The Rubber Band Project stretches how kids think. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that brings hands-on, design-process STEAM learning to K–12 students and their teachers. Every project bundles science, technology, engineering, art, and math together, and every project is built on one idea: plan it, build it, test it, fail, learn, and make it better.
Who we are
The Rubber Band Project was founded by Steve Gross and Dr. Kelly Gross in Wheaton, Illinois. Steve brings more than a decade of experience consulting with over 400 school districts on technology, a background as a high school teacher in Iowa and New York City, and a master’s degree in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University. Dr. Kelly Gross is a Professor of Art Education at Northern Illinois University, whose work focuses on design thinking and STEAM education.
We started in December 2014 with a before-school STEAM club at Emerson Elementary School: twenty students, kindergarten through 5th grade, a box of Chromebooks, and the Hour of Code. More than a hundred club members later, that club became the testing ground for everything we now bring to schools across Illinois.
What we believe
- Failure is part of learning. Bridges crack, circuits don’t close, code won’t compile. In our classrooms, every failure is the start of the next design.
- Kids learn by making. Students construct understanding by handling real materials and working through real problems, not by watching someone else do it.
- Subjects belong together. In the real world, engineers draw and artists code. Our projects mix disciplines the way real work does.
- Students learn from each other. Mixed-age groups let older students coach younger ones, and some of the most original ideas come from our youngest makers.
- Deeper beats faster. We deliberately do fewer projects and give students time to iterate until their ideas work.
What we do
- Student projects: Multi-session units for STEAM clubs and classrooms, from toothpick bridges and catapults to interactive sound sculptures and Arduino light sculptures.
- Event activities: Paper Rocket Launch, Squishy Circuits, and more for school STEAM days, STEM nights, and expos, serving hundreds of students in a single day.
- Teacher professional development: Hands-on workshops in circuitry, Arduino coding, and, new in 2026, using AI as a coding partner in elementary computer science.
Where we’ve been
- Fry Elementary School STEAM Day (Indian Prairie School District), a decade and counting
- NIU STEMFEST, where hundreds of students build and launch paper rockets each year
- Cantigny Catapult Contest and Cantigny First Division Museum workshops
- Student Excellence Foundation and NEW 200 Foundation STEM Expos
- Oak Park Educational Foundation’s Fall Into STEM
- Student Arduino sculptures exhibited at the Illinois State University 2020 Faculty Biennial
- National Arts Integration and STEAM Conference (2026), where one planned workshop became two for 80 teachers
- IdeaCon, Illinois (2027)
Grounded in research
We study what we teach. Our 2016 article in Art Education, “Transformation: Constructivism, Design Thinking, and Elementary STEAM,” describes the approach behind our STEAM club. Steve’s two-year study, presented at the 2018 Mid-Western Educational Research Association meeting, explored whether design-process STEAM projects help students build grit. STEAM club students showed larger gains than their peers, especially in sticking with long-term projects.
Work with us
Whether you’re planning a STEAM night, a full-day STEM event, a multi-week club unit, or professional development for your teachers, we’d love to help. For many events, all you need to provide is the space and the students. We bring the rest.
Contact Steve Gross at steve@rubberbandproject.org.