September 24 - December 17, 2026
Thursdays, 4:30-5:30pm
at Menomonee Club, 1535 N. Dayton
For Ages 5-8
No class on November 26, 2026
Registration: $360 plus fees, financial assistance is available
In this devised theatre class, students write and build an original play entirely on their own, from the ground up. Guided by CCT teaching artists, students use music, movement, and storytelling to dig into stories of community, courage, and growing stronger together. Students collaborate to invent characters, devise scenes, and shape a story that reflects their own ideas and experiences. The last day of class will culminate in a live performance of the student-created play for family and friends.
September 24 - December 17, 2026
Thursdays, 5:30-6:30pm
at Menomonee Club, 1535 N. Dayton
For Ages 9-13
No class on November 26, 2026
Registration: $360 plus fees, financial assistance is available
An advanced acting intensive for students ready to deepen their craft. Students learn professional text analysis techniques, breaking down character objectives, given circumstances, and emotional beats, and apply them to fully realized scene work with a partner. Students build critical thinking, collaboration, and confident performance skills. The last day of class will culminate in a final showcase where they perform their scenes for family and friends.
For Ages 6-12
9:30am-4:00pm at CCT, 100 S Racine Ave
Free before care from 8:30-9:30am and free after care from 4:00-5:30pm
Registration: $110 plus fees, financial assistance is available
During Chicago Public School non-attendance days for students, Chicago Children’s Theatre offers high-energy day camps for children in grades 1-5. Throughout the day, students will rotate through a series of unique arts and theatre classes, dig deeper into their interests by making selections between curated arts activities, and forge new friendships along the way. Past camps have included: acting, improv, songwriting, clowning, beatboxing, puppet design, yoga, prop and costume creation, and much more. Each day of camp is entirely different from the last!
Explore our wide selection of unique weekly classes for theatre novices, accomplished performers, and everyone in-between. Led by experienced and enthusiastic teaching artists, our classes help students gain confidence, develop their artistic voices, and build lasting friendships.
September 28 - December 14, 2026
Mondays, 4:30-5:30pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 5-8
No class on October 12 and November 23, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Calling all cute critters and creepy crawlies to the stage! Through multi-sensory creative drama, movement activities and songs you’ll hop with bunnies, burrow with mice, and find your special role in the ecosystem. Through reading stories together and bringing them to life, you’ll gain skills in:
- Performing confidently in front of others
- Using body and voice to play a character
- Identifying and portraying emotions
- Making friends
- Listening and teamwork
…and more! On the final day of class, we will share our imaginary adventures with family and friends.
September 29 - December 15, 2026
Tuesdays, 9:30-10:15am
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 12-36 months with a caregiver
No class on November 3 and 24, 2026
Registration: $225 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Drop-In class options available for $25 plus fees
HEAD, SHOULDERS, KNEES & TOES (September 29 - October 27)
IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT (November 10 - December 15)
September 29 - December 15, 2026
Tuesdays, 4:00-4:45pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 4-6
No class on November 3 and 24, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $225 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Growl like Dragons, fly like fairies, sing like princesses, and become your favorite fairy tale character as we explore magical worlds together! Through multi-sensory drama activities, we’ll bring your favorite fairy tales to life, sing and dance, and use your imagination to travel to lands far beyond the classroom. Through reading and acting out fairytales you’ll…
- Using body and voice to play a characters
- Identifying and portraying emotions
- Working together as an ensemble to tell a story
…and more! On the final day of class, we will share our favorite fairy tale characters and stories with our family and friends!
September 29 - December 15, 2026
Tuesdays, 5:00-6:00pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 5-8
No class on November 3 and 24, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Get ready to take the stage as a collaborative and confident performer! In this improv theatre class, you'll learn that the best improv happens when everyone works together. Through improv games and ensemble work, you'll build skills in:
- Adding onto ideas with "Yes, And…"
- Performing short-form improv games
- Making bold character choices
- Active listening and supporting your teammates
…and more! On the last day of class, friends and family will watch your mini-improv show right in your classroom!
