6th Street Playhouse, located in historic Railroad Square in Santa Rosa, presents professional quality productions of contemporary plays and popular musicals and provides to people of all ages and skill levels the opportunity to participate in theater through involvement and education in the arts. The company presents about a dozen productions each year.

Part of the American Conservatory Theater, this school offers a professional environment for budding young actors ages 8-to-18 who are seeking instruction in drama and voice. Classes offered include Shakespeare, Clowning, Acting Technique, Musical Theater, and Physical Comedy, among several others. The teachers are professional actors.

More information about the application process can be found on the web site www.actactortraining.org.

Part of the American Conservatory Theater, this school offers a professional environment for budding young actors ages 8-to-18 who are seeking instruction in drama and voice. Classes offered include Shakespeare, Clowning, Acting Technique, Musical Theater, and Physical Comedy, among several others. The teachers are professional actors.

More information about the application process can be found on the web site www.actactortraining.org.

Acting Professionally offers on-camera classes in which kids learn the mechanics of TV, film, and commercial acting - as well as auditioning and interviewing skills.

Working on-camera strengthens students' ability to move beyond "acting" to bring characters to life and to react in the moment. Participants apply their skills to actual scripts from TV, film, and commercials and develop the ability to handle any type of script, adding their own unique style.

Active Arts Theatre for Young Audiences is a nonprofit theater company that engages the imagination of children through performances that are both entertaining and educational.

AmericaEd Learning Center offers preschool, afterschool, summer school, and daily drop-off and Saturday childcare programs.

The age-appropriate curriculum offers year around programs in basic academic skills (reading, writing, math and social), art, performing arts, music, musical theater, team and individual sports, critical thinking, and enrichment classes.

A program dedicated to exposing kids to the arts includes
classic film screenings and other cultural activities for teens such as Saturday gallery and museum visits;
free tickets to opera, symphony, theater and dance performances; and other fun activities, including a film-making workshop.

Film screenings are held in the Randall Museum Theater and at The Delancey Street Screening Room at 7pm on selected Fridays during the school year. The program is mentored by Ron Chase, media critic for KALW. Admission is free to the screenings, and parents are welcome to attend.

Check the website www.artandfilm.org or www.afcurrent.org for up-to-date event listings.

A program dedicated to exposing kids to the arts includes
classic film screenings and other cultural activities for teens such as Saturday gallery and museum visits;
free tickets to opera, symphony, theater and dance performances; and other fun activities, including a film-making workshop.

Film screenings are held in the Randall Museum Theater and at The Delancey Street Screening Room at 7pm on selected Fridays during the school year. The program is mentored by Ron Chase, media critic for KALW. Admission is free to the screenings, and parents are welcome to attend.

Check the website www.artandfilm.org or www.afcurrent.org for up-to-date event listings.

Any local listing would be remiss to exclude Miss Tilly's, but a word of warning: She does no advertising (she's not even in the phonebook), and her classes are almost always full and have waiting lists due to her sterling word-of-mouth reputation and long standing in the community. She holds recitals each May at the Herbst Theater.

Ballet with Miss Tilly also offers a Theatre Arts Program that includes singing, performing, and pretending for children ages three to seven years old.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best Enviro-friendly Place in the Bay Area, this museum is about as hands-on as it gets, which means it gets high marks as a kid's destination. Located next to the Golden Gate Bridge, it's housed in a cluster of buildings that were once part of Fort Baker, a military installation that guarded San Francisco Bay.

The exhibits change every so often and successfully engage kids on many levels. Visiting exhibits have included The Monkey King, an interactive version of the
classic Chinese story of the mischievous monkey, or the bilingual Berenstain Bears exhibit which takes families inside the famous tree house where kids can play the "When I Grow Up game", or Joshua's Journey, where children "rope a steer" and cook vittles over the campfire while
learning about the black cowboys of the Wild West.

The Museum's latest permanent addition - Lookout Cove - is a 2.5-acre outdoor adventure zone with a 1595 shipwreck replica, a rocky sea cave, a crow's nest, a two-ton redwood log, and a climbable Golden Gate bridge!

