Playing At Learning
Playing At Learning inspires Northern California youth through hands-on STEM and robotics programs.
Playing At Learning is a Northern California 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to inspiring K–12 students through hands-on robotics and STEM programs. As the regional partner for youth robotics programs like FIRST®, we serve over 10,000 students annually across the Bay Area, Central Valley, and across Northern California.
Through our team-based robotics programs and our dedicated STEM facility, The Play Space in San Jose, we turn natural curiosity into technical skill, confidence, and real-world leadership.
We provide a continuous STEM learning pathway for kids aged 4 to 18:
- Early STEM Exploration (Grades K–4): Hands-on building and teamwork exercises that introduce fundamental engineering concepts before gender and social stereotypes take hold.
- Robotics & Research Challenges (Grades 3–8): Students build and code autonomous robots to solve challenges while researching real-world problems and presenting solutions to industry judges.
- Advanced Engineering (Grades 7–12): High school teams design, program, and manage industrial-grade metal robots using metal hardware, Java coding, and CAD software, running their teams like small tech startups.
- The Play Space: Our San Jose facility serves as a shared makerspace, tournament venue, and equipment loan hub—ensuring events and teams are provided with the tools that they need
We focus heavily on breaking down financial and systemic barriers in STEM education:
- 10,000+ Students inspired every year across 1,000+ teams.
- 35% Female Participation—significantly higher than typical tech workforce averages.
- 2,000+ Volunteers Mobilized as judges, referees, and mentors, contributing over 100,000 volunteer hours annually.
- Targeted Financial Support: We provide grants, starter kits, and equipment loans to teams with high need, low income youth.
Students leave our programs not just with technical skills like coding and CAD design, but with essential leadership abilities: project management, public speaking, conflict resolution, and teamwork.
Playing At Learning is a Platinum recognized nonprofit at Candid (formerly GuideStar). This means that our organization has achieved the highest possible level of recognition for transparency, accountability, and public disclosure. This status places our nonprofit among the top 1% of nonprofits nationwide that actively share measurable outcomes and strategic goals with the public. Learn more at candid.org
Donors
Luby Gao Both of my kids benefited tremendously from the FIRST programs that Play At Learning has hosted over the past several years. Those experiences sparked a passion for robotics that has stayed with them well beyond the program. My older one is...
giuliano carlini Jill, Mark, all,
Glad to help create a space for kids who need a place to be with others like themselves. Engineering and STEM are great and all that, it's what brought me joy in my life. ...
giuliano carlini Jill, Mark, all,
Glad to help create a space for kids who need a place to be with others like themselves. Engineering and STEM are great and all that, it's what brought me joy in my life....
Shannon Xue Our kids started with FLL when they were 10 and finished with FTC in 12th grade. They wouldn't have been who they are today without their experience with FIRST. It's not just the technical knowledge, more importantly it's the teamwork, the ...
Jim Poston Jill & Mark, you've made a huge positive difference for youth in northern California and the world, not to mention the adult volunteers you've inspired through your work with FIRST international.
We're happy to help you continue your missi...
Sohini Stone Both of our kids and many of our neighbors kids benefited greatly from P@L and FLL -- beyond igniting passion for STEM, it gave them a place to explore research, presentation, and competition. Hope this helps!