Welcome Summer!

Summer has finally arrived at the treehouse! We have been out enjoying the sun, fun, and fellowship with our friends.

To end off the school year, we had a "end of school" snack made by Ms. Becca. It sure was yummy! 

Once Summer Quest officially began we learned about ant habitats. We had so much fun creating our habitat and finding ants to live in there. It was interesting to see how our hypothesis about what the ants will do to the gel, matched with what really happened. Science is awesome! 

We are so excited for the rest of the summer and the fun events to come! Stay tuned! :) 

Learning with Legos

We don't know about you, but we go loco for Legos! It's our favorite thing to do whenever we have the chance. We love to build whatever comes to our mind, whether it's a building, robot, or dinosaur! Even better, playing with legos helps build our fine motor and problem-solving skills.

Check out this excerpt from Education Magazine: 

"True to its name, Lego pieces allow for an astonishing range of creative play opportunities. Beyond the fun factor, for younger children, the brightly colored pieces and easily interlocking combinations provide hours of patterning practice and fine-motor development. Looking for just the right piece strengthens sorting skills, a key part of the kindergarten math curriculum. And for all kids, Lego teaches how to think in three dimensions-- a precursor to physics. Children of all ages also hone creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork through Lego play."

Since we believe that the best form of learning is through playing, we can't help but agree with this article. How can you incorporate learning through play with legos at home? Need some ideas? Here's a few :)

Lego Sensory Play

Multiplication with Legos

Lego Fractions

Spring Break Fun: Part II :)

Hello! Though spring break has come and gone, we want to share some more fun shots of how we spent it! 

We read a really cool legend about an Indian who used the inspiration of the nature around him to paint beautiful pictures. This made us think of all the colors and nature we see during Spring, which inspired us to paint our own "spring-time" creations. 

 

 It was so fun! We were able to mix certain colors to create the perfect masterpiece. One of our friends decided to paint a sunset! 

What colors and scenes from nature remind you of Spring?

Until next time! :)

Spring Break Fun!

We are having so much fun on our spring break! Because of the perfect weather, we are able to spend a lot of time outside. We played volleyball and decorated the parking lot with chalk. :)

Stay tuned for part TWO! :)

Little Leprechauns

We hope you all had a Happy Saint Patrick's Day! We celebrated by making little leprechaun heads out of construction paper and paper plates. We had so much fun! :)

We worked hard to draw the hats and faces just right!

 Now....let's try them out! :)

We thought they looked great! What do you think?

Have a great day! :)

Let's Create!

Here at the Treehouse, we value creativity. Whether if it's through a painting, a written story, or a race car track built from blocks, we love to demonstrate our creativity to express ourselves. Our favorite form of expression through creativity are arts and crafts. On this day, we used clay to build and design creations. Some of us made tea cups, while others built snowmen :)

There was no limit to our creations due to one of our philosophies, which is participating in process-focused art experiences. These experiences cater to our active and multimodal nature of learning. Here are some examples of what these experiences look like: 

• There are no step-by-step instructions

• There is no sample for children to follow

• There is no right or wrong way to explore and create

• The art is focused on the experience and on exploration of techniques, tools, and materials

• The art is unique and original

• The experience is relaxing or calming

• The art is entirely the children’s own

• The art experience is a child’s choice

• Ideas are not readily available online

(NAEYC)

With these experiences, we are able to use our creativity to create, build, and learn in our own unique way with no limitations. Here are some fun pins that will support families in promoting creativity and learning at home :)

Process Focused Activities

Rainy Day? No Problem!

Whenever it is rainy or too cold to go outdoors, we like to play fun, competitive games indoors. Indoor volleyball is one of our favorites! It is super simple and most importantly; FUN! We had some extra streamer leftover from the preschool Christmas program, so we decided that it would be fun to separate the entire room to make a huge "volleyball net." We also had some extra balloons, so we used them as volleyballs. After splitting into two teams, the friendly competition started. The number of rounds played seemed endless! :)

Arts and crafts are definitely our "go-to's" when we are stuck indoors due to weather. One of our friends taught us how to make paper airplanes! We love to make airplanes of all shapes and sizes, and compare them to see how high and fast they can go. Not only do we love creating and flying planes, we also like to explore nature; especially caves! We had tons of fun making caves out of cardboard boxes we had in our art center. Some of us chose to make bat caves, while some chose bear caves. We enjoyed sharing about our caves and the animals that live in them. Who knew that simple crafts can turn into learning experiences?!

Looking for some fun indoor games to play at home? Try these easy activities! There are many to choose from that will entertain the whole family! :)

20 Fun Indoor Games :)