Other constants include a science lab focusing on waves and wind, an arts studio in which kids can create something new to take home, and a Discovery Center for little kids, called Tot Spot, that is so engaging big kids are always trying to sneak in.

Bring lunch and picnic on one of the tables there. Or buy refreshments at the small cafe that caters to kids.

Day Camps: are offered in weekly sessions during the summer, and during the first two weeks of April for Spring Break. Themes include Acrobatic and Aerial Arts, Art Dabbler, Building Blocks of Architecture, Carpenter's Apprentice, Clay Play, Creative Drama, Creature Features, Drumming Magic, Elements of Art, Fort Building, House of Samba, Kids' Chemistry, Mural Magic, On the Bay, On the Spot Improv, San Francisco Science, Shipwrecked, Soapbox Cars, Treasure Hunt, and Water Wonders. Membership saves on camp fees. Materials fees may also apply.

Family Programs: The Museum organizes art workshops, and dramatic performances. Check the website, or the GoCityKids calendar, for upcoming events.

Parties: The museum's birthday party room is available in 90-minute slots on Saturdays and Sundays between 10am-3pm. A birthday party package includes exclusive use of the party room for one and a half hours, and free admission to the Museum for the day for party guests. Limit of 30 children maximum; 30 adults. Cost runs $200 (members), $225 (general), and up.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best Day Camp for Teens in the Bay Area, Berkeley Repertory Theatre draws theater artists from around the country to work on a variety of classic, contemporary, and new plays from September through July.

Berkeley Rep's productions are staged in two theatres - the 400-seat Thrust Stage and the 600-seat proscenium Roda Theatre. Both offer intimate theatrical environments with no seat further than 49 feet from the stage, and a clear view of the action, even for the very short.

The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre offers a wide variety of educational programs, including weekly classes for kids and teens, a Spring Break Camp, and a Summer Theatre Intensive for kids entering grades 6-12. Complete listings of current classes can be found online.

Cal Shakes Artistic Learning Program offers classes in Shakespeare playshops, stage combat, winter and spring break acting intensives, and a summer theater camp.

The CTC's programs include performances tailored to students and family during the school year; a summer season aimed at an adult audience; and a touring company which travels both nationally and internationally.

It also offers classes and summer programs related to theater arts, including expressive movement, magic, mask performance, and acting, for kids ages six and older.

Admissions Director: Aimee Giles, 415.861.5432

Admissions Deadline: Preschool applications due mid-December; K-8 applications due mid-January


Children's Day School (CDS) excels as a community of learners who believe in a better kind of learning and possess the passion and the skills to shape and continually grow the school. CDS launched a new middle school in the fall of 2003. The school's first class of 8th graders graduated in 2006.

At CDS, children are given the room and inspiration to learn and grow. Located in the sunny Mission District, CDS has one of the largest outdoor campuses in San Francisco with more than an acre of open space featuring a farm and organic garden, and a large playground.

CDS is the perfect setting for a challenging academic program that is project-based, integrated across disciplines, and grounded in the practice of social responsibility. Class sizes are small, with dedicated, inspired teachers working in teams to create a learning environment that maximizes each student's creativity and skill development, and promotes a life-long love of learning. Specialists collaborate with classroom teachers to integrate Spanish, art, music, environmental education, and physical education into the curriculum.

Grades: Preschool to Grade 8

Class Size: 24. Current enrollment is 260.

Facilities: Large sunny campus including on-site farm and organic garden (with sheep and chickens) and large playground, library, science resource center, with computers and Internet access in all elementary and middle school classrooms.

Programs: Spanish, art, music, physical education, environmental education, team sports.

Lunch Program: No

Afterschool Program: Until 6pm.

Uniforms: No

Report Cards: Detailed progress reports (preschool-5th); grades and report cards (6th-8th).

