Imagination Bethesda to stretch bodies, minds

Weekend festival offers yoga, language, art, culinary activities for age 12 and younger

The festival is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, along Woodmont Avenue and Elm Street in downtown Bethesda.

Sandi Weinberg, Education Program director for Yoga Tales, a Bethesda children’s yoga studio, which has hosted a tent at the festival since 2004, said that in past years the demand at the yoga group’s tent has been amazing.

‘‘We couldn’t even keep to the sign-up sheets we had made because there were so many children in the tent,” Weinberg said. ‘‘This year we have to have four teachers there, with at least two demonstrations an hour.”

Rob Anderson founded Jabberu, a program designed to teach children Spanish, French and Mandarin, last year. He said that while he doesn’t know what to expect, he hopes to apply the lessons he preaches at Jabberu to the children at the festival.

‘‘All of our programs are activities-based,” Anderson said. ‘‘We just hope to engage the children in what they are doing.”

Jabberu has plans for a piñata building station and a Beach Bucket Bonanza, which will help children learn colors in all three of the program’s taught languages.

In addition to Yoga Tales and Jabberu, other events will be held for children in the 12 and under age group, including a slew of hands-on features.

‘‘The most popular events in past years have been the down and dirty tents,” said Stephanie Coppula, director of Marketing and Communications for Bethesda Urban Partnership, which produced the event. ‘‘Kids love to get dirty, whether it’s with finger paints or cookie dough.”

To serve the dirty needs of the children, Imagination Bethesda has brought in many businesses unafraid of a mess. Among the many options Bundles of Cookies will offer a tent for cookie decorating, the Iran Culture and Educational Center will provide children with face painting, and Imagination Stage will have water coloring.

New to this year’s festival, which is in its 13th year, is the Bethesda Circulator, the free trolley system that maneuvers through downtown Bethesda. Children will be encouraged to tour the trolley, while parents and adults can learn about the benefits of it for downtown travel.

‘‘I don’t think everybody knows about the trolley,” Coppula said. ‘‘It’s a good event to help make people, both parents and kids, aware.”

The Circulator replaced the Bethesda 8 Trolley, and began running in late 2006. It is free for all passengers.

This year’s Imagination Bethesda festival will also include a variety of performances, ranging from a puppet show presented by Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School to traditional Mexican folk dances by the group Los Quetzales.