Inspiring Learning Through Play!
One of my readers, Coz mo, has some very lucky nephews. They have an uncle who has taken the time to teach them how to build a treehouse during vacation!
What a WONDERFUL learning experience for those boys! And they have developed skills they can take with them through their entire lives, as well.
What are some of the things they learned?
- How to cooperate for a desired goal
- Measure twice & cut once (or suffer the consequences)
- Building a sturdy foundation
- How many inches in a foot?
- Why being accurate is important
- Work can be fun and rewarding
- And many other lessons about math, lumber, nature, goal-setting and cooperation
I went digging through some photo albums for pictures of some treehouses that my brother, sister and I built (and played in joyfully) years ago. I think you can tell by the photos that, in the first one, we had very little adult assistance, and in the second one we were more concerned with a private play space than an attractive appearance.
Coz mo did not share any pictures of the treehouse that he and his nephews built but I do have pictures of a couple of treehouses built by friends, with lots of adult input.
Slight difference in the results, huh?
What’s the Learning Point Here?
Wouldn’t you have liked to learn more about building a shelter, and normal home maintenance and improvement skills when you were young? Too many grow up not knowing which end of a hammer is the working end. Or, they only learn that it’s a handy weapon. SAD!
Did you ever dream about having the perfect treehouse?
Would you love to be able to express your creativity?
Summer is the perfect time to help children develop those skills.
Talk about creativity:
Remind you of Fairy Tales?
How about expressing creativity in another medium:
Why not paint with your youngsters?
Or creating a perfect Dream World:
Teach them to visualize.
Or a total fantasy:
The sky really IS the limit to our imaginations!
And, who knows, maybe if you get them inspired when they’re young, they’ll grow up and build you your very own Dream Treehouse:
I want it!
Worth thinking about, isn’t it?
Brennan
Ooooo, I want it, too