Classes for kids in Palo Alto

Palo Alto families have more class options than most towns this size. The city itself runs an art center, a children's theater and a science museum. Each one teaches classes year-round. Around them sit private music schools, dance studios and a coding school, most along El Camino Real or Middlefield Road. The hard part is less finding a class than getting a spot when registration opens.

This guide covers the main options for children from preschool through middle school, grouped by subject. It explains how the city's catalog and registration work, then lists private studios we could confirm in October 2026. For full-day programs in summer, see our summer camps guide. For short camps during school holidays, see school break camps.

How city classes work: the Enjoy! catalog

The City of Palo Alto publishes its classes in a seasonal catalog called Enjoy! It covers art, music, dance, theater, sports, fitness and special interest classes across all ages. Families register through Enjoy! Online. The city says it now uses CivicRec Rec1 for online registration, so older accounts may need to be activated in the new system.

Registration dates

Spring dates are posted later. Questions go to (650) 463-4949 or [email protected]. The city's Enjoy! page links to the current interactive catalog.

Art at the Palo Alto Art Center

The Palo Alto Art Center at 1313 Newell Road runs art classes for children ages 3 to 18 plus family workshops. The list of mediums is wide: drawing, painting, ceramics, fiber arts, sculpture, printmaking and mixed media. The center changes its curriculum each quarter, so a child can take classes season after season without repeating projects. A separate Just for Teens track serves older students.

Clay has a big place there. The center lists ceramics classes for children, teens and adults. It also hosts the Clay and Glass Festival in July and the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch each fall. For questions about youth classes, the city lists the Art Center at (650) 329-2366.

The Art Center also hosts free Family Days, afternoons of art-making for parents and children together. Dates appear on the Art Center's web calendar.

Theater and dance

Palo Alto Children's Theatre

The Children's Theatre at 1305 Middlefield Road offers programs for young people from age 3 through high school. These include onsite classes, camps and roles in productions. It also reaches every PAUSD elementary school with Dance in Schools classes for kindergarten to 2nd grade and Outreach Productions for grades 3 to 5. Auditions for the Main Stage, Playhouse and summer series are posted on the city's site.

Dance studios

• Luna Dance Studio on Middlefield Road in Midtown teaches ballet, hip hop, jazz and contemporary to ages 2 to 18.
• Victoria Ballet teaches the Vaganova method of classical ballet from age 3, with a studio in Palo Alto and another in Los Altos.

Music

Two established music schools sit on El Camino Real and both teach young children in groups before moving them to private lessons.

• New Mozart School of Music has served Palo Alto since 1989. Group early childhood classes start at age 3 and private lessons cover piano, strings, winds, guitar and voice.
• Opus 1 Music Studio is a family-owned studio at 3401 El Camino Real. Music for Young Children classes start at 3 and private lessons usually start around 5. It also prepares students for ABRSM, Certificate of Merit and RCM exams.

Older students who play jazz can look at the Stanford Jazz Workshop's summer camps, covered in our summer camps guide.

Science and nature

The Junior Museum and Zoo runs weekly family science classes. They come in two tracks.

• Preschool Family Classes, ages 3 to 5. Discovery Science explores things that chirp, fizz and zoom. Amazing Animals pairs a science activity with a new animal each week. A parent or caregiver attends and unregistered siblings are not allowed.
• Afterschool Family Classes, elementary ages. The same two classes plus Science with a Twist, which covers physics, biology, chemistry and earth science with multi-week building projects.

Topics change each session, so children can repeat. The Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center adds outdoor science, with about 130 classes and camps a year. Our nature programs guide covers it along with Hidden Villa and the Midpen preserves.

Coding, robotics and making

theCoderSchool at 299 South California Avenue teaches coding to ages 7 to 18. Its main program pairs two students with one coach once a week. Subjects range from Scratch for ages 7 to 10 to Python, Java, Roblox, robotics and AI fundamentals for older kids. It also runs camps during school breaks.

For teens who like to build, the city's MakeX program at Cubberley Community Center works with laser cutters, 3D printers and soldering irons. Board game fans can try Gamelandia on California Avenue, which runs after-school programs including kids' Dungeons and Dragons.

Language learning

Palo Alto's biggest language programs sit inside the public schools. PAUSD offers Mandarin and Spanish immersion as choice programs for incoming kindergarten students, with an application window in January and February and a lottery each spring. Our public schools guide has the 2027 dates.

Outside school, the city library's Thursday Bilingual Family Storytime at College Terrace is a free, low-pressure way to hear Spanish. See our storytime guide. Private language schools and tutors also teach around the Peninsula. We could not confirm current schedules for them, so we do not list them here. Ask other parents at your school or check the city's Enjoy! catalog for language classes in the current season.

Sport and movement classes

Lessons that are not team leagues fit here too. The Winter Lodge on Middlefield Road teaches group skating classes for children 5 and up through its season, which runs to April 11, 2027. Palo Alto Swim and Sport runs the city's swim lessons at Rinconada Pool. Team sports are covered in our youth sports guide.

Choosing a class

1. Ask about trials. Several private studios offer a free trial or preview class. theCoderSchool, for example, invites families to book a free trial.
2. Check the drop-off. JMZ preschool classes need a parent in the room. Most art and music classes do not.
3. Watch the calendar. City sessions follow the catalog season, while private studios often bill month to month.
4. Read the refund rules. City programs have firm withdrawal deadlines. Private schools set their own.

Visiting family in Palo Alto for a few weeks and want an outing between classes? You can browse family-friendly Bay Area tours.

Frequently asked questions