Little yogis salute the sun at Urban Kids Play

At Urban Kids Play on Queen Anne, a wonderful transformation takes place every second Tuesday of the month. The display tables are wheeled away, and the vibrant children's boutique becomes a yoga studio for little ones looking to stretch their arms heavenward and salute the sun.

"We're big on active play," says co-owner Curtis Kingrey. "Kids moving their bodies, using their minds to inspire their creativity and fuel their play."

The yogis are a year old and up, with typically around 10 kids in attendance. Co-owner (and Curtis' wife) Mikki Kingrey is a trained yoga instructor with a serene presence. Her voice is sweet and girlish, but she's an experienced mom, and she knows how to get the kids' attention without screaming.

At a recent class, she instructed her students: "Now put your hands and knees on the floor, for cow pose. And what does a cow say?" When a shriek of violent mooos rang across the store, she gently reminded her charges, "My little yogis, we're going to use our inside voices." And the group mooed with less volume and more intention, drawing out their vowels in a way that sounded almost cosmic.

The free class features kid versions of traditional yoga poses. Frog pose included lots of ribbits and was much more aerobic than the adult version. Child's pose, of course, was child's play for this group, and their downward dog was impressive.

Three of the yogis, Rachel, Maddie and Macy, followed the class pretty closely; 1-year-old Ellie, though, bailed, and wandered around the store to play with the toys. I decided to follow her lead.

Urban Kids Play has a funky, modern sensibility without being trendy. This is a real kids' store created by smart people who decided to create what they felt they lacked in choices when shopping for their daughter. "We used to find good wooden toys in one store, shoes in another, books in a third," Curtis Kingrey says. "We wanted to put it all together." Nothing is battery-operated, and there is a delightful absence of the usual kids'-store preponderance of plastic.

The shop carries organic clothing from Seattle designer Kate Quinn; a bounty of Plan Toys, which are crafted from sustainable rubber-tree forests and dyed with colorful, saturated, eco-friendly dyes; and shoes aplenty. There is a fabulous clearance sale going on through the end of February, with 50 percent off selected clothing, 75 percent off selected shoes and 50 to 75 percent off selected toys and gifts.

As the yoga class reached its finale, Mikki pulled out the singing bowl and explained how it worked -- she told the kids to listen carefully to the sound of the bowl with their eyes closed. As the reverberating gong song began to fade, a miracle happened: There was an instance of actual silence. Until baby Jack, who was watching from the sidelines, began fussing in his stroller, causing his smiling mom to chide in an urgent whisper, "Jack, you're not cooperating with the Zen moment!"

Mikki told the class to close their eyes, put their hands together in prayer and: "Think of one thing you're grateful for, and when you've done that, say 'Namaste.'" It took exactly five seconds for the group to journey to toddler awareness. "Namas Day!" the little yogis cried.

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