Keystone Kidspace

Short Description:

Keystone Kidspace is a hands-on, experiential learning space for kids and families that provides access to STEAM enrichment.

How Keystone Kidspace supports STEM Education, Career Readiness, and the FrAY Ecosystem:

Keystone Kidspace is an innovative, nonprofit experiential learning center that recently opened in the historic York armory in York City. We are a hub for dynamic STEAM programming and experiences for young people and their families, focused primarily on those in elementary and middle school. Our offerings are varied, hands-on and multidisciplinary, including programs in the areas of science, engineering and the arts. Our focus is on giving kids the opportunity to work with real tools and real materials, as well as permission to make a mess and even fail (essential parts of the creative process), ultimately building skills, resilience and creative confidence. It is our belief that by creating a place that teaches a wide variety of technical and creative skills, Keystone Kidspace will build on York’s legacy of making to encourage our kids to become the next generation of makers and doers.

All students deserve engaging and equitable learning opportunities to prepare them for a world that is experiencing rapid social and technological change. Quality STEAM learning opportunities delivered in a makerspace like ours – one that is designed for young people – are ideally suited to address this growing need. Keystone Kidspace activates students’ skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, communication and collaboration. We empower kids to identify and solve problems that affect them and their community. We build their resilience by allowing them to fail, try again, and learn from their mistakes. And we offer them a safe space to playfully follow their curiosity and explore with varied tools and materials.