FOR THE KIDS : Early Stages : Summer camps and classes teach young people how to put on a show.

Over the years, Ventura County has produced an abundance of actors for movies and commercials. After all, Oscar-winning actor Kevin Costner spent his high school years living in Ventura.

If your kid wants to be another Macaulay Culkin (“Home Alone”) or is simply a ham, there are a number of summer camps and classes in the county that offer acting instruction. Most of them welcome beginners, as well as those who already have agents.

Some teach not only acting, but makeup, stage movement, voice, dance and music. In some, students spend the entire class time gearing up for a play or show they put on at the end of the session. Here are a few:

Ojai

Kelly Lamar, of Illusions Theatre fame, has put together a summer arts program for children that combines drama, dance, music and art. Lamar, resident choreographer for Illusions, has lined up three other instructors for the program.

The four-week workshop runs from June 30 through July 23. Classes are on Tuesday and Thursday, from 9-11 a.m., for children 3-6 years and 6-8 years. The session, conducted at 113 S. Montgomery St., concludes with a performance on July 23. Cost is $80. For information, call 646-5156.

Santa Paula

Hundred Hats Theater, which is wrapping up its children’s production of “The Jungle Book” this weekend, is offering Camp Hundred Hats this summer for kids in second grade and older. It covers acting, movement, voice and makeup.

The session runs from June 22 through July 10, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until noon. At the end, the older children present a one-act play and the younger ones do dramatic readings or songs. Cost is $125. For information, call 525-4645.

Ventura

* Kids who want to put on a show--memorize lines, paint sets and make costumes--can sign up for Camp MTV, offered by the Ventura Park and Recreation District. That is, if it isn’t already filled. Of all the district’s summer camps, this is the most popular.

This summer program for children 8-13 runs for two weeks, June 29 through July 10, and again July 27 through Aug. 7. Sessions will be held at Elmhurst Elementary School, 5080 Elmhurst St., with extended hours from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Auditions will be held the first day of each session. “Tom Sawyer” will be performed in the first session and “Peter Pan” in the second. For information, call 658-4748.

* Ventura College has a two-week class, Acting for the Fun of It, for kids in grades six through eight. It will offered July 27-31 and Aug. 3-6, Monday through Friday, from 1-3 p.m. in the college’s Circus Theater. Cost is $65. For information, call 654-6459.

Thousand Oaks

* Conejo Recreation and Park District has drama classes for all ages at different park sites. For information, call 496-3185. They are:

* At the Borchard Center, 190 N. Reino Road, Creative Drama for the Young, ages 5 to 7, will run June 24 through Aug. 12, on Wednesdays from 3-4 p.m. Cost is $16.

* At North Ranch Community Center, Drama and Acting is offered on Mondays from June 28 through Aug. 10 for two different age groups. Kids 5-7 meet from 1:30-2:30 p.m., and children 8-12 meet from 3-4 p.m. Cost is $39.

* At the Arts Council Center, 482 Greenmeadow Drive, Beginning Drama is offered June 27 through Aug. 8 for kids 8-12 years from 9-10 a.m. Saturdays. Kids who already have taken this one can sign up for the drama workshop that follows from 10-11 a.m. Each is $30.

Also at the Arts Council Center, Theater Games for kids 6-10 will be offered June 24 through July 15 on Wednesdays from 3-4:30 p.m. Cost is $15.

* The Thousand Oaks Teen Center, 1275 E. Janss Road, has a summer Drama Club for teens, 12-18 years old, that will meet June 23 through July 28 on Tuesdays from 5:30-7 p.m. At the conclusion of the session, kids will put on the play “Stage Door.” Cost is $5. For information, call 494-5156 after 2 p.m.

* Cal Lutheran University’s Drama Department is again offering summer workshops for kids at the school’s Little Theater on campus, 60 W. Olsen Road.

Kids 9-14 years can sign up for two two-week beginning sessions, July 6-17 and July 20-31. Class runs from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday.

More experienced kids, ages 11 to 16, can attend a longer session, July 13-31, Monday through Friday, 1:30-4:30 p.m. Both courses cover acting, improvisation, movement and choreography. At the end of the session, students will perform for parents. The cost is $160. For information, call 493-3415.

Simi Valley

* Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District has a class, Acting for Television and Commercials, for anyone 13 years and older. Students learn the skills to break into acting: finding an agent, reading a cue card, cold reading techniques and feeling comfortable in front of the camera. The class runs June 24 through July 29 on Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. at 1692 Sycamore Drive. Cost is $35.

The district has two acting workshops for kids on Saturdays from May 30 through July 25. The one for children 6-12 runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. The one for kids 12-18 goes from 1-2:15 p.m. Both workshops will be held at Township Elementary School, 4101 Township Ave., and both conclude with presentations by the students.

* In the district’s performance workshop, students put on a play at the conclusion. Rehearsals run June 6 through July 26 at Houghton Park, 4333 Township Ave. Auditions are May 30 and 31. Sessions are on Saturday from 2:30-5:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 1-6 p.m. Cost is $35 plus a $10 lab fee.

For information about the district’s classes, call 584-4400.

Camarillo

* For would-be actors 14 and older, Pleasant Valley Park and Recreation District has a theater workshop that runs Wednesdays from June 24 through July 29. The session, which deals with such things as stage direction and voice, is from 4-5 p.m. at the Camarillo Community Center, 1605 E. Burnley St. Cost is $28.

* A theater arts class for kids 5-13 will be offered Wednesdays, June 24 through July 29, from 2:30-3:15 p.m. at the center. Cost is $25. For kids 14 and older, a theater arts class will run the same dates from 4-5 p.m. Cost is $28. For information, call 482-1996.