Steve and Kate’s Camp – Palo Alto

Both of my kids have enjoyed attending Steve & Kate’s Camp for the past few years. I love the flexible schedule (sign up for any day, even short notice), the hours (great for working parents), the food (my kids will happily eat the homemade meals and I don’t have to make lunch every morning), and the counselors are all fun, energetic, warm and welcoming (great mix of guys and gals).
Where else can you bake bread, make a stop-​motion animated film, sing like a pop star, sew or knit, dance, and climb a rock wall or race a bathtub car? My kids loved choosing their activities each day and they made friends all summer.
I’d love the camp to start a Junior Counselor program so my older one can keep going!

This review is for the Steve & Kate’s camp in Palo Alto:
My son (now in 2^nd) has been going to S&K’s for parts of the past 3 summers. He’s had a fantastic experience, particularly because of the wonderful, enthusiastic, welcoming staff at this location — and many of them return each summer, and remember returning kids — and they are genuinely sorry when the summer draws to a close.
This past summer was my daughters first year (now in K), and she too had a great experience. It was no doubt helped by her brother’s enthusiasm about S&K’s («you get to CHOOSE EVERYTHING!» is what he told her), as well as her natural tendency to be outgoing.
The things my kids loved most about S&K’s is the ability to be in charge of their own day, to choose what studios or activities to participate in, and to indulge their need for freeplay and creativity. They came home with heads filled with ideas of what to build, stories about cool things they were «allowed» to do, and lots of new experiences from each day.
A few notes:
— This camp is not ideal for kids who are on the shy side, or who prefer lots of structure.
— I would also likely not choose to send my kids exclusively to S&K’s for the entire summer — while they do change it up, and the activities are awesome, I think a change of pace is good for the kids too.
— I do try to see if other friends are going, and try to coordinate weeks — particularly since we aren’t in the PA schools, and they usually don’t know anyone else.
— If you have a camper young enough to be in Kindercamp, be proactive about meeting their huddle leader, and making sure the adjustment is smooth
— This camp is a working parents dream: The hours are suitable for all day, the refund policy is just amazing — you sign up for the number of days of camp you think you will attend, you are guaranteed a spot at any location, and if you don’t attend all the days, they send you a check at the end of the summer. More than once I’ve wanted to see if i could find a way to contribute it to they counselors bonuses!

This was our second year at Steve & Kate’s in Palo Alto. My son is 9 and of all the camps over the years, this is by far his favorite. He loves the free choice aspect of the camp. We don’t live in Palo Alto so he did not know a single kid at this camp. On his first day, I asked him if he made any friends and he said about 20 of them. They get together in the morning and at lunch with their age group which is a chance to make some friends. Sometimes, he stays in the same studio all day. Some days, he visits several studios. Last year, he spent most of his time in the build studio (blocks, cardboard, etc.). This year, his favorite activity was breadmaking and he tried to do it daily. There were lines for this and he couldn’t always get into this studio so I hope they add more ovens next year. He came home and taught me how to bake bread. He was inspired. He tried sewing, animation and some of the other studios. The facility was nice and the staff nice too. The Director, Jonathan, is great. He knows the kids and works with you if you have concerns. My son doesn’t enjoy the morning kick-​off and end of day game show although I’m sure some of the other kids do. When you fill out the survey at the end of the summer, they actually listen to the feedback and implement changes. Last year, the snacks were not very good and were not plentiful. This year, they did much better on the food, particularly the snacks. Although I still wish they would mix up the menus so they do not repeat each week. We’ve done camps through our city, neighboring cities, sports camps, mad science, spy camp, you name it. Steve & Kate’s is the hands-​down winner. The activities vary too. They bring in different activities for the kids each week (giant water slides, zip lines, different kinds of shows, etc.). I love the flexibility to use a day here, a week there. If you don’t use all the days, they send you a check automatically. It’s really a great camp and we will be back in 2015.

This was our first year at Steve and Kate’s. I love that you can send your children to any of their locations without having to provide any kind of advance notice. You just show up to the location you want/​need for that day!
We visited three locations (Palo Alto, Willow Glen, & Los Altos), but Palo Alto was our primary site. The counselors were all very engaged with the children and really seemed to enjoy their jobs.
I loved the communication that I got from the staff and how they’re always looking for feedback to make things better. I also thought that for what you’re getting, the pricing was very competitive, assuming you get a 20+ day package as it includes lunch, snacks, all the materials they need for the different activities/​studios and the operating hours were very reasonable and gave me much-​needed flexibility.
My children absolutely loved S&K’s and were sad when camp ended in August. We’ll definitely be going back next year!

