Country of Residence
United States
Age
16
Project title
STEMSeeds: Hands-On STEM for Kids in Hospitals
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
STEMSeeds is a student-led 501(c)(3) that has delivered 1,005+ free, hands-on STEM kits (paper rockets, catapults, and robotic hands) to children in hospitals and underserved communities, run by 32 student chapters across 6 countries so that every child can discover the joy of STEM, even from a hospital bed.
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
stemseeds.net Instagram: stemseeds.initiative https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhilanavula
Project Category
My project is an existing project that I started
Project Stage
Established (We have regular weekly or monthly impact that we are reliably measuring)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
The idea for STEMSeeds began with a simple realization: for children spending weeks or even months in hospitals, the world outside doesn’t stop moving, but their opportunities to explore it often do. I’ve always believed that some of the most meaningful learning happens outside a classroom, whether through building something with your hands or experimenting with new ideas. But I began thinking about children whose medical circumstances kept them from those experiences. While their peers went to school, joined clubs, and discovered new interests, hospitalized children often missed out on the small moments of discovery that make learning exciting. That was my “aha!” moment. What if we could bring the excitement of a science lab directly to a hospital room? My co-founders and I started STEMSeeds in Frisco, Texas, with the belief that a child’s circumstances should never limit their curiosity. We designed hands-on STEM kits for hospitalized children, so an ordinary hospital day could become a chance to build, test, and discover something new. What started as a local idea has grown into a mission that crosses borders. Along the way, we realized our kits could do more than teach science: they could give children a sense of independence and joy during one of the hardest times in their lives.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Growing up, I loved the hands-on parts of learning, whether that meant building a project from scratch or making a baking soda volcano. But I soon realized that not every child gets those experiences. For children spending weeks or months in hospitals, even simple classroom activities often aren’t possible. Hospitals do an incredible job caring for children’s physical health, but there are fewer chances for kids to keep exploring their interests in fun, interactive ways. Long absences from school can also leave children feeling disconnected from their friends and the activities they used to love. We believe every child should get to experience the excitement of learning, whatever their circumstances. STEM activities are especially valuable because they let kids be creative, solve problems, and feel proud of something they made themselves. That’s the problem STEMSeeds addresses. By creating and delivering hands-on STEM kits to hospitalized children, we hope to make their days more exciting and help them stay curious. We know a STEM kit can’t change what a child is going through medically. But if it gives them something to look forward to, and a chance to just be a kid for a little while, that’s already a meaningful difference.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
STEMSeeds designs, assembles, and delivers free hands-on STEM kits that children can complete right from their hospital rooms. Each kit includes three engineering projects: a paper rocket, a pom-pom catapult, and a robotic hand. Through them, kids explore Newton’s laws of motion, potential and kinetic energy, and how tendons move the fingers in the human body. We wanted the kits to be fun, but also to teach something real. So each experiment comes with an educational flyer our team designed, explaining the science behind what they’re building in a way kids can understand. Safety comes first. All materials are hospital-safe, latex-free, and free of sharp objects, and every kit includes clear step-by-step instructions with QR code video tutorials. Each kit costs about $5 to make. Student volunteers pack every kit by hand and deliver it in person, usually to a hospital’s Child Life team, who pass the kits on to patients. Our goal isn’t just to teach STEM. It’s to give kids something to look forward to during a difficult time. Whether it’s launching their first paper rocket or finally getting their robotic hand to move, we want every child to feel the excitement of something they built actually working.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