September 29 - December 15, 2026
Tuesdays, 5:00-6:00pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 8-11
No class on November 3 and 24, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Get ready to find your funny! In this comedy theatre class built on team spirit, you'll learn to embrace your fearless, bold, and hilarious side through improv games, character exercises, and sketch writing and performance. You'll build skills in:
- Adding onto ideas with "Yes, And…"
- Performing short-form improv games
- Making bold character choices
- Writing original sketches
…and more. On the last day of class, friends and family will watch your mini-comedy show right in your classroom!
September 30 - December 16, 2026
Wednesdays, 4:30-5:30pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 5-8
No class on November 11 and 25, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
The Acting Adventures sleuths are on the case! Through theatrical explorations of mystery stories, you’ll act out scenes, play theatre games, and use your imagination to create characters in your own mysterious tale. As you create you will gain skills in:
- Performing confidently in front of others
- Using body and voice to create a character
- Working together to create an original story
…and more! The class will end happily ever after with a performance of the mystery in your classroom for family and friends.
September 30 - December 16, 2026
Wednesdays, 4:30-5:30pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 8-11
No class on November 11 and 25, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
A cold wind is blowing, and spooky characters are hiding around every corner! In this unique theatre class, you get to do it all. Using advanced theatre-making methods you will construct characters and design worlds to create original ghost stories. As you create, you will build skills in:
- Creating unique characters using body and voice
- Collaborating with a team to create an original story with a beginning, middle, and end
- Using theatre design techniques to create one-of-a-kind settings for your story
…and more! On the last day of class, family and friends are invited to watch your original story premiere right in your classroom.
October 4 - December 13, 2026
Sundays, 9:00-9:45am
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 1-4 with a caregiver
No class on November 29, 2026
Registration: $225 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Drop-In class options available for $25 plus fees
IN THE GARDEN (October 4 - November 1)
Grab your little one and join us as we dig into everything that thrives, grows, and visits our very own community garden! Through creative drama, music, and beloved storybooks, we’ll plant the seeds of imagination and grow right alongside the season, meeting curious garden critters, singing garden songs, and discovering a little magic in the small things along the way, incorporating characters and themes from The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other wonderful stories. Sunday Story Jams will help develop your child’s fine and gross motor skills, early literacy, and blossoming creative spirit.
FOREST FRIENDS (November 8 - December 13)
Bounce like a bunny, scamper like a mouse, or hoot like an owl as we play in the forest together. Through creative drama you and your little one will explore woodland creatures, discover the mysteries of the forest, and sing songs all while expanding social-emotional and motor skills, and building confidence expressing your creative sides as you play together. Each Sunday a different book will be read including stories from Beatrix Potter’s collection like Peter Rabbit! Sunday Story Jams will help develop your child’s fine and gross motor skills, early literacy, and blossoming creative spirit.
October 4 - December 13, 2026
Sundays, 9:15-10:15am
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 5-8
No class on November 29, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Calling all cute critters and creepy crawlies to the stage! Through multi-sensory creative drama, movement activities and songs you’ll hop with bunnies, burrow with mice, and find your special role in the ecosystem. Through reading stories together and bringing them to life, you’ll gain skills in:
- Performing confidently in front of others
- Using body and voice to play a character
- Identifying and portraying emotions
- Making friends
- Listening and teamwork
…and more! On the final day of class, we will share our imaginary adventures with family and friends.
October 4 - December 13, 2026
Sundays, 10:00-11:30am
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 8-11
No class on November 29, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $450 plus fees, financial assistance is available
You’re ready for the spotlight! Come share your unique voice and personality, and confidently say to the world: “This is me!” Level up your vocal technique and onstage confidence by diving into musicals that feature bold, brave, and unique characters - in the theatre world and beyond. On the last day of class, you will perform some favorite songs and scenes for family and friends.
In this class you will:
- Build a confident singing voice through lessons in vocal technique
- Expressing unique characters through body and voice
- Learn and perform group choreography
…and more! On the last day of class, you will perform your show stopping numbers for family and friends right in your classroom.
October 4 - December 13, 2026
Sundays, 10:30-11:15am
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 4-7 with a caregiver
No class on November 29, 2026
Registration: $225 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Drop-In class options available for $25 plus fees
Designed for youth on the autism spectrum with a participating grown-up, this highly-interactive creative drama class will get the whole family moving and imagining! Bond with your little one through creative drama, music, and multisensory activities, while supporting your child’s motor development, communication skills, self-confidence, and blossoming creative spirit.
