All of our camps follow a similar and familiar flow, the the main differences coming from the themes and lessons taught. Each day we focus on the weekly theme with a different STEAM related skill. For example, Mondays are for Minecraft and Animation, Tuesdays are for Robotics and Coding and Smart Art, Wednesdays we do science and engineering challenges mixed with graphic design, and so on.

Instructional hours for camps are 9am - 4pm Mon - Fri, with extended day available as early as 8am and extending until 5pm.

Our Full Day STEAM Camps start even before 9am as students arrive for "Free Explore", most kids favorite time of the day. During Free Explore, kids get to do exactly that--explore freely. They are invited to explore using our computer lab (with our carefully selected and appropriate apps and software), the robots, the art supplies, the recording studio equipment, musical instruments, Lego and other building and engineering supplies--really anything they want to use! Our teachers are there to help them learn while they explore as we set up for the day.

At 9am when camp starts, we'll welcome all students and introduce the themes, lessons, and ongoing challenges, split into groups for the day based on age, and talk about our day.

Between 9:30 and 12, students will go with their groups to a STEM lesson and an Art lesson. Often, it's not obvious which one is Art and which one is STEM, because we LOVE to blend our Art with technology and our STEM with visual and graphic arts as often as possible--and that's just the way we like it! Between lessons, students will get a snack break and free explore time or outdoor play time, depending on weather and location.

From 12 - 1 students will take a nice leisurely lunch break, with more free explore time and possible outdoor time mixed in.

In the afternoon, we follow the same basic schedule in reverse. Class, snack break, class, and finishing up the day strong with a little more Free Explore time during parent pick up time between 4 and 5.

The next day, we do it all again with new lessons, new challenges, more fun, and more learning!

Full STEAM Ahead was created by lifelong learners and educators, Ryan and Hilary Shore. You can learn more about them and their story here. What's important to know about about them is that they were award winning teachers for many years first, and business founders second. This distinction makes all the difference, because Full STEAM Ahead was built from the ground up as a place where students can thrive in a purpose built learning environment.

Full STEAM Ahead started in 2015 in Naples, FL and expanded to include Ft Myers in 2020, followed by Cape Coral, and now 3 locations in the Tampa area. We plan to add more summer camp locations across Florida over the next 5 years, and are also looking for ideal year-round sites as well where we can run our after school programs, homeschool programs, and build a thriving STEAM community based on passion, inspiration, and family!

Full STEAM Ahead is unique for quite a few reasons.

First, Full STEAM Ahead was created by award winning teachers with decades of experience in education, and we are highly selective when bringing in new teachers. Our teachers are experienced, highly trained, and most importantly--they care deeply about what they do. This makes all the difference in the world as opposed to hiring inexperienced counselors from local high schools or colleges, as many camps do.

Full STEAM Ahead camps also stand out for our balanced, tech-forward approach. Plenty of STEM and STEAM programs call themselves as such, but in reality they are neglecting half of what makes STEAM special. Our approach blends in highly engaging and relevant technology like Scratch, Minecraft, and TinkerCAD to teach the other elements of STEAM--Science, Engineering, Arts, Music, Math, and more. Not all activities are high tech--there are plenty of low-tech and no-tech challenges and lessons mixed in as well, but a truly balanced high tech approach surely sets us apart.

Our variety also sets us apart. Where else can you go to experience so much in a single week? In every STEAM Camp, our students learn using Minecraft, animation, coding/robotics, digital design, Smart Art, engineering, video editing, science, and so much more.

It's not just our lessons that make STEAM special. In fact, we would argue that what happens between the lessons is every bit as valuable, if not more so. Our one-of-a-kind learning environment was crafted over a decade of working with students. While students are not actively being taught, our students are surrounded by 3D printers, dedicated computer labs, private Minecraft servers for building, LEGOs as far as the eye can see, simple and advanced robotics kits for all ages, art supplies galore, recording studio equipment--really anything that any kid who loves to create things could ever want. Further, we reward and incentivize students for stepping outside of their comfort zone and trying out new things through our Challenge Badges and STEAM Culture.

Finally, while we may not be the cheapest option for summer camps, we guarantee you won't find more STEAM Camp for less money. Other comparable camps cost up to DOUBLE what our camps cost, making our camps far more accessible to more families. We will gladly put our camps up against anyone's at any price range and we're confident that kids will learn more, have more fun, feel more welcome, and leave more inspired than anywhere else.

Let us show you what the hype is all about!

Our Full Day STEAM Camps are the ideal starting point for all new STEAM families. In our new locations, we only offer these because they are such a good representation of who we are. We have dozens of themes and more than 700 unique lessons, all developed by us over our decade+ running STEAM programs.

In our more established locations, we also offer Half Day specialty camps. These camps offer a week long deep dive into a single topic such as Robotics, Chemistry, YouTube Creators, Video Game Design, and more. We also have year-round programs available in many of our more established locations such as after school programs, homeschool, offsite programs, birthday parties, and more!

Many of our summer teachers especially come to us with years of experience teaching in traditional schools. They are background checked, fingerprinted, and thoroughly vetted. We're picky because we can be! STEAM is a phenomenal place to teach, especially if you are used to the rigid confines of most traditional schools. All teachers also take part in a robust training program to learn about our STEAM Tech, STEAM Culture, and other things specific to what makes Full STEAM Ahead unique.

We also have positions for passionate and knowledgeable high school and college students. While they aren't lead teachers, they help spread the joy and passion and expertise of STEAM learning as well as anyone! In fact, many of our best assistant teachers are former students who have been with Full STEAM Ahead for many years. Nobody "gets it" better than they do!

We intentionally keep each of our Summer Camp programs SMALL. Most first year camps will have between 12-24 kids, with a teacher for every 12 kids at a minimum. We usually have a teacher for every 8 kids or better. We limit our group size to 12 students because so much of what we do is hands on and requires small groups to be successful and meaningful. More established camp locations may have up to 48 kids per day, but they are split into groups of no more than 12 so that we always maintain our small group feel with high quality hands on learning.

While we can't guarantee EVERY kid will like Full STEAM Ahead Camps, the overwhelming majority of our 5000+ kids that have done at least 1 program LOVE it. There's always something for every child to do, and we provide enough freedom for kids to guide their own learning so that they feel ownership too. We put a high priority on fun and engaging lessons, and Free Explore is like a choose-your-own-adventure learning environment loaded with the tech and toys that kids love most. The best compliment we get, and we get it ALL THE TIME, is when at the end of each day and each week, kids are legitimately sad to leave and want to stay until the very last second they can.