STEMSeeds has delivered more than 1,085 kits to children in hospitals and underserved communities. What started as a small project is now a nonprofit with 32 chapters in 6 countries: the U.S., Canada, India, Bangladesh, Sweden, and the Philippines. Our kits have reached patients at Cook Children’s, Children’s Health Dallas and Plano, Medical City Frisco, the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, and Holland Bloorview in Toronto. Chapters have also delivered 100 kits to a school in India, 175 to schools in Bangladesh, and kits through the Swedish Red Cross, with instructions translated into Bangla and Swedish. The cities of Frisco and Mansfield both gave us Certificates of Recognition. Students lead all of this. Chapters have raised more than $5,000 through donations and events, like our Michigan chapter’s pickleball tournament, which raised $300+. Our Greensboro chapter partnered with FaithAction, an immigrant assistance program, to deliver its first 30 kits. What matters most is what each kit means to a child. When our Reedy chapter delivered kits to Cook Children’s, the Child Life specialist told us, “Oh my gosh, you guys are amazing. The kids are going to love this!” That’s the reaction we hope for every time.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What makes STEMSeeds different is that we design STEM experiences specifically for children who can’t take part in traditional learning, and we let high school students lead that effort. Many STEM programs rely on in-person workshops or expensive equipment, which hospitalized children can’t access. Our kits remove those barriers. The three projects range from quick (the paper rocket) to more challenging (the robotic hand), so children can learn at their own pace. And because we only use hospital-safe materials, kids can build safely from their beds. We also combine physical kits with digital resources. Alongside the educational flyers, we built an interactive website, stemseeds.net, where kids can try each experiment virtually, follow step-by-step build guides, and see the science behind how their projects work. Finally, our student-led chapter model makes STEMSeeds easy to expand. Any high school student can apply to start a chapter. We send them our kit design, instruction manual, science flyers, and a delivery guide, and they take it from there: raising funds, assembling kits, and partnering with hospitals and organizations in their own community. That’s how one idea in Frisco became 32 chapters across 6 countries. As we grow, we’ll keep improving, but the main goal stays the same: making sure every child has the opportunity to explore.
How many people are on your team?
52
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
More than 50 students run STEMSeeds. Three co-founders lead kit design, fundraising, the website, and expansion. Our outreach team builds hospital partnerships and recruits new chapter leaders. Our 32 chapter leaders recruit volunteers, raise funds, assemble kits, and plan deliveries. States with many chapters, like Texas with 10, have a state president. Chapter leaders choose their own events and partners, and we stay in regular contact to share ideas.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
By the end of 2027, we aim to reach 2,500 kits delivered and 50 chapters, including chapters in new countries. We’re already talking with UWC Thailand about a chapter that would serve social orphans and children of Burmese migrant workers. Our Greensboro chapter at the STEM Early College at NC A&T is also preparing our first kit drop in Nigeria, which would bring STEMSeeds kits to a new continent. We’re also expanding beyond kits. In Miami-Dade, we’re partnering with ESW, a collegiate student-led organization, on a hands-on workshop led by Dwyhan and Pierina that teaches children about STEM and engineering in person. We hope to turn it into a model other chapters can use. We’ll build stronger partnerships with children’s hospitals and work with Child Life specialists to learn which activities work best for kids of different ages and abilities. We also plan to add new experiments to our kits. To fund this, we’ll use community events, sponsorships, and grants. Every $5 funds one complete kit, so grant money goes straight into kits for children. We’ll also create standard resources for chapter leaders and appoint more state presidents. Our long-term goal is a community of young volunteers who make STEM accessible and bring some excitement into the lives of hospitalized children.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
Our biggest recruitment tool has been LinkedIn, where our outreach team connects with high school students interested in STEM, healthcare, or community service. Those conversations have helped us find students in new communities who want to start STEMSeeds chapters and bring kits to their local hospitals. We also encourage members to spread the word through their schools, clubs, and personal networks. Our chapter model makes it easy to get involved, whether that’s organizing a fundraiser, assembling kits, reaching out to hospitals, or recruiting volunteers. We want members to feel like they’re doing more than completing service hours. They’re taking ownership of a project that makes a real difference in their own community. We also feature every chapter’s deliveries on our website and Instagram, so students can see what their peers have built and picture doing it themselves. Moving forward, we plan to grow through school partnerships, volunteer events, and social media campaigns. Our message to other young people is simple: you don’t need years of experience or a big budget to help your community. You need a few classmates, a plan, and a nearby hospital that could use some STEM kits.
