2019 Golden Teddy Awards — Camps + Classes

Winner: Roaring Mouse Creative Arts Studio

Every year, voters heap a lion’s share of appreciation on Roaring Mouse Creative Arts Studio. Parents adore the play-based creative nature of the art classes taught in this space, which has been a fixture in northeast Seattle for more than 20 years. “Roaring Mouse teachers know it’s the process, not the product, that’s important,” says one voter. “Their commitment to social-emotional development and their loving, patient environment put them in a class of their own.”

Finalists

Kids ages 4–12 learn the techniques of the grand masters at Arts Aloft in Seattle’s Madrona neighborhood. Summer-camp themes cover a range of interests, from drawing women from the book “Rebel Girls” to Star Wars and Harry Potter, while after-school sessions offer an array of mixed-media experiences.

Parents rave about the “top-notch” curriculum at Illumination Learning Studio, which offers after-school classes, school-year and summer camps, and a half-day before-school cultural arts immersion program at four locations in Greenwood/Phinney Ridge, Ballard, the Ballard Locks and Pipers Creek. Illumination’s cultural, performing and fine arts curriculum incorporates instrumental music lessons and classes in drama, voice, art and dance.

A Seattle-based arts-enrichment program for kids from ages 3 and a half to 14, Three Dragons Academy aims to foster a love of learning through a thoughtfully crafted arts education. “They do a fantastic job of integrating all of the arts into the projects, including music, history, physical arts, movement and drama,” writes one reader.

Through Wedgwood Drama Studio classes, kids and teenagers learn how actors use their bodies, voices and imaginations to create characters. After-school classes are held at the studio and in six North Seattle schools, and a Theater in the Park summer camp takes place at View Ridge Playfield park.