AI LEMONADE STAND

Think first.
Then create next.

Creativity. Curiosity. Mindset. Collaboration.

The camp

A summer camp where kids learn AI by making. Small group, in person, in Venice.

Summer camp · Ages 9–14
July 20–24 · Venice, CA · 9am–3pm
AI Sandbox
AI agency for kids

A week of hands-on play with real AI tools, built on a tested method. No lectures, no theory. Kids start by making, and learn AI through experimenting, not instruction. They think and create first, then let the tool amplify.

They don't just learn to use AI — they gain agency over it. They lead, the tool follows. They build real AI literacy: question what it gives them, learn from what they make, make it their own. They learn it the way you learn a language — by living it, until it flows. Not users of AI. Leaders of it. And they have fun doing it.

5 days · Ages 9–14 · Small group · Venice, CA · $575

Want to enroll?

Early bird discount for the July camp.

Know more & enroll now →

What is AI Lemonade Stand

A method of learning AI
that feels like playing around.

We help kids use creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, collaboration, and mindset to get the most out of AI.

For work. For play. For you.

Our Why

Your kid is growing up with AI.
Will they lead it, or lean on it?

We ran camps in Venice and Santa Monica. Kids, real AI tools, no curriculum. Here's what they worked out on their own.

They came in thinking the AI had the answers. "I thought it would just KNOW. It doesn't just know." So they started pushing back. Questioning it. Telling it no. "I kept saying no no no. Then it got good."

The kid who argues with the AI is the kid who leads it. "It never says no," one told us. "My mom says no all the time."

That's the lesson. Simple, and nothing new.
Think first.

→ See what they figured out

Science

Your brain on AI.
The science bit.

Truth 01

AI doesn't replace imagination. It reveals whether you have any.

The tool is neutral. Curiosity produces remarkable things. Outsourcing your thinking produces average.

Truth 02

Imagination is a muscle. Use it or lose it.

MIT Media Lab measured it. People who outsourced thinking to AI showed weaker neural connectivity. The researchers called it cognitive debt.

Truth 03

Outsource = cognitive debt. Lead first = cognitive gain.

When people thought first and used AI second, brain activity increased. Better recall. Better output. The sequence is everything.

You bring the spark. AI makes it bigger.

→ How we see AI — 7 things we figured out

The proof

More AI. Less dependent on it.

Two pilots and an after-school program in Venice. The result was the opposite of what most parents fear: the kids didn't get hooked on AI. They got agency over it.

They came out understanding the tool is the dumb one — that the creativity, the judgment, the lead has to come from them. They use AI more, and lean on it less.

Tested at Rivian Space, Venice. Twice. Same result.

Rivian Rivian Space · Venice

→ See where it started

Give your kid agency over AI.

AI Sandbox · July 20–24 · Venice, CA · Ages 9–14 · $575

Know more & enroll now →

The future belongs
to the most human.

— Bob Wollheim, founder

A Happy Capybara Initiative
← Back
AI Lemonade Stand

How we
see AI.

Seven things we figured out by learning like kids.

The Science

01
AI doesn't replace imagination. It reveals whether you have any.
Curiosity and a point of view produce remarkable things. Outsourcing your thinking produces average.
02
Imagination is a muscle. Use it or lose it.
MIT Media Lab measured it. People who outsourced their thinking to AI showed weaker neural connectivity over time. The researchers called it cognitive debt.
03
Outsource = cognitive debt. Lead first = cognitive gain.
When people thought first and used AI second, brain activity actually increased. Better recall. Better output. The sequence is everything.

The Learnings

01

AI is a collaborator, not an oracle.

"I thought it would just KNOW. It doesn't just know."

Most kids come to AI expecting the right answer. It's a thinking partner. Bring nothing, get nothing worth keeping.

02

Question everything it gives you.

"I asked why and it totally changed its answer. Like... what??"

AI is confident by design. You have to be the one who asks why, pushes back, says that's not right.

03

Spark first. Amplify second.

"It can be creative, but the creativity comes from us."

AI can produce. It cannot originate. The idea, the instinct comes from you. You have to show up with something first.

04

Disagree with it. Push back. Say "no, that's not it."

"I kept saying no no no. Then it got good."

The kids who argued with the AI got the best results. Pushing back isn't rude — it's how you stay in charge.

05

Bring your weird. Your stories. Your hunches.

"A girl standing on water, dolphins flying, a kid driving a boat."

The more specific and personal you are, the better AI gets. Your gut feeling is the raw material it can't generate on its own.

06

Have a point of view. AI won't.

"I asked what it liked better and it said 'both are great'."

It is built to agree. The kid who decides, who takes a position, that kid leads.

07

AI wants to please you. That's the trap.

"It never says no. My mom says no all the time."

It never pushes back. That feels good. It's also dangerous. You need to be your own critic.

When imagination leads → remarkable.
When technology leads → you are the machine.

"The future belongs to the most human." — kids with AI agency.

A Happy Capybara Initiative