves of confidence, resiliency, and creativity.
Weekly specials can include giant inflatables, musical performances, movement workshops, and a popup petting zoo. Community partners include Chicago’s Red Clay Dance Company for the Red Clay Dance Workshop and Brainchild Collective for the Improv & Performance Workshop. The camp director is Syd, and registered families receive a virtual camp orientation before summer with information on what to bring and not bring, including guidance that campers should bring a labeled swimsuit, towel, and water shoes or sandals to participate in the inflatable slip n’ slide.
Testimonials describe the camp as a place where children “blossom and discover a freedom of identity” and “find their thumbprint,” according to Andrew Stanton, Director of WALL-E, Finding Nemo, and Finding Dory. Apple’s Hot News notes that “if kids ruled the world, it might look something like Steve and Kate’s Camp,” and Variety magazine reports that many children of people working at Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic attend the camp. The Washington Post describes Steve & Kate’s Camp as combining a traditional camp experience with a modern, tech-savvy touch and 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 April 30, 2026.