Summer camps in Chicagoland

This guide is for Chicago and near-suburban parents who need to plan summer before the snow melts. Registration for the popular camps opens in winter, and several of them sold out in 2026. Below are the Chicago Park District’s low-cost day camps, the museum, zoo and garden camps that sell out first, plus sports, arts and science options, with what each one cost and when registration opened for summer 2026.

Most 2027 dates are not posted yet as of late September 2026. Where a camp has posted 2027 timing, that is noted. Everywhere else, the 2026 schedule is the best guide to when you will need to be ready, since camps tend to repeat their calendar year to year.

Park District camps

The Chicago Park District’s six-week day camp is the cheapest full-day option in the city, and the one most working families start with. Summer 2026 ran June 22 to July 31, six hours a day, usually 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. or 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. depending on the park. It is for kids 6 to 12, and Chicago residents get priority; the district says you must live in the city to register. Parks mix sports, arts, fitness and outdoor time, and many serve one free meal and a snack a day through a federal summer meals program.

Cost is the draw. The district says the most expensive camp in 2025 worked out to $4 an hour and the average was $1.39 an hour. Siblings get 10% off additional registrations, full-day camps have a 50/50 payment plan, and financial assistance and Chicago Housing Authority pricing are available. The drawback is the registration crunch. In 2026, programs went up for browsing online April 13, online registration opened at 9 a.m. April 20 for parks west of California Avenue and April 21 for parks east of it, and in-person sign-up followed April 25 or 27. Popular parks go fast, so create your family account ahead of time and build a wish list during the browsing week. The district also runs sports, general interest and special interest camps outside the six-week program. Details are on the Park District day camp page.

Suburban families should check their own park district, which sets its own dates and resident rules.

Museum and zoo camps

Lincoln Park Zoo

Right in the park, Lincoln Park Zoo, at 2400 N. Cannon Drive in Lincoln Park, runs Conservation Camp for kids entering preK through fifth grade and Zoo Crew for rising sixth to eighth graders. Campers spend the day around the animals, which is the reason to pick this one. Conservation Camp ran 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in 2026 at $647 a week, or $560 for zoo members, with aftercare until 5 p.m. for $150 a week and optional lunch for $65 a week. Kids must be at least 4 on the first day and able to use the bathroom on their own. For 2026, general registration opened February 26 at noon, and scholarship applications were due February 1. Zoo Crew sessions last two weeks and include field trips. The 22 Clark and 151 Sheridan buses are the easy transit option; the zoo’s lot is paid, and members park free.

Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum

Next door at 2430 N. Cannon Drive, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum runs camps for ages 4 to 12 that split time inside and outside the museum, with daily emails from the camp directors to parents. The museum changed its rules starting with summer 2026: only Family Plus members ($279 a year) get the camp discount and first access, Family members ($164) get early access without a discount, and everyone else registers when general enrollment opens. Summer 2026 registration opened in January. If you want a discount here, join before registration opens. The museum also runs one-day and winter break camps; the October 12, 2026 session is $110.

Griffin Museum of Science and Industry

The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Hyde Park runs one-week summer camps for grades K through 12, built around design and engineering projects. In 2026, camps ran 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at $500, or $450 for members, with an extra hour of after-camp care for $100. Kids bring their own lunch. Several weeks sold out, so this is another one to book early. Spring break 2027 camps are already open for registration. The Metra Electric line’s 55th-56th-57th Street station is the simplest way in from downtown.

Chicago Botanic Garden

Camp CBG at the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe covers ages 2 to 15 with science, nature, art, ecology and cooking camps on the garden’s Learning Campus. Half-day, full-day and single-day options make scheduling easier. For 2026, camps ran June 8 to August 7; a full-day week in the 2026 guide was $448 for members and $560 for nonmembers. Household Plus members registered starting January 21, 2026, and everyone else January 28, and those members get 20% off. If a camp is full, the garden keeps a waiting list by phone at (847) 835-6801. It is a drive for most city families; the Metra Union Pacific North line’s Braeside station is the closest train stop.