October 4 - December 13, 2026
Sundays, 11:30-12:30pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 8-12
No class on November 29, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Designed for youth on the autism spectrum, this actor’s workshop will focus on the basics of improv! During this class you'll learn that the best improv happens when everyone works together. Through improv games and ensemble work, you'll build skills in:
- Adding onto ideas with "Yes, And…"
- Performing short-form improv games
- Making bold character choices
- Active listening and supporting your teammates
…and more! In the final workshop, you’ll perform a mini Improv show for friends and family right in your classroom!
October 4 - December 13, 2026
Sundays, 12:30-2:00pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 11-14
No class on November 29, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $450 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Add some tools to your actor’s toolbox in this advanced acting class! Sharpen your acting skills through learning vocal warm-ups, scene study techniques, scene analysis, and monologue rehearsals. Guided and coached by a professional acting coach you will rehearse monologues and scenes that you can take with you to your next audition! Elements of the actor’s toolbox that you’ll explore include:
- Character physicality and body language
- Vocal technique and projection
- Text analysis to enhance scene work
- Being an active scene partner
…and more! The last day of class will culminate in a showcase of original scenes and monologues right in your classroom.
October 4 - December 13, 2026
Sundays, 12:45-1:45pm
at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S Racine Ave
For ages 13-18
No class on November 29, 2026
This is a drop-off class—students attend without their caregivers.
Registration: $300 plus fees, financial assistance is available
Designed for youth on the autism spectrum, this actor’s workshop will focus on the basics of improv! During this class you'll learn that the best improv happens when everyone works together. Through improv games and ensemble work, you'll build skills in:
- Adding onto ideas with "Yes, And…"
- Performing short-form improv games
- Making bold character choices
- Active listening and supporting your teammates
…and more! In the final workshop, you’ll perform a mini Improv show for friends and family right in your classroom!
It’s Carmela’s birthday, and her wish has already come true–she’s finally old enough to join her big brother as he does the family errands. On their way to the laundromat, past fields of what Mamí calls “flores de cempazuchitl,” Carmela finds a lone dandelion growing in the pavement. Before she can even blow its puffy white fluff away, her brother asks, “did you even make a wish?” Should she wish for Mami, who works long hours in a downtown hotel trying to make ends meet? Or Papi, a migrant worker who is currently…absent.
Full of touching and funny fantasies, the book by Matt de la Peña, and now the play, portrays Carmela’s migrant community as a vibrant place of possibility. Join families from all over the city for this moving ode to family, to dreamers, and to finding hope in the most unexpected places.
Four adorable Beatrix Potter favorites come to life in this mesmerizing, interactive trunk and puppet show, complete with original music. Storytellers weave Potter’s classic narration with gentle interactive moments, recruiting young watchers to join the adventure. After the show, head to the lobby to play with the puppets, take pictures with the cast, and join fellow Chicago families for a communal holiday party featuring a festive spread of holiday treats! Our stories this year will include ”The Tale of Jeremy Fisher,” The Tale of The Tailor of Gloucester,” “The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse,” and of course, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.”
Leonardo is a terrible monster. He tries so hard to be scary, but he just…isn’t. Then Leonardo finds Sam, the most scaredy-cat kid in the world. Will Leonardo finally get his chance to scare the tuna salad out of an unsuspecting human? Or will it be the start of an unlikely friendship? They will need to make a big decision: will they be friends or will they be controlled by their fears?
Leonardo! A Wonderful Show About A Terrible Monster is adapted from the beloved children’s books by Mo Willems, and realized through mind-bending projection, DIY cinema, music, and immersive sound by critically-acclaimed multimedia artists Manual Cinema.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show has been dazzling audiences around the globe for over five years, faithfully bringing to the stage Eric Carle’s timeless classics. Created by Jonathan Rockefeller, each production of the critically acclaimed show features a menagerie of over 75 magical puppets, including the star of the show –The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Alongside “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” the show features three other Eric Carle stories, including “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,” “10 Little Rubber Ducks,” and “The Very Busy Spider.”