Taproot teaches ‘Drama With Your Mama’

Taproot Theatre’s popular Acting Studio has a new class this spring called Drama with Your Mama. Designed for children ages 1 to 3, it aims to help children develop their imagination through singing, movement and general silliness.
Held at Grace Fellowship Church on NW 62nd Street and 4th Avenue Northwest in Lower Phinney, the class is loosely structured and can move along with the children’s whims.

Children in Taproot’s Drama With Your Mama class bounce around.
During the session’s second class this morning, teacher Jessica Brady led about a dozen children plus their caregivers (mostly moms, but also two dads and a grandmother) through a series of songs and movements.
“When we’re doing drama we use our voices and we use our bodies,” Brady explained.
After singing “Row Row Row Your Boat,” “The Hokey Pokey” and several other fun songs, the class settled down to read a book about a kitten discovering a full moon, which she thinks is a bowl of milk.

That’s when the drama part kicked in.
Brady pulled out a magic green hula hoop that she laid on the floor. With each child touching the magic hoop, they counted to three and were transported to Drama Land. There, they tried to capture the full moon with a pretend rope as a lasso.

Children try to lasso the moon.
Then one little girl said they should turn the rope into a fishing line and catch the moon that was reflected in the pond.
Some children participated fully in class, others spent time snuggling with mom or dad until they felt comfortable, and this little boy felt the need to drive around the circle for a while.

That’s KING 5 reporter Deborah Feldman and photojournalist Tom Hickey in the background. They’ll be doing a story on Drama With Your Mama in June as part of KING 5’s “Learning for Life” series.