Experience-dependent synaptic plasticity refines brain circuits during development. To uncover protein synthesis-dependent mechanisms contributing to experience-dependent plasticity, we performed quantitative proteomic analysis of the nascent proteome using improved bio-orthogonal metabolic labeling (BONCAT) to identify candidate plasticity proteins (CPPs) that undergo differential protein synthesis in response to visual conditioning (VC) in Xenopus optic tectum. We identified 83 CPPs that formed strongly connected networks and were annotated to a variety of biological functions, including RNA splicing, protein translation, and chromatin remodeling. Functional analysis of select CPPs using translation blocking morpholinos revealed the requirement of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 subunit A (eIF3A), fused in sarcoma (FUS), and ribosomal protein s17 (RPS17) in experience-dependent structural plasticity of tectal neurons. These results demonstrate that the nascent proteome is dynamic in response to VC and that de novo synthesis of the machinery that regulates gene expression and protein translation is required for experience-dependent structural plasticity.