CurioCrate
A student-led STEM program that turns scientific concepts into hands-on lessons, experiment kits, and classroom activities delivered through YMCA programs, Discovery Cube, schools, community organizations, and international partners.
Developed through CKF’s STEM Division and expanded through student volunteers, community partnerships, and enrichment experiences such as NASA site visits.
Grant Support
$5,000
Society for Science — STEM Action Grant
$1,500
The Vasant and Prabha Rathi Foundation
2026
YMCA
Official Lab Partner
Hands-on STEM labs, youth instruction, and science programming
El Salvador
Government STEM Partnership
Official collaboration delivering science kits and curricula to Salvadoran students
The grants listed above were awarded to Connect Key Foundation for the CurioCrate program. Across all of its programs, CKF has received approximately $30,000 in cumulative grants and institutional support.
From Scientific Concept to Hands-On Program
CKF students develop each activity through lesson design, experiment testing, kit preparation, instructor training, and classroom feedback.
Design the Lesson
Student teams choose a scientific concept and develop an age-appropriate lesson with a clear objective, experiment, and explanation.
Test the Experiment
Volunteers test materials, quantities, timing, and safety procedures before an activity is used with students.
Build the Kit
Materials are organized into reusable kits with lesson guides, supply lists, and notes for student instructors.
Teach, Observe, and Revise
Trained volunteers lead the activity, observe how students respond, and improve the lesson for future sessions and locations.
Daniel Son
Co-Founder & Executive Director (2026–Present), Connect Key Foundation
CKF Co-President, 2025
STEM Division President, 2023–2024 · 2026–Present
When Daniel took over CurioCrate it was a curriculum on paper. He turned it into a program with a delivery schedule.
He built the YMCA partnership that gave CurioCrate dedicated lab space and, in time, standing as a contracted vendor — sessions now run through summer, fall break and winter at the Wrigley and Fairfield centers in Long Beach. He recruited and trained the student instructors who teach them, and built the kit system they teach from: experiments tested until they hold, supply lists, safety procedures, instructor notes. Packed so that a first-time volunteer can run a lesson without him in the room.
That last part is why the program travels. The kits now reach elementary schools, Discovery Cube, and classrooms in El Salvador through a partnership with that country’s government; students across six states and countries have worked through them. Society for Science funded the program in 2024, and a second foundation grant followed in 2026.
He still tests the lessons himself.
A Message from the President
Daniel Son on what CurioCrate sets out to do, and why students build the lessons themselves.
Jeongseop Yoon
Co-Founder, Connect Key Foundation
CKF Co-President, 2026
Jeongseop named CurioCrate around a simple premise: a student’s zip code should not decide whether they ever get to run an experiment. He helped write its first lessons. As CKF Co-President he now helps lead the foundation’s student teams across all five divisions.
CKF × YMCA Summer STEM
Throughout Summer 2026, CurioCrate student instructors led recurring hands-on STEM sessions through YMCA youth programs. Each week paired an original lesson with a live experiment, small-group mentoring, and opportunities for children to test scientific ideas themselves.
Sessions included chemistry, viscosity and non-Newtonian fluids, dry-ice demonstrations, engineering challenges, and other age-appropriate activities developed and taught by CKF's STEM team.
Hands-on STEM exploration
YMCA program at full scale
CKF student instructor team
Summer STEM community celebration
Two Lessons from Summer 2026
Build a Heart Pump
Children built working models of a heart pump from jars, straws, and balloons, then squeezed them to push colored water through, the same way a heart moves blood.
Can We Catch the Wind?
On the last day of the summer program, the lesson asked whether wind can be turned into electricity. Each child folded and tested a pinwheel to see how blades catch moving air.
Beyond the Classroom Kit
Within CKF's STEM Division, CurioCrate now runs four initiatives, led by a student team of nearly 20 officers across curriculum, operations, marketing, product development, and chapter development. Kits are developed with input from college professors and industry professionals, and materials are available in English and Spanish.
500+
Students Reached
20+
Workshops
40+
Curriculum Modules
4+
Communities
Hands-On Teaching
Trained student volunteers lead experiment-based sessions at schools, community centers, and libraries, while a remote team writes the lesson guides and curricula behind every session.
Kit Development Internship
A selective program for students in grades 9–12. Each cohort of 2–3 designs a kit that runs in one 45-minute class, tests it with real students, and revises it after review by a professor or industry professional. Finished kits receive up to $1,000 in production funding. Cohort 01 opened in 2026.
STEM Advocacy Project
A national competition run with the Youth Civics Think Tank. Teams of 2–3 high school students research STEM equity, then present a video pitch and one-page proposal meant for school leaders. First held August–September 2026.
Student Chapters
Students at other schools can launch their own CurioCrate chapter: apply, meet with a chapter development officer, build a leadership team, and host a first workshop.
Curriculum Areas
Physics · Chemistry · Engineering · Coding · Electronics · Biology · Laboratory Science
Lessons are adapted for different age groups, program lengths, and available materials.
CurioCrate in Action
Summer 2026 STEM Explorers
CurioCrate × YMCA Summer Program
Experiment Station
YMCA Lab Session
Student Mentors
YMCA STEM Program
Color Change Chemistry
Elephant Toothpaste Experiment
Engineering Kit Activity
Kit Distribution Day
CurioCrate Science Setup
Classroom STEM Session
CurioCrate Team — YMCA
CKF STEM Event
STEM Division
Interested in CurioCrate?
Whether you want to volunteer, partner with us, or bring CurioCrate to your community — we'd love to hear from you.