Let's Build a Treehouse
Origins
We had been hearing a lot of talk from our children lately about treehouses. We’re not sure where the idea originated, but the treehouse theme in their conversations grew so much that one day, Dominic exclaimed, “Let’s build a treehouse!” To be honest, it’s wonderful to know that this is a place where our children feel such ownership of their space and such confidence in their abilities that the fantastical idea of building a treehouse truly feels like a realistic endeavor. They know that with an idea like a treehouse, they will get all the support they need from their teachers. So, let’s do it!
Early Planning Stages
We know that all good ideas start with a plan. To get the creative juices flowing, we pulled out some old fence pickets and printed some inspiring treehouse blueprints and started working on mocking up and discussing our ideas. Dominic, Ozzy, and Tiernan donned their safety vests and hardhats and joined Sean under the apple tree for some collaboration. We moved boards around, balanced them on the branches, and shared ideas. Tiernan suggested that our treehouse should have “a swing.” Dominic suggested a ladder, a hose (in case of fire), a slide, and “a real elevator to get down.” Harlowe and Van joined next, taking inspiration from the treehouse blueprints and sketching some of our own plans with paper and clipboards. As we moved our boards around and around, many others joined in to contribute their ideas.
Designing
Next, we used Together Time to facilitate some intentional, whole-group planning and designing. Teachers provided a big sketch of our apple tree’s shape and invited each child to the easel to share their ideas and draw in their plans. It was a wonderful exercise in collaborating, turn-taking, and representational mark-making. We were left with a large treehouse design to hang on our wall for reference as we continue to build! We asked, “What does our treehouse need?” The children answered with their sketched contributions:
a wooden floor (Finn)
walls (Dominic)
a bug catcher (Harlowe)
a ceiling (Elliot)
a rectangle window (Miles)
a door (Finn)
stairs (Dominic)
one step (Maple)
After approaching the design process collaboratively, we chose to approach it once more from individual perspectives. We looked at a couple more treehouse blueprints/plans and each child was given a clipboard with their very own graph paper and invited to draw the treehouse they were envisioning. With permission, teachers labeled any important parts of their plans, as dictated by the children. We hung our designs on the wall all around our collaborative plan, and we hope to use the whole wall for reference and inspiration as the project continues. We believe that the ability for children to continuously reflect on their work during and after project pathways is important in their abilities to build self confidence, resiliency, and organization of their thoughts and plans for success.
Framing
Once we finished our big design, it was time to get started on building. Sometimes the children’s ideas move faster than the teachers’ abilities to make a Home Depot run, so we grabbed some leftover wood scraps from when we built Frenson’s cage and used it to measure and “frame” our treehouse floor. (After that Home Depot trip, we’ll be replacing it with something much more sturdy.)
For framing day, each child had a job. We had lifters who got to use their muscles to lift and move our wood. We had mark makers, who used a carpentry pencil to mark the wood where Sean should cut it. We had measurers who were in charge of stretching the measuring tape and reading the numbers, and we had scribes whose job it was to record the numbers our measurers find. It was a real team effort. Once our frame was measured and cut, we each took turns practicing using a real hammer to nail our frame carefully into just the right parts of the tree.
Construction Zone!
Caution! We’ve discovered that our apple tree (which was once perfect for climbing) is now a construction zone. Although we love climbing trees here, we came together to decide on a new rule: no climbing in the construction zone. We talked a bit about what we should do with our construction zone in order to remind everyone of the rule, and we gathered lots of safety materials. We found cones, signs, and the teachers even contributed a big roll of caution tape. Finn helped us all learn about the word, “caution,” and to remember to “stay back” when we see the caution tape.
Boy, did these kids have a blast roping off the construction zone. Fine motor practice was in full swing as many of the children became determined to cut and tie knots with the caution tape. We saw lots of teamwork and kindness as the children would work together with long pieces of tape, each holding one end as they found a place to wrap or tie it. This activity was so much fun that we did it for two days in a row. By the end of day two, we were able to get our construction zone properly designated with safety signage…but of course not without experimenting with the way the long pieces flutter behind us when we run!