Children's Day School offers afterschool enrichment classes, open to students in the Bay Area, for three seven-week sessions throughout the school year (fall, winter, and spring terms). Classes for preschool, elementary, and middle school students have included yoga, beginning Spanish, chess, computer art, movie making, cartooning, mosaics, tree frog treks science club, sewing, singing, rocketry, creative writing, black and white photography, study hall, drama, and gymnastics.

Classes take place during the after-school program and generally run for one hour, one day a week. Class fees range from $130-$185 for a seven-week class. Please contact the school for dates and details.

The school also offers camp programs during the summer and school vacations, also open to students in the Bay Area. A large outdoor play area, farm, and lovely garden offers unique summer experiences for children. The preschool program incorporates a wide range of projects, games, activities, and adventures, while themed camps for elementary aged students allow young people to delve into a specific interest.

Located in the old West Poly High Gymnasium across from Kezar Stadium, this is the real thing for instruction in circus, Chinese acrobatics, and aerial arts.

The Circus Center, founded by former members of the Pickle Family Circus in 1984, is the only professional circus training facility North America. Circus Arts classes are offered for children as young as 18 months; more sophisticated classes, as in acrobatics and aerial arts, are available for children ages seven to 17.

Parties: If you want to stage a party here, the staff will do its best to help you unleash the trapeze artists and tumblers among your guests. You can schedule a party for evenings and weekends.

Summer Camp: Every summer, the Circus Center hosts a camp for kids ages seven to 15. Campers learn acrobatics, clowning, juggling, stilt-walking, trampoline, the flying trapeze, and aerial arts. Newly annointed circus performers strut their stuff at one of five performances.

Desert Rose Productions offers television and film acting classes for teens - beginner actors as well as those with experience.

Students learn script analysis, improvisation, group and solo work, cold reading skills, and auditioning techniques. Classes also offer instruction on the business of show business including information on headshots, resumes, portfolios, agents, casting directors, self-promotion, unions, and markets.

Ongoing classes are taught in 6 week sessions by Giovannie Pico who earned her Hollywood merits via her role as medical student Ludlow in NBC's long-running hospital drama ER. Pico has also been cast in various internationally-produced independent films.

Call or email for class schedules, to set up an interview, or to find out about private coaching.

The Excelsior Youth Center provides free Saturday programs, including sports, cooking, open gym, arts, puppetry, drama, and family storytime.

Toddlers (ages three to five) can learn new sports and motor skills or attend storytime with their families. Elementary school-aged children can stay healthy while playing sports, or explore their artistic side while creating masterpieces in puppetry or cooking. Older youth can learn to be stars in the acting and drama class, or let out some energy while playing pick-up sports in the open gym.

The Center also regularly hosts family and cultural events.

Glitter & Razz Productions in Rockridge produce theater-based workshops and camps for kids and families, host birthday parties, and lead innovative learning events for professionals. Check the website for details and schedules for children's workshops and camps.

Birthday Parties feature a professional birthday artist who comes to the client's house or party space with a "theater-in-a-bag" full of make-up, costumes, and props. Young guests create their own original characters and are led through a process of celebrating the birthday star through a made-up play, dance, and parade that the group performs together. Packages start at $200 for one hour.

The winner of our 2008 Parents' Picks quest to find the best Museum for Little Kids in the Bay Area, Habitot is a hands-on learning center in Berkeley that features a toddler garden, where kids can pull wooden carrots out of holes, a padded tunnel that's a blast to crawl through, and a miniature cafe and grocery store, among other delights.

The museum also hosts many special exhibits throughout the year, including a Fire Station display that invited kids to step into the role of a fire fighter, and explore it in the way they know best - by touching, climbing, moving things around, and jumping on it.

Classes: Offers a rich selection of classes for children and parents. Among the kids programs: art, ceramics & clay, drama, science, music, dance & movement, carpentry, and cooking, and infant massage. Classes for parents include CPR Training, Toilet Training, Raising Children in Multiracial Families, and Handling Parent Anger. Free drop-in parent or caregiver support groups meet weekly.

Three different birthday party options are offered: museum rental (up to 40 children, fee is $395 for two and a half hours); birthday room rental (up to 8 children, $16.50 per child with a $99 minimum for one and a half hours); or a private party (up to 30 children, fee is $325 for two hours).