This is for the Hillsborough Camp — update after my daughter’s attendance.
My daughter was a happy camper before Steve and Kate. She was fine first day of kindergarten (didn’t even cry). She was fine the entire kindergarten and in fact got in trouble twice for being too social. She was a confident, happy child per description by other people until Steve and Kate. Steve and Kate had damaged my daughter!
My 6 year old daughter after Steve and Kate became very scared, intimidated, unhappy, worried about spilling, scratching table, worried about doing the wrong thing basically. Two words my daughter kept saying before drop off time at Steve and Kate — «scared and nervous.» She threw meltdowns kicking and screaming every drop off time. Something definitely happened at the camp, and I have no idea what and my daughter won’t tell me. In search for answer, I read the Unilocal reviews, talked with my daughter and counselors at S&K, and the only thing I can come up with is that my daughter was fine for few weeks at Steve and Kate’s until she lost her friend. After that, as what several parents wrote in Unilocal,she felt lost. Although what’s puzzling to me was that why my daughter became obsess and worried about spilling water or making a mess and scratching the table by accident. And why does she keep saying she’s scared and nervous before drop off time at the camp? We transferred her to another camp and the director of this camp upon observation concluded that something definitely happened at Steve and Kate’s and she’s not ready to talk about the matter.
When I informed Steve and Kate’s office that she won’t be coming back, I was asked for the reason to help them improve in the future. I explained, and the lady I spoke with, very nice although defensive, said that she remembered talking to the S&K Hillsborough director about my child. How my daughter would cry for 30 minutes after drop off time. Nevertheless, they called my child «uncontrollable,» which I did not appreciate at all. I felt like saying «you damaged my child and now you are calling her uncontrollable?» Although, I could see that it was pointless since she was defensive. And Oh when I brought up the fact that I believe the camp is designed for older kids per other Unilocalers, she said that it’s quite opposite and not to believe the Unilocal reviews!
I am so disappointed at Steve and Kate’s and I am so angry at myself for putting her over there without reading the Unilocal reviews, but what’s done is done and I can’t go back and beat myself with what happened. Although, I feel the need to warn other parents!
p. s. Here are some of the Unilocal reviews that I completely agree with:
«I would say, if your child is not going to attend with a friend and does not attend PAUSD, I would not send him/​her…»
«I think they should back up and program the marketing of their „kindercare“ better.»
«If you are looking for a camp for a younger child (age 5 – 6 years), this might be the best fit. Unless your child is extremely outgoing and comfortable with a more open ended experience. S and K’s camp felt, at times. like Lord of the Flies or Peter Pan… This can lead to the little guys being overwhelmed or trying desperately to glom on to anyone who will give them direction…»
«I think that kids who are 5 — 6 are still learning how to socialize, in fact, that aspect of their development is in hyper drive, and I don’t think there’s enough supervision at S&K’s to guide the younger kids through this.»
«MAJOR MAJOR disappointment. OVER priced and NOT good for the small kids. The whole „choose what you do as you go“ leaves young children meandering around all day LOST…»

This is the review for Hillsborough, CA Location
What a mistake to sign up this place. When we picked our daughter up at 6PM, she was still wearing her damp swimsuit. It was a windy and cold day at Hillsborough. We expect that the counselors would remind a five-​year-​old to change into her warm and dry clothes (we packed in her backpack). A five-​year-​old girl still needs adult supervision.
we watched their videos before we signed up this camp. In the video, it indicates we will be introduced to her huddle leader. However, we still have not met her huddle leader after her 2^nd day.

I was referred to Steve and Kate’s Camp a couple of years ago by a friend and was absolutely thrilled to have found them. My daughter attends the San Mateo camp and loves her time there immensely. On her first day at camp that first summer she said she wanted to go to Steve and Kate’s everyday, not just in the summer months. She talked about going to summer camp nearly once a week throughout the regular school year too.
Last Summer my daughter had a couple of complaints about the camp. She was disappointed the camp no longer had crepes available for morning snack and she felt the quality of lunch choices wasn’t as good as the year prior. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not so tough a complaint. :^)
My daughter enjoys the camp counselors and the interactions she has with the other children. I can tell that the counselors spend quality time with the kids helping them become engaged in activities they want to do but may be too afraid to try. My daughter can be shy when it comes to performing in front of others, but after last Summer, she’s now more confident than ever before.
I’m very thankful I was introduced to Steve and Kate’s Camp and highly recommend it to others.

