Chautauqua Youth & Family Programs
Chautauqua Institution, 1 Ames Ave, Chautauqua, NY 14722
About
Chautauqua Youth & Family Programs include specific activities such as Beginner Optimist Sailing, 420 Sailing, Intermediate Sailing, Saturday morning races, junior golf camps and clinics, and a junior development tennis program with group tennis instruction. The Youth Activities Center (YAC) is a drop-in center for kids ages 12–17 and features televisions, games, table tennis, pool tables, and a snack bar with daily lunch specials at “kid” prices.
• Ages: 2–17 years old
• Schedule: The Youth Activities Center food service is open Monday through Friday from Noon to 5 p.m., and the YAC is open evenings Monday through Thursday starting at 5 p.m. for YACtivities.
• Price: The Youth Activities Center snack bar has daily lunch specials at “kid” prices.
Racquets may be borrowed at no charge during the junior tennis programs, and private tennis lessons and junior memberships are available. Private sailing lessons may be arranged, and early registration is strongly recommended for Youth Sailing and junior golf camps and clinics. Boys’ and Girls’ Club is considered the oldest day camp in the United States, and most of its buildings date from the 1890s and the turn of the century. The Chautauqua Children’s School was built in 1921, with additions in 1926, 1947 and 1969, followed by a full renovation and expansion in 1994, and it pioneered the concept of nursery school education. Group One began in 1997.
Chautauqua’s programs for youth include pre-school, day camp, sports instruction, informal youth centers, enrichment classes, entertainment, reading, and experiences in the arts. The mission of the arts at Chautauqua is to expand the lives of the audience within and beyond the Institution’s gates through the power of the performing and visual arts, to inspire, educate and engage a diverse and growing audience, to serve as an integral part of the Chautauqua community, to exemplify artistic excellence in programs that celebrate both tradition and innovation, and to demonstrate sound financial stewardship. Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit organization, dependent upon gifts to fulfill its mission.
Education Wednesdays give Chautauqua County students, faculty, administration and staff free admission every Wednesday of the season. No gate or parking fees are charged when visiting the grounds during the off-season. The 25-yard indoor pool at the Turner Community Center is open year-round, and the Chautauqua Tennis Center offers junior tennis programs where racquets may be borrowed at no charge.
The Chautauqua Opera Company was founded in 1929 and is North America’s 4th oldest opera company after the Metropolitan Opera, Cincinnati Opera and San Francisco Opera, and is North America’s oldest continuously operating summer opera company. The Chautauqua Opera Company offers more than 30 operatic events each season, including three mainstage productions, concerts with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, weekly artsong recitals, opera performances for young audiences, Young Artist open-mic nights, and Opera Invasions. Steven Osgood is the General and Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Opera Company, and Carol Rausch is the Music Administrator/Chorus Master.
Historian and author David McCullough has said, “There is no place like it. No resort. No spa. Not anywhere else in the country, or anywhere in the world.” Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has said, “Things are different here. You feel it the moment you pass through the gates. Here, we have a glimmer, an active, muscular, American utopia, here in this place, inquisitive, ecumenical, feeding mind and body and spirit.”
Last updated February 6, 2026.
• Ages: 2–17 years old
• Schedule: The Youth Activities Center food service is open Monday through Friday from Noon to 5 p.m., and the YAC is open evenings Monday through Thursday starting at 5 p.m. for YACtivities.
• Price: The Youth Activities Center snack bar has daily lunch specials at “kid” prices.
Racquets may be borrowed at no charge during the junior tennis programs, and private tennis lessons and junior memberships are available. Private sailing lessons may be arranged, and early registration is strongly recommended for Youth Sailing and junior golf camps and clinics. Boys’ and Girls’ Club is considered the oldest day camp in the United States, and most of its buildings date from the 1890s and the turn of the century. The Chautauqua Children’s School was built in 1921, with additions in 1926, 1947 and 1969, followed by a full renovation and expansion in 1994, and it pioneered the concept of nursery school education. Group One began in 1997.
Chautauqua’s programs for youth include pre-school, day camp, sports instruction, informal youth centers, enrichment classes, entertainment, reading, and experiences in the arts. The mission of the arts at Chautauqua is to expand the lives of the audience within and beyond the Institution’s gates through the power of the performing and visual arts, to inspire, educate and engage a diverse and growing audience, to serve as an integral part of the Chautauqua community, to exemplify artistic excellence in programs that celebrate both tradition and innovation, and to demonstrate sound financial stewardship. Chautauqua Institution is a not-for-profit organization, dependent upon gifts to fulfill its mission.
Education Wednesdays give Chautauqua County students, faculty, administration and staff free admission every Wednesday of the season. No gate or parking fees are charged when visiting the grounds during the off-season. The 25-yard indoor pool at the Turner Community Center is open year-round, and the Chautauqua Tennis Center offers junior tennis programs where racquets may be borrowed at no charge.
The Chautauqua Opera Company was founded in 1929 and is North America’s 4th oldest opera company after the Metropolitan Opera, Cincinnati Opera and San Francisco Opera, and is North America’s oldest continuously operating summer opera company. The Chautauqua Opera Company offers more than 30 operatic events each season, including three mainstage productions, concerts with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, weekly artsong recitals, opera performances for young audiences, Young Artist open-mic nights, and Opera Invasions. Steven Osgood is the General and Artistic Director of the Chautauqua Opera Company, and Carol Rausch is the Music Administrator/Chorus Master.
Historian and author David McCullough has said, “There is no place like it. No resort. No spa. Not anywhere else in the country, or anywhere in the world.” Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns has said, “Things are different here. You feel it the moment you pass through the gates. Here, we have a glimmer, an active, muscular, American utopia, here in this place, inquisitive, ecumenical, feeding mind and body and spirit.”
Last updated February 6, 2026.
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