The Giggling Pig
ARTS & MUSIC FOR KIDS!
The Giggling Pig is the new arts studio for kids - located at 6 Lower Trinity Pass, just south of the four-way-stop intersection with Westchester Avenue, in Pound Ridge - and it’s simply delightful!
Everything about the experience at and with ‘The Pound Ridge Giggling Pig’ feels small-town and personal. Everyone who works there is local, and committed to the community and the children who are growing up here.
Jessica Elkhatib-Hynes opened The Giggling Pig in April 2025, and it’s already become a community center for kids…and adults! The Giggling Pig Art & Party Studio is a franchise with a proven formula and seven successful locations in Connecticut, but this location in Pound Ridge is the first location in New York.
Jessica Elkhatib-Hynes is a peppy, upbeat, youngish 40-something, who’s been teaching Orchestra to Third, Fourth, and Fifth Graders at Quaker Ridge Elementary in the Scarsdale Public Schools for the last twenty years, and before that had a successful career as a Professional Cellist. “I played cello on Broadway in the orchestra for Kinky Boots, I performed with Sam Smith on Saturday Night Live, I’ve performed and recorded with famous artists like Katy Perry, Rachel Platten, Beyonce, and Michael Buble, and I had work with classical orchestras and chamber ensembles,” Jessica recounts.
Jessica grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, but left for boarding school at the North Carolina School of Arts at age 14 in order to pursue playing the cello. She stayed there for her undergraduate degree in Cello Performance, then attended the Manhattan School of Music to earn a Masters in Cello Performance, and then went on to earn an Artist Diploma at SUNY Purchase. …And after all that music-focused education, Jessica returned to school to earn a Masters in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Jessica is a certified Suzuki Teacher in both violin and cello, and is a certified school teacher in both New York and Connecticut.
“My husband, Brian, an entrepreneur who owns Hynes Guitars, and I, have a seven year old, Teddy, who…yes, who plays the electric guitar,” Jessica beams. “Last summer we were in Nantucket visiting with our good friends Renea and Duncan Dayton - who were featured in the July/August 2025 issue of Bedford & New Canaan Magazine! You called them ‘The Funnest Couple’, and we couldn’t agree more! Teddy is the same age as their son Nelson.and they’re best buds. …We were, as always, focused on entertaining and inspiring our then-six year olds, and had put together a couple of art projects using some shells we’d all collected together on the beach, and mostly were trying to just get the kids elbow-deep in paints and slime. We had the best time! And it was easy to see that the kids were inspired! …I remember thinking ‘I should do this as a business!’...”
“Shortly after, I met Hannah Perry, who founded The Giggling Pig, and I decided to open a franchise location,” Jessica recalls. “As a seasoned educator who’d never owned a business myself, it was a plus to have the support of a proven franchise operation right from the start. …And Hannah was also open to me adding my music expertise to the art-focused Giggling Pig curriculum.”
“...And that’s when Cydney Chase walked in!” Jessica declares. “The most critical ingredient to the success of every class, camp, and party we host at The Giggling Pig is the quality of our teachers - the charismatic, qualified, kind, and caring people who are capable of leading all the ‘Piglets’ in their charge…and pulling it off with a smile on everyone’s faces, including their own! …Only days after I opened the doors…Cydney came in, introduced herself, and said she’d heard I was looking for a manager and lead teacher. …It was like an angel had come! …She’s been teaching after-school Arts at Pound Ridge Elementary School for the last few years. …She’s a lifelong painter, a guitarist, and a singer-songwriter, and she’s done some acting in recent films…and let’s just say she definitely inherited some of her musicality and theatrics, and even some of her sense of humor, from her famous father, Chevy Chase.
…And she’s warm and good, and really smart - which she got from her mother, Jayni.. …She even looks like Glinda, the Good Witch of the North! …And now she’s not just our manager…she’s my partner as well!”
Cydney’s background and education is mostly in the Arts. She explains, “We lived in Los Angeles, in Pacific Palisades, until we moved back to Bedford when I was 11, and during that time I used to go with other kids from the neighborhood to a loft above a garage where a lady named Catherine Eaton hosted what at least seemed to me to be a kind of ever-open arts studio. For me, it wasn’t just another place to go, it was my own place. It was full of paintings and art, with lots of easels, and you were free to do whatever you wanted. It was an environment where I could create and explore, and Catherine was my inspiration! With a pencil and paper I could go on journeys! …And when I came to meet Jessica here at The Giggling Pig, I felt like I’d stepped back into the same kind of environment and magically creative energy I remembered from growing up.”
“I’m the oldest of three sisters and we’re all creative in our own ways. Caley even plays piano professionally, and Emily works for Audubon and has a growing family,” Cydney describes. “When we moved to Bedford, I went to The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, and then to Lawrenceville for high school, where I rowed Crew, and developed a love for singing a capella, like in the movie Pitch Perfect. I started college at Princeton, but left to pursue acting, and studied for a couple of years at the Atlantic Theater School in Manhattan. I ultimately went back to college to study liberal arts, and earned a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Theater at Bard. …I started writing songs a few years back and have had some local success playing alongside Frank Calderone, who is a fantastic bassist!”
“At the Giggling Pig we have 90-minute classes and we do all kinds of camps and parties! Kids over 4 years old can be dropped-off - so their good time becomes parents’ free time - although parents often hang-out with a cup of coffee - either watching the kids with delight, or taking some time in our upstairs lounge,” Cydney says. “Clay, paint, slime, and various mixed media are all available on the table. Our classes for the youngest kids are designed to stimulate sensory exploration, while we have more themed and in-depth projects in our classes and camps for the older groups. We’ve hosted some really fun camps during school breaks and closures, like a K-pop ‘Demon Hunters’ themed day where we painted ‘Derpy cat’, and a ‘Taylor Swift’ camp day, a Spa Day camp, and Holiday-themed camps! We have all the arts that other studios offer, but we also have serious canvas painting that’s unique to the Giggling Pig…and both cooking and music classes! …And Jessica teaches Suzuki violin, viola, cello, and double bass, and I teach guitar and often perform for the kids.”
“…The number one rule is having fun!” Cydney declares. “We try to meet the kids where they are! We try to inspire the kids, and then guide the experimentation and learning process, while still keeping the class moving and achieving the objective of the lesson.”
“The community has been absolutely welcoming and wonderful,” Jessica says. “We’re thrilled to be fostering kindness and self-expression and giving our kids the freedom to experiment. At The Giggling Pig kids make friends and gain self-confidence. They can’t wait to proudly display their creations once they get home. …And they all want to come back for more!”