My child when to this camp in 2011 in Palo Alto.
What was good:
Price was very reasonable for 20 visits. Because I have an irregular work schedule using only the days I needed worked great. The registration process is easy thanks to very functional website. The counselors are young, hip and wear cool t-​shirts. My son was so bored that in this camp that he started downloading a book a day on his Kindle. This is a kid who has not read for fun in months. The quality of food was great. I loved the allergy/​asthma bracelet idea. Customer service reps issued me an easy to use receipt for my work when the web site prit out was not enough.
What was not good:
While the idea of freedom of choice as far as activities sounds great in theory, in practice there are a lot of counselors who are talking to each other somewhere in the distance while bored kids wonder around. Some promised and anticipated activities were counseled. Some activities were really popular but more assertive kids would be able to participate, and others like son never got to participate. He really wanted to be in the LEGO room but younger kids would be there whole day long and counselors never did anything about it.
Some activities sounded better on paper than in real life. The ceramic were very primitive as in no glazing or color. For a child who took ceramic before that was simply boring.
The check in and check out process usually took much longer than it should have simply because there were either not enough check in staff, computers did not work or staff was doing something else, like discussing the party they want to the night before instead of working with the customers.
Many time my son was very bored. I spent a fair amount on book downloads so he could sit in some quiet place and read. It was very hot summer and this place could have used some more water based activities.
The quantity of food was ridiculous. Tiny cup of soup and mac and cheese, ¼ size of normal pizza slice. Yes, my son could get as many second as he wanted but he had to stay in line again and again. It was very frustrating experience for him. A 12 year old growing boy needed 6 – 8 pizza slices, 5 – 6 sliders etc to feel full.
My son’s opinion of this camp was «I never want to go back again»

I have heard so many great things about Steve & Kate’s Camp and have been waiting for them to come down near us. They finally came down to Palo Alto in summer of 2010, but due to schedules, etc., my kids could not go.
In 2011, they were able to attend and as predicted, LOVED it! They have a lot of things to try and do such as knitting, sewing, outdoor sports, production of videos and audio. The really enjoyed the food and the counselors were caring and interactive.
It is also convenient since you so not have to attend a whole week, you can pick and choose the days and any location.
I will be signing up both kids for the 2012 Summer (and I wish I could go with them!)

This review is for the Steve & Kate’s Camp in Palo Alto at Fairmeadow Elementary School.
My child has gone for 1 week so far and loves it here. Part of the reason may be that the kids get ice cream each morning after the big group Kick-​Off, the kid-​friendly hot lunch, and carnival-​like activities. However, I’m not as impressed. It’s literally Free Choice All Day Long. For younger kids I find it very difficult for them to transition at drop off and am not sure if there is enough adult direction during the day to prevent them from aimlessly wandering around a good portion of the day. There seem to be mostly college kids as counselors who are nice enough, but don’t have expertise on how to engage the kids beyond whatever cool activity may be happening at the moment. The counselors only see the kids during 2 short huddles and lunch time so it doesn’t seem like much of a relationship is formed or desired by the camp culture. At the end of the day, my child tries to say «good-​bye» to his huddle counselor and she hardly seems to give him the time of the day. I don’t know how much training/​supervision the counselors get because while some seem very energetic and friendly, others are nice enough but I get the feeling they wouldn’t mind being somewhere else.
I will say I am impressed with the equipment and activities offered, much less so with the quality of relationships formed between counselor-​child or even child-​child. It’s definitely a free-​for-​all type summer camp with tons of activities for children, but it’s up to each child to make the most of it. Probably a much better option for older kids.
Hot lunch provided seems good enough. My child has seconds and thirds and says you’re allowed to each as much as you want as long as you finish. Snacks don’t seem to be as good and more skimpy. Morning crepes (ok, not bad), then watermelon and carrots all day long until late afternoon (~5:00 it seems) literally slices of bread that disappear fast. My child is always famished at pick up.

My children attended S+K camp in Palo Alto the summer of 2010 and had a ball. In deciding which camps they would like to attend this summer, they listed S+K in their top 3. I agree with Susannah’s review in every sense: there are tons of fun activities for the kids and flexibility for the parents. What’s not to like? Both my children didn’t know anyone in the camp when we started, and by the end of the first week my daughter had recorded 2 music CDs with a new friend and my son was walking around arm-​in-​arm with a pal he met on the soccer field. This year we are going to try the location in San Mateo and can’t wait!
BUT. This is a camp for kids who are self-​directed. It can be overwhelming for kids who are slow-​to-​warm or have trouble deciding what they want to do. I personally think that this camp is a great, safe opportunity for kids to develop those skills and if you talk with the counselors I’m sure they will make every effort to ensure your kids have a great time.

Both of my children have attended SKC this summer – the Palo Alto location. My son is 8 and my daughter is 4. I ilke the ease of use with this camp – the entire process from registering online to checking in is very efficient, intuitive & streamlined. My kids like the variety of activities and the freedom the camp gives them to do what they like. They also like the fact that they can attend together and spend much of the day together – it’s the only camp I’ve found where kids with an age spread of 3 – 4 years are able to spend a significant amount of time together. They have enjoyed the food as well. I have attended parts of the opening ceremonies and afternoon game show and I’m impressed with the balance of things – there is some «rah rah» counselor silliness, but it doesn’t feel overdone or forced. As a point of comparison, my oldest attended a week of Camp Galileo last summer and found it really forced and way too structured. Lastly, one of my kids is very outgoing & makes friends easily, the other is very shy & slow to warm – both have felt really comfortable at SKC.