School of the Future for Elementary (Grades 1-5) ESTEAM® Design Challenge Kits

Prototype the Future of Learning

Your investment today empowers young students to stop asking "What is school?" and start asking "What could school be?"

The School of the Future challenge invites elementary students to become architects of their own education. Using the human-centered design process, students brainstorm and build physical prototypes of learning spaces that prioritize joy, curiosity, and community. Whether they are designing a "gravity-free" library or a digital app to help classmates collaborate, students learn that their ideas have the power to reshape the world around them.

This all-in-one kit brings ESTEAM® to life by blending creative engineering with entrepreneurial strategy, ensuring students don't just build—they innovate with a purpose.

What’s Inside Your Design Challenge Kit?

Everything you need to serve up to 30 students 30 mins to 2+ hours of programming:

• 15 Pre-made Material Bags: Individual kits containing high-potential "maker" supplies (tape, pipe cleaners, foil, craft sticks, etc).
• Easy to use Facilitator Guide: Step-by-step instructions, discussion prompts, and reflection tools to ensure a high-impact experience.
• 4 Extension Activities: Take the challenge further with graphic organizers for app prototyping (wireframing), market research, and business modeling.
• 12 Entrepreneurial Mindset Posters: Vibrant classroom visuals to reinforce habits like grit, empathy, and risk-taking.
• 1 Deck of Mindset Cards: Interactive tools to spark daily entrepreneurial thinking.

From Prototyping to Pitching:

Students move through a professional-grade innovation cycle adapted for young learners:

1. Rapid Physical Prototyping: Building 3D models of imaginative learning spaces.
2. Storyboarding & Wireframing: Choosing to illustrate user interactions or design a digital product using app wireframe organizers.
3. Iteration & Feedback: Using the provided tools to test their ideas and make them even better.

Skills That Build Future Leaders:

✓ Human-Centered Design: Starting with empathy to solve problems for real people.
✓ Resourcefulness: Turning simple materials into complex, innovative solutions.
✓ Professional Communication: Practicing the art of the pitch and storyboarding.
✓ Strategic Thinking: Understanding revenue and business models through the included extension activities.

Perfect for:

Afterschool & enrichment programs • Makerspaces & innovation labs • Summer camps • Elementary classrooms • School counselors • Homeschool Co-ops • Youth leadership initiatives • Gifted & Talented Programs

Fueling the VentureLab Mission

When you bring an ESTEAM® Design Challenge Kit into your classroom, you are doing more than teaching a lesson. You are supporting VentureLab’s mission to provide world-class entrepreneurship education to all youth, helping us close the opportunity gap and equip the next generation of diverse leaders with the confidence to create their own futures.

Check out the ESTEAM® Design Challenge Program Deck to see what it looks like for both youth and instructors.