Habitot also hosts week-long seasonal camps in the winter and spring. Every week includes: storytelling, art, music, dance, free play with toys, and dramatic play with costumes and props. Nutritious snacks are also served daily.

The SF Recreation and Parks Department offers Young People's Teen Musical Theater Company, Photography, Dance, and Computer Lab classes at the Harvey Milk Recreational Arts Building. The building is pretty battered and the program doesn't have all the teaching support it would like. But the offerings are either free or just plain cheap.

Call the Harvey Milk program administrator for more information or visit the Park Department's website.

The SF Recreation and Parks Department offers Young People's Teen Musical Theater Company, Photography, Dance, and Computer Lab classes at the Harvey Milk Recreational Arts Building. The building is pretty battered and the program doesn't have all the teaching support it would like. But the offerings are either free or just plain cheap.

Call the Harvey Milk program administrator for more information or visit the Park Department's website.

Hillbarn Theatre boasts a sixty-five-year-long history, beginning as Peninsula Little Theatre in 1934.

In addition to a seasonal show schedule - many family-friendly - the Conservatory at Hillbarn Theatre offers a year-round schedule of programs for youth interested in learning to sing, act, and dance for kids ages five and up!

The Theatre also hosts a summertime Musical Theatre Training Camp for kids ages eight to 15, which culminates in full-fledged productions.

Jamboodas (formerly JAM) was founded in 2001 by Charity Kahn - mother, musician, composer, author and recording artist - as a vehicle for bringing the joy of music and movement to children and their families.

A 45-minute Jamboodas class takes you and your child on a sound-and-motion journey incorporating singing, creative movement, percussion jams, scarf dancing, and improvisation, using original songs from Charity's JAMband CDs. Jamboodas is a child-inspired, child-tested pathway to the joy music brings, and an excuse to sing and dance and shake your bones!

Tuition is $198 for the 10-week session, and includes two CDs of original music. Siblings over eight months can attend for $130/quarter; siblings under eight months are free. Jamboodas classes take place at DSG Studios, at 564 Monterey (cross street Foerster). Each 10-week session culminates in a family sing-along, dance-along concert.

Summer Camp for children entering kindergarten through second grade, includes music, dance, art, poetry, yoga, picnics, and play. Enrollment is limited to 20 spots.

Locations of classes and performances vary; please check the website for current schedules and information.

A dance studio in Emeryville that offers workshops and ongoing classes for adults and youth with or without dance and performance experience.

Kid Stock provides in-school, afterschool and summer day camp performing arts opportunities for K-8th grade children in San Francisco, Marin, Alameda, and San Mateo counties.

Kids on Camera, is an award winning TV/film acting and audition skills program, which was established in 1981.

The curriculum features comedy, characters w/costumes, film acting, improvisation, and photos. Guest coaches visit from the Disney Channel. School year programs offer a progression of courses in TV Acting 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each course builds on the next, which leads the students toward achieving specific goals.

The school offers year round Saturday or Sunday workshops and summer week-long day camps.

Success stories include speech tournament winners, actors on Nickelodeon, and the voice of Andy in Toy Story.

Counselor in Training (CIT) programs are offered for ages 16 and older. Scholarships are available.

Kids on Camera, is an award winning TV/film acting and audition skills program, which was established in 1981.

The curriculum features comedy, characters w/costumes, film acting, improvisation, and photos. Guest coaches visit from the Disney Channel. School year programs offer a progression of courses in TV Acting 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each course builds on the next, which leads the students toward achieving specific goals.

The school offers year round Saturday or Sunday workshops and summer week-long day camps.

Success stories include speech tournament winners, actors on Nickelodeon, and the voice of Andy in Toy Story.

Counselor in Training (CIT) programs are offered for ages 16 and older. Scholarships are available.

Marin Shakespeare Company offers two and three week summer camps and year-round classes for students ages five to adult, as well as award-winning productions at Dominican University's Forest Meadows Amphitheatre. The group also offers student matinees, free Teen Touring Company productions, and Shakespeare drama classes for K-8.