Sports camps

For a club-based camp, Lakeshore Sport & Fitness, at 1320 W. Fullerton Ave. in Lincoln Park, runs Camp Lakeshore for ages 2 to 17 inside its club, which has a rooftop, studios and an indoor-outdoor pool. There are traditional day camp, sports camps, specialty camps and field trip camps. Lunch and a daily snack are included. The catch is membership: nonmembers can attend one week with a $150 guest fee. For 2026, the club offered 10% off to families who put down a $300 deposit by December 31, early bird rates through March 31, and a one-time $25 registration fee per camper. The Fullerton Red, Brown and Purple Line stop is a few blocks east.

For young hockey players, Johnny’s IceHouse, the family-owned rink at 2550 W. Madison St. west of Western Avenue, runs a week of camp before the season starts. The End of Summer Youth Hockey Camp, run in 2026 with Ford Hockey School, was August 3 to 7, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., for Mite and Squirt-age players. It cost $595 for skaters and $250 for goalies. The 20 Madison bus runs past the door.

On the South Side, XS Tennis Village, at 5336 S. State St. near the Garfield Red Line stop, is run by the nonprofit XS Tennis and Education Foundation. Summer camp runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and families can book the full eight-week session or week by week. There is a tennis and enrichment camp for beginners and a high performance camp for advanced juniors, who need an evaluation first. A junior membership is required before registering, and all registration is online. Prices were not posted on the camp page.

Arts and STEM camps

The Old Town School of Folk Music, on Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Square a couple of blocks from the Western Brown Line stop, runs three-week day camps for ages 6 to 11 with music, dance, theater and comedy classes, afternoons in Welles Park and a performance on stage at the end. In 2026, a session cost $1,075, or $990 for members, and all three sessions sold out. One-week intensives in rock guitar, hip-hop dance and drum kit for ages 7 to 13 were $375, or $345 for members. With only 60 campers per session, register the day it opens.

In Ravenswood, Lillstreet Art Center, at 4401 N. Ravenswood Ave. near the Montrose Brown Line stop, runs Kidstreet camps for ages 3 and up across a range of art mediums, with weekly sessions listed from early June to late August. Camps are scheduled in morning and afternoon slots, which helps working parents stitch together a day. The camp is peanut-free, and kids should come dressed for mess.

Theater kids should look at Chicago Children’s Theatre, at 100 S. Racine Ave. in the West Loop, which builds its camps around devised theater, where kids write and perform an original piece as a group. Beyond summer, their School’s Out day camps cover Chicago Public Schools days off for $110 a day, with free before care and aftercare. Financial assistance is available. The Morgan Green and Pink Line stop is a short walk.

In Evanston, The Actors Gymnasium runs circus camps at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, just off the Noyes Purple Line stop. Kids entering fourth through ninth grade learn juggling, tumbling, trapeze, tightwire and stilts, and no experience is needed. In 2026 there were one-, two- and four-week sessions from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., plus new single-day passes. Early bird pricing ran until April 1, and full refunds on one-week camps ended April 30. Siblings get 15% off.

For science and engineering, the museum camps above are the strongest options in this guide: Griffin MSI for building and design, and the Nature Museum and Botanic Garden for natural science.

Registration timeline and costs

Using 2026 as the model, here is roughly how the year runs:

• October to December: the Nature Museum and Griffin MSI sell break and day-off camps; Griffin MSI’s spring break 2027 camps are open now. Lakeshore’s 2026 deposit discount ended December 31.
• January: the Nature Museum and Chicago Botanic Garden opened summer 2026 registration, members first.
• February: Lincoln Park Zoo scholarship applications were due February 1, and general registration opened February 26.
• March and April: early bird deadlines hit (Lakeshore March 31, Actors Gymnasium April 1), and Park District registration opened April 20 and 21.
• May: forms and waivers come due. Lincoln Park Zoo required them by May 1.

On cost, a week at a museum, zoo or private camp ran about $450 to $650 in 2026 before extended care and lunch, while Park District camps were a small fraction of that. Membership discounts at the zoo, Nature Museum, Botanic Garden and Griffin MSI are worth pricing out if you plan on two or more weeks. Almost every camp here posts scholarships or financial aid, so ask even if you are not sure you qualify.

Good to know

Checked September 28, 2026. Dates and prices above are from summer 2026 unless noted, and 2027 details will likely follow a similar calendar. Winter options are already on sale: Lincoln Park Zoo’s winter break camp runs December 21, 22, 28 and 29, 2026, and the Nature Museum has winter camp sessions December 21 to 23 and December 28 to 30. Several of these programs require nut-free lunches.

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