47 STEM programs for kids in Manhattan, 7 free. Coding, science, chess, cooking. Includes Cooper Union Summer STEM and Marshall Chess Club Junior Programs.
One of the oldest chess clubs in the country hosts Sunday junior tournaments and runs the Marshall Chess Academy with classes and school-break camps for young players. Kids get to play rated games in a historic Greenwich Village brownstone.
High schoolers spend three or six summer weeks in Cooper Union's engineering school working on hands-on projects such as building a calculator from digital circuits, designing iOS apps, prototyping with Arduino and testing water quality. Classes meet Monday through Thursday.
High schoolers use a fully equipped fabrication and robotics space on the Cornell Tech campus to build competition robots, learn digital design and experiment with prototyping tools. The center has long evening and weekend hours, and membership is free.
Kids explore buildings and cities through drawing, 3D model making, city planning and computer design challenges. Offerings include after-school classes, monthly Saturday family workshops, vacation programs and week-long summer sessions.
High schoolers with a strong interest in science spend Saturday mornings on Columbia's campus taking college-level courses in subjects across the sciences, math and engineering taught by university scientists. The program runs through the academic year.
An interactive fire-safety center run by the FDNY Foundation where kids climb aboard a real-looking fire truck, try on firefighter gear and meet a firefighter. A presentation with a simulated smoke-filled hallway teaches what to do in a fire.
Motivated students take small after-school and weekend classes in advanced math problem solving, along with language arts, science and computer science. The focus is on deep conceptual understanding and collaborative problem-solving rather than memorization, and two-week summer camps are offered.
A Greenwich Village chess shop and club where kids can take private lessons, join group classes and camps, and play in tournaments. The relaxed setting lets beginners and competitive players learn at their own pace.
Students get one-on-one or small-group tutoring from certified tutors after an academic evaluation, with plans covering math, reading, writing, science and study skills. Older kids can prepare for SAT, ACT and other standardized tests.
Students get one-on-one or small-group tutoring from certified tutors after an academic evaluation, with plans covering math, reading, writing, science and study skills. Older kids can prepare for SAT, ACT and other standardized tests.
Summer campers dive into themed STEM weeks such as astronaut training, aviation and coding plus game development, with older groups spending about half the day outdoors in nearby Central Park. Half-day mini-camps are offered for the youngest kids.
Girls and gender-expansive youth take free after-school programs in science, technology, media and the arts, including sessions in the club's own planetarium and a hands-on Maker Shop. Middle and high schoolers register for year-round programming.
Students work through a personalized plan built from an initial skills assessment, getting small-group help from instructors on everything from number sense to algebra and test prep. Kids can also bring school homework to get support during sessions.
Kids get a personalized math plan after a diagnostic assessment, then work with instructors in small groups on the specific skills they need, from counting and fractions through algebra and SAT prep. Homework help is folded into the sessions.
Kids get a personalized math plan after a diagnostic assessment, then work with instructors in small groups on the specific skills they need, from counting and fractions through algebra and SAT prep. Homework help is folded into the sessions.
Students are paired with a coach in tiny groups of two to pursue their own coding projects, from Scratch games and Minecraft mods to Python, JavaScript and AI experiments. Seasonal camps cover robotics, game design and web development.
Chess instruction for kids offered through in-person private lessons, online one-on-one classes, after-school programs, tournaments and camps. The program is tied to the Chess Forum shop in Greenwich Village, which also hosts a weekly practice hour.
Kids from kindergarten through high school join FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge and robotics competition teams at this center inside the Washington Heights library. It also hosts fabrication activities, field trips and teen internships.
Hands-on engineering program where kids build and take home their own robots and gadgets, learning basic circuits, motors and design along the way. The local team runs after-school and in-school classes, holiday Foundry Fundays, summer Summer Circuits camps and birthday parties.
This nonprofit teaches chess to students in public schools across the city and hosts more than two dozen free scholastic tournaments each year where kids can compete. Summer programs and a college-bound track support players as they grow.
Children learn chess in skill-based groups from total beginners to tournament players, with plenty of supervised game play between lessons. School-break and summer camps pair several hours of chess each day with outdoor play and sports.
Kids learn and play chess with instruction grouped from beginners to rated players, and summer camps mix several hours of chess with outdoor play and games. The program also offers classes and chess birthday parties.
In-person coding courses for students in 5th grade and up on the Upper East and Upper West Sides. Each course runs twelve 75-minute sessions with at most ten students per instructor, and kids bring their own laptop.
Short themed day camps where kids make LEGO stop-motion films, cartoons and YouTube videos or design games in Roblox, Minecraft and 3D engines. Older campers (8-13) can also try battlebot building, music production and entrepreneurship, while 5-7 year olds get junior moviemaking, game-making and Minecraft building sessions.
LittleGotham lists 47 STEM programs for kids in Manhattan.
Yes. 7 of 47 are free to attend, including NYC FIRST STEM Center @ Cornell Tech, FDNY Fire Zone, Lower Eastside Girls Club STEAM Programs.
47 listings are indoors, such as Cooper Union Summer STEM, Marshall Chess Club Junior Programs, NYC FIRST STEM Center @ Cornell Tech.
Greenwich Village (10), Upper West Side (7), Upper East Side (3).