Parents can swim, dance and make music with their little ones in a number of parent-tot classes. Once kids hit school, they tend to pursue their own interests, leaving parents in the role of chauffeur.

But a few parent-child classes target the elementary-school crowd, encouraging parents and kids to learn a new skill together — and maybe a little about each other, too. Local parents can try everything from dance to yoga to art to kayaking with older kids.

"Parent-child classes are really an incredible way to bond with children, instead of sitting on the sidelines," said Stacy DeBroff, author of "Sign Me Up: The Parents' Complete Guide to Sports, Activities, Music Lessons, Dance Classes and Other Extracurriculars" (Free Press, 2003).

"When somebody else is in charge and parents are also students, it kind of puts them on the same level with their kids," said Janice Mallman, assistant director for Blue Heron Arts Center on Vashon Island, who took art classes with her daughter, now 20. "It's really different than doing a project together at home."

With families' increasingly busy and dispersed lives, a scheduled class makes it "a priority on the calendar," said DeBroff, who earned a brown belt in karate with her son during four years of lessons. "It's guaranteed time to spend one-on-one with your child."

Joint classes also alleviate the guilt many busy parents feel about pursuing a solitary hobby or activity, DeBroff said.

Or envy, when it looks like kids are having a lot of fun.

"We get parents who say, 'I want to do that, too!' " said Anne Green Gilbert, director of the Creative Dance Center in Haller Lake, which offers multiage creative movement and folk-dance classes.

On a recent Sunday, Ellen Aagaard brought her children, Sylvie, 4, and Kirk Corwin, 7, and a friend to the center's intergenerational creative movement class. Open to age 5 and up, the Seattle class encourages different types of movement to music — sometimes alone, sometimes with partners and sometimes as a group.

At one point, Aagaard laid on her back with Sylvie on her stomach to form a human wall as groups used their bodies to make lines that zigzagged or curved. In a different dance, parents shadowed children as they played a hand instrument, such as a triangle or shakers, then switched the follow-the-leader position. In another exercise, small groups of four dancers drew lines on paper and then created their own intersecting dances to match the drawings.

"I haven't danced with my kids for a long time," said Aagaard. "I did toddler dance with them for years, but now they do their own classes. This was a chance for us all to dance together."

The trick to parent-child classes is finding an activity where everyone works at his or her level. "Art is so individual; each person does it their own way," said Mallman, Blue Heron's class coordinator. The center, like several other Seattle studios, offers family pottery classes. "It's focused time to share together doing something with your hands. And you have something to take away and keep, so you'll always remember the experience."

Yvette Simone, who leads an all-ages "time-for-drawing" class at Greenlake Community Center, says "everyone can learn something from others, regardless of age or skill level." For children, "if they have an interest in art and they see their parent/grandparent doing it with them, it validates who they are."

At Vitality Pilates and Fitness Studio, a Friday-night family yoga class moves back and forth between kid-friendly poses and more challenging ones. "The idea is to definitely give parents a chance to work out," said owner Hilery Avritt. Open to infants on up, younger kids can play with toys while preschoolers join in by age 4 or 5. "It's total mayhem, but a lot of fun," Avritt said. "It's a great way for families to wind down and have a nice end to the week."

A shared activity gives families a common interest to pursue on weekends or during vacation. Or it may lend itself to more enrichment; DeBroff suggests families might watch a ballet performance or visit a pottery exhibit after taking a class.

Along with learning skills for potentially lifelong hobbies, children see parents model their approach to new and possibly difficult tasks. "They watch how you deal with setbacks and the teacher telling you you're not doing something right," DeBroff said.

Plus, kids get a kick out of parents trying a new skill — and sometimes looking ridiculous. An experienced skier, DeBroff took snowboarding lessons with her children, now 10 and 12. "I could not stand up," she said. "They were howling with laughter. Sometimes the kids end up helping you."

Children reluctant to try a new activity may be more willing if mom or dad comes along.

That was true for Aubry Matter, 8, who didn't want to take dance lessons on her own but enjoyed a family folk-dance and creative-movement class with her mom, Alicia Matter. "It's nice because it gives us time together when it's just us," said Matter, who also has an 11-year-old son. "She wants to be right there with me."

Stephanie Dunnewind: sdunnewind@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2091.