Marin Theatre Company is a professional regional theatre committed to producing high quality live theatre designed to engage, entertain, challenge, and educate. Plays are complemented by a Performing Arts Conservatory offering classes for children and adults.

Classes include offerings like Creative Dramatics for ages four to six; voice; dance; Stage Combat (ages 11 to 17), and more.

MTC also offers four different full-day, four-week Summer Camps for kids in first grade through 12th grade, featuring quality theatre training in the mornings and rehearsals during the afternoon. Each camp culminates in full productions.

The sessions are held Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm, and the $1000 camp costs include T-shirt and DVD of performance. Students focus on developing their craft, emotional range, discipline & passion, studying improvisation, acting, musical theatre, vocal technique, and dance.

Marin Theatre Company is a professional regional theatre committed to producing high quality live theatre designed to engage, entertain, challenge, and educate. Plays are complemented by a Performing Arts Conservatory offering classes for children and adults.

Classes include offerings like Creative Dramatics for ages four to six; voice; dance; Stage Combat (ages 11 to 17), and more.

MTC also offers four different full-day, four-week Summer Camps for kids in first grade through 12th grade, featuring quality theatre training in the mornings and rehearsals during the afternoon. Each camp culminates in full productions.

The sessions are held Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm, and the $1000 camp costs include T-shirt and DVD of performance. Students focus on developing their craft, emotional range, discipline & passion, studying improvisation, acting, musical theatre, vocal technique, and dance.

The Mission Cultural Center offers Latino arts classes for children ages seven and up (children five and six require parent supervision). The MCC bilingual instructors specialize in Latin hip hop, salsa, capoeira, music, traditional ballet, and folk art crafts such as drawing and painting, mask making, and puppet making.

Summer Camp: The MCC runs a summer program Monday through Friday 9am-3:30pm, lunch provided. Campers can sign up for only one session for a fee of $175. Each session focuses on a particular art medium, such as drawing, hip hop, or poster making culminating in a performance or exhibit of their work.

For registration information, call the Youth Coordinator, Jose Leon, at 415.643.2787.

Established in 1981, the New Conservatory Theatre Center is a performing arts complex that houses three fully-equipped theaters, ranging in size from 50 to 132 seats. Also has a video studio, an art gallery, and classroom studios. Presents a broad range of performances for adults and youth, as well as educational programs for children.

The New Conservatory Theater describes its Youth Program (for ages 4 to 17) as a "nurturing environment especially designed to bring out the best in each student." With the goal of turning out "life-smart kids," the program teaches the theater arts in a way that enhances the creative, social, and intellectual development of its students, whether they be aspiring actors or children who just want to build self-confidence in a creative environment.

Family Matinee Series: NCTC produces a six plays a year for family audiences. Past shows include Cinderella, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Thumbelina, and Rapunzel.

YouthAware Educational Plays: NCTC produces eight educational plays each year on bullying, HIV Prevention, diversity, and body awareness.

Classes: Classes are held year round on Saturdays and after school. Students get a chance to learn acting skills, stage movement, musical theater, playwriting, audition techniques, technical theater, and theater management.


For ages 5 to 12: Students are introduced to creative self expression and discovery processes. A combination of storytelling, creative movement, play-acting, improvisational and scripted theater activities.

For ages 13 to 18: These classes are for kids who want to study acting and fine tune their craft. The sessions may focus on improvisation, scene study, directing, performance technique, musical theater, playwriting, voice/speech and screen acting.

Summer Day Camps (ages 9 to 12): Offered in three-week full day and half day sessions. Students learn Theatre Games, Musical Theatre and Play Production culminating in a final presentation. Enrollment is limited to 25 students. No extended care available. Cost is $625.

Teen Summer Stock (ages 13 to 18): Two programs available - Teen Summerstock and Teen Summer Ensemble Accepted by audition only. This is a five-week intensive apprentice program for young professionals; actors get to perform in one or two professional productions. Cost is $650.