Classes

Sponge is a children's language center offering immersion classes in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and Japanese. Both child/caregiver classes and "just kids" classes are offered. Language and culture are introduced through games, songs, stories, music, art, and movement.

Taught by native speakers, Sponge classes are 55 or 85 minutes long, with the majority of the class conducted completely in the target language.

Sponge is a children's language center offering immersion classes in Spanish, French, Mandarin, and Japanese. Both child/caregiver classes and "just kids" classes are offered. Language and culture are introduced through games, songs, stories, music, art, and movement.

Taught by native speakers, Sponge classes are 55 or 85 minutes long, with the majority of the class conducted completely in the target language.

The Seattle Aquarium, built on a pier that boasts excellent views of Elliott Bay, offers a mix of older exhibits that still shine after all these years, and exciting new exhibits with thoughtful features for kids.

Seattle Aquarium expanded in 2007 and remodeled the east end of Pier 59. A new entrance on Alaskan Way leads into the Puget Sound Great Hall, an airy room featuring the new Window on Washington Waters exhibit. The 120,000 gallon exhibit boasts a 39' x 19' viewing window filled with rockfish, salmon, perch, urchins, anemones, sea stars and hundreds of their marine friends.

Renovations also include an expansion of the Aquarium's gift store and a new Aquarium Cafe, serving a variety of family friendly fare to Aquarium visitors.

The exhibit Life on the Edge is in a large deep-blue painted room with two large tide pools. Wild Outer Coast mimics a coastal tidal pool filled with sea weeds, colorful anemones and urchins, fish, crab, and giant mussels. A wave sweeps into the pool periodically, to show how the rushing water affects its inhabitants.

Inland Seas features five interlocking shallows filled with native sea stars of all hues, feathery sea pens, sea slugs, and the foot-long predatory moon snail, whose tirelike egg casings you sometimes see on shore during low tide. Kids can reach in and touch any of the creatures in the pools, and naturalists are on hand to answer questions.

Toward the back of the room, visitors can view milk-white moon jellies in a unique ring shaped exhibit, look at specimens of marine creatures, and get their hands on please-touch exhibits.

Other exhibits feature the Giant Pacific Octopus, seals, and sea otters that can be viewed underwater in a naturalistic setting. This last exhibit, called Sound to Mountains, features hands-on activities for kids and an innovative play area. Most children can also spend hours in the cool, damp-feeling Underwater Dome, pointing out the ferocious-looking wolf eels and dozens of other Puget Sound fish, swimming all around and above them.

Naturalists are on hand around the aquarium to answer questions, and animals are fed on a regular schedule during the day. Times are posted prominently around exhibit spaces. The aquarium also has Beach Naturalists stationed at area beaches during the summer.

Admission deals: If you want to visit the Aquarium and take an Argosy Harbor Cruise, ask about combination packages. The Aquarium is also a CityPass attraction.

Marine Camps: day programs for youth ages seven to 15 are offered during summer and winter school breaks. For more information, call the registrar at 206.386.4353.

Classes: Story- and family times offered throughout the year. Check our calendar for listings.

Birthday parties (weekends): You bring the cake and the Aquarium provides sea creatures; two-hour room use; party invitations; ID wristbands for your party to visit the Aquarium; and same day admission to Seattle Aquarium exhibits. Cost is $200for up to 15 guests (ages three & up) and $5 per additional guest.

Green Lake Community Center offers a variety of programs for all ages, including a play center for toddlers, pottery classes, sports (tennis, martial arts, volleyball, flag football, soccer, basketball), excellent drama classes held in conjunction with the Seattle Public Theatre, early childhood music classes, a teen program (including Friday Teen Night), and a changing array of classes.

Preschool classes are available for children ages three to five.

The center is attached to Evans Pool, which offers a variety of instructional, recreational, and exercise swim programs.

A visit to Kelsey Creek makes a delightful outing with kids - it's worth the drive if you live in the Seattle area. The park is made up of 150 acres of forest and wetland habitat, with a number of hiking trails (including a gravel loop trail that goes around the park's barns and pastures) that are easy enough for tots to traverse. A popular working farm is also located on the park grounds.

Picnic tables and a covered picnic shelter are available for brown-baggers and events. The picnic shelter is located south of the parking lot (call or email for rental information); tables are located throughout the park. A play area for small kids is conveniently located near the picnic shelter area.

Kelsey Creek Farm's barns and pastures are home to a variety of farm animals. The farm hosts a number of kids' recreational programs, including pony care classes and farm experience tours, as well as living history workshops for families throughout the year.

The winner of several 2008 Parents' Picks awards, including best museum, day camp, and parents' night out in Seattle, Imagine Children's Museum, features activities that are hands-on challenges requiring kids to use their imaginations, think creatively, and problem solve.

The museum features interactive exhibits. On the farm, kids can "milk" a life-sized cow; at the mountain, they can climb a rock wall and explore the shadow cave. The 16-foot-high treehouse offers a bird's eye view of the museum.

The museum also offers seasonal art classes, kids' nights out, and school break and summer day camps. "Tuesday Tales" are told on the first Tue of each month. Check Imagine's website and our calendar for event listings.

Birthday parties at the museum come in four flavors. The Birthday Bash ($85/$95) includes invitations, a T-shirt for the birthday child, and 90 minutes in a special party room with extended play at the museum for up to 12 friends (additional children $5/each; accompanying adults free; 20-guest maximum). The Birthday Bash Deluxe ($170/$190) includes invitations, a T-shirt for the birthday child, and 90 minutes in the party room for up to 24 friends (additional children $5/each; accompanying adults free; 40-guest maximum). The Caboodle Bash ($115/$130) includes invitations and T-shirt, cupcakes and juice, a free next-visit pass for each guest, and 90 minutes in the party room for up to 12 friends (additional children $6.50/each; accompanying adults free; 20-guest maximum). The Whole Kit 'n Caboodle ($220/$250) includes all of the above for up to 25 friends (additional children $6.50/each; accompanying adults free; 40-guest maximum). Prepayment and one adult chaperone for every six children are required.

Burien CC offers classes of all types and for all ages (karate, gymnastics, yoga, ballet, a variety of art classes, and school break activities for kids of all ages), teen activities, a skate park, and family-friendly programs and shows in the center's auditorium. This is Burien's only community center.

Download a current recreation guide with classes and events from the website.

Gracewinds Perinatal Services offers birth- and family-related services to women and families.

Services include childbirth classes, prenatal yoga, postpartum conditioning, lactation consulting, breast pump rental, massage, labor and postpartum doulas, chiropractic and acupuncture, nutrition counseling, perinatal counseling, siblings classes, infant massage, infant CPR, and Footsteps new moms groups.

Footsteps is a group where new mothers can drop by and share information with other new moms. The groups form continuously and are facilitated by a childbirth educator with an MA, LMP, and five kids.

The Phinney Neighborhood Association, housed in a beautiful old converted elementary school, helps build community by offering classes and programs for adults, cooperative preschool, before- and afterschool care for school-age kids, and vacation and summer day camps.

It also hosts a wide variety of community organizations that offer classes for kids in music, martial arts, and dance. The center also offers infant/child CPR classes on a regular basis. For class information, check the website or contact the center - offerings change quarterly.

The PNA's full calendar includes fun family-friendly events like the annual Halloween Carnival, Winter Festival and Crafts Fair, and the Ridge Romp children's entertainment series, held on the second Saturday of each month during the school year.

To preschools operate in the center: Phinney Neighborhood Preschool Coop and 65th Street Preschool Co-op.

Kids in kindergarten through fifth grade can go to Phinney Ridge Kids!, which offers before- and after-school enrichment programs and full time care during school breaks. [206.783.0851/fun4kids@phinneycenter.org]

The college's Early Learning, Family, and Childcare Center offers daycare children ages three months to six years; parenting classes and education; and an on-site Family Resource Specialist who can answer parenting questions.

The new facility features original artwork incorporated into the playground outside, as well as colorful climbing structures.

Although the daycare's slots are reserved for students at BCC and Coscto employees, members of the public can put their names on a waiting list for future openings.

BCC's North Campus offers summer classes for children ages 12 to 17 in subjects including computers, art, languages, PSAT/SAT/WASL preparation, and more. Check the website for details.

The Community Center at Mercer View is open daily and offers beautiful views of Lake Washington and the Cascades. The two-story facility features meeting rooms, an arts and crafts area, an indoor art gallery, health, fitness, and dance rooms, a game room with foosball, board games, pool, and cable TV, free Wi-fi, and a children's play area.

911, a media arts center in South Lake Union, provides the community - and teens - with access to media tools and space to finish and display projects. Members can rent field equipment and use the center's editing suites, shooting space, and screening room. An animation lab is available to members of all ages.

Youth programs include the Young Producers Project, a program for middle- and high school students that introduces them to media literacy through alternative forms of media production. Media Underground is a weeklong intensive workshop for teens. Professional videomakers teach kids how to deconstruct media, design and storyboard a short video, and operate professional digital video cameras. Other youth programs are listed on the website - click on the "Youth" tab.

Formerly a full-service restaurant, Kaspars is now a full-time special events and catering venue. Events take place throughout the year, including a Thanksgiving buffet and Christmas Eve dinner, and children are welcome at many of them.

Kaspars offers cooking camps and periodic cooking classes for kids - check the for event updates or email for notification.

Cookies carries everything you need to bake a batch of everyone's favorite sweet treat from start to finish. Owners Caryn and Betsey have packed the small store with high-quality spices and flavorings; chocolates, dried fruits, and nuts; a well-chosen selection of baking utensils; a wall of cookie cutters; a dazzling selection of colored sugars and sprinkles; and useful sundries like meringue powder and food coloring.

If you have kids at home, you'll find plenty here to please them. The store carries a selection of ginger- and shortbread cookies in seasonal shapes and ready-made royal icing for last-minute cookie decorating sprees. Just grab a couple of small packets of sprinkles and go! Cookie kits, food coloring markers (easy to handle for little hands), children's utensil sets, and tools to make decorating with kids easier (narrow squeeze bottles for icing) are also displayed around the store.

For easy birthday party entertainment, ask about the store's cookie package. Come in and choose a cookie cutter to match your party theme. You'll get back baked cookies, (about three per child), royal icing, and decorating supplies, all packed in a box and ready for decorating.

Cookies also hosts periodic drop-in cookie decorating opportunities for kids (and grownups) during holidays, and seasonal decorating classes - most for adults, but an occasional class for kids - at the store. If you gather up eight or more friends, you can schedule a private decorating class. See our calendar for details, or contact the store.

Blue Ribbon Cooking School offers after school cooking classes and summer cooking camps for kids.

In the cooking classes, kids cook a simple but sophisticated entree that can be taken home for their family's dinner. Tuesday and Thursday classes start after school and go until 5:30pm; Saturday classes are once a month at 2pm-4pm.

Summer camp kids attend the school from 10:30am-3:30pm for week-long sessions that start in mid-June and run through the end of August/early September. Kids learn new culinary skills and cook dinner for their families at the school graduation dinner party on Thursday evening.

A schedule of classes and current prices are available online. Call or email to register.

ARC Dance Productions is a ballet-based, répertoire dance company under the Artistic Direction of Marie Chong. It performs a full season from September through June in venues such as Benaroya Hall, Meany Hall for the Performing Arts, Shorecrest Performing Arts Center, and Eastlake Performing Arts Center.

It presents works from a wide range of dance idioms such as classical and contemporary ballet, modern and jazz. ARC's mission is to cultivate an appreciation of dance as a performing art by presenting a rich palette of performers and choreography from all disciplines of dance.

Arc School of Ballet offers dance instruction in four coordinated programs: Children's (for ages three-six); Student (ages six-20); Mentor/Apprentice (ages 16-23); and Progressive Open (teen through adult). The school offers summer programs as well.

Hiawatha offers before- and afterschool care, music and movement for pre-schoolers, family music classes, sports programs for school-age kids, and day camps, among its many family-friendly programs. The Center also features a playfield, lighted running track, tennis courts, a large wading pool (open daily during the summer) and kids' playground, and a batting cage.

Learning Ladder Preschool and Co-op Playgroup programs are available - download a current brochure from the website.

ARC Dance Productions is a ballet-based, répertoire dance company under the Artistic Direction of Marie Chong. It performs a full season from September through June in venues such as Benaroya Hall, Meany Hall for the Performing Arts, Shorecrest Performing Arts Center, and Eastlake Performing Arts Center.

It presents works from a wide range of dance idioms such as classical and contemporary ballet, modern and jazz. ARC's mission is to cultivate an appreciation of dance as a performing art by presenting a rich palette of performers and choreography from all disciplines of dance.

Arc School of Ballet offers dance instruction in four coordinated programs: Children's (for ages three-six); Student (ages six-20); Mentor/Apprentice (ages 16-23); and Progressive Open (teen through adult). The school offers summer programs as well.

North Kirkland Community Center offers year-round parent/child, preschool, youth, and teen recreation programs, as well as classes in music, art, dance, drama, cooking, science, languages, yoga, aerobics, and more. A current class schedule is online or available at the center. Registration is available online as well.

The center also has a drop-in indoor playground for children ages one to five, open from mid-September through early June. Call for days and times.

Summer Junior Day Camps are available for kids ages six to eight. Peter Kirk Camps are offered in the summer for kids ages six to twelve.

Indoor Playground Birthday Party packages are available for children ages one to five.

Edmonds Parks and Recreation offers a variety of recreation classes for children and adults. Children's programs include gymnastics, music, dance, babysitting, and etiquette classes. Summer day camp opportunities are also available.

In addition to Overlake's level III Neonatal Intensive Care Nursery for sick and premature babies and its overall reputation as a fine place to give birth, the hospital offers an excellent, reasonably priced array of parenting, safety, and CPR classes, as well as etiquette classes for grade- and middle schoolers. Contact the hospital or go to its website for an up-to-date class list.

Over 90% of Overlake's doctors are board-certified in their specialties. To find a doctor, call the medical center's free Physician Referral Line. Determine a physician's credentials, office hours, location, and whether or not they accept your insurance and are accepting new patients. [425.688.5211]

Since 1976, WMAH has been offering martial arts instruction to all ages with a focus on learning techniques from a variety of martial arts, including Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Karate, Jujitsu, and Aikido.

Classes run weekdays after school, and transportation from school is available.

WMAH also offers mid-winter and summer break camps for kids ages five-13 that combine the development of physical fitness, self-defense skills, and mental discipline with fun field trips, reading and storytimes, and activities to enhance kids' creativity. Camps have early drop-off and late pick-up times to accommodate parents' work schedules.

Alki Kids Tae Kwon Do offers classes in tai chi, chi gong, yoga, kids' Bushido training, and tae kwon do, taught by Master Steve Coates, Seventh Degree Black Belt Koryo Moo Sool Association.

Hiawatha offers before- and afterschool care, music and movement for pre-schoolers, family music classes, sports programs for school-age kids, and day camps, among its many family-friendly programs. The Center also features a playfield, lighted running track, tennis courts, a large wading pool (open daily during the summer) and kids' playground, and a batting cage.

Learning Ladder Preschool and Co-op Playgroup programs are available - download a current brochure from the website.

Hiawatha offers before- and afterschool care, music and movement for pre-schoolers, family music classes, sports programs for school-age kids, and day camps, among its many family-friendly programs. The Center also features a playfield, lighted running track, tennis courts, a large wading pool (open daily during the summer) and kids' playground, and a batting cage.

Learning Ladder Preschool and Co-op Playgroup programs are available - download a current brochure from the website.

The long-time community organization offers a wide range of private and group music instruction for all ages and all levels of experience. The facility is also the site of community programs and events.

Early childhood music classes are offered for children ages eight months to five.

Music Works also offers Music Therapy for children and adolescents with mental health needs, developmental or learning disabilities, brain injuries, and physical disabilities.

Summer camp sessions are available for kids ages six to 11 in one-week sessions that include musical exploration and traditional summer camp activities. Camps run from 9am-4pm daily.

For older children, Music Works offers specialized classes/camps in voice, specific instruments, and ensembles.

Kids who are ready to rock might enjoy the Paul Green School Of Rock Music.

The school focuses on teaching kids ages eight to 18 how to play instruments - guitar, bass, keyboards, voice, and drums - and how to perform in a rock band. All skill levels are welcome in the afterschool classes, and kids can enroll any time. Kids learn music theory while playing with other students.

Individual 45-minute lessons and supervised group rehearsals each week prepare kids for quarterly performances in "real" rock venues. The showcase rock concerts incorporate light shows and stagecraft, just like the real thing.

Zoom Language Center specializes in Spanish language classes for kids ages one to 10. Vocabulary and grammar are taught using music, musical instruments, visual aids, and sensory and cognitive games. The center's curriculum was developed by an educational psychologist with more than 30 years experience in bilingual teaching, specializing in young children.

Class sessions for children ages 12 months to seven years are 75 minutes long and divided by age group. Children generally attend one or two times each week.

A Spanish immersion summer camp is offered for children ages two-and-a-half to nine and a playschool program serves ages two to five.

Arena Sports offers recreation and sports opportunities for all ages.

Soccer: Programs for kids include Lil' Kickers (introductory soccer and movement skills program for kids 18 months to nine years), and Youth Indoor Soccer for kids seven to high school. The Lil' Kickers program is offered at satellite locations in Issaquah, Mercer Island, Queen Anne, Silver Lake, and Snohomish.

TNT: TNT (Technical and Tactical Training) is offered for kids ages eight to 13 and Advanced TNT for ages 14 to 18. The programs teach technical skills and how to most effectively use those skills in the game.

Summer camps, school break camps, and "drop-n-shop" days are available for kids ages three to 12.

The Arena Sports Fun Zones are indoor inflatable playgrounds available at the Magnuson Park and Redmond locations. Events include drop-in playtimes, field trips, camp activities, and youth lock-in events.

Birthday parties can be customized with various activities, including soccer, the Fun Zone, flag football, dodgeball, t-ball, field hockey, kickball, and other activities. Parties include 40 minutes in a reserved party room, 50 minutes on an indoor field, a coach/instructor/referee, invitations and envelopes, and equipment for the field.

The Magnuson Park location also offers an all-ages indoor baseball training facility featuring pitching machines, two batting cages, and a large astro-turf indoor training area.

Arena Sports offers age-specific tournaments between Christmas and New Year's for players of all abilities between ages four and 99. Tournaments are played on one day for each age group and offer a three-game minimum with the top teams from round robin play advancing to single elimination rounds until a champion is crowned. Check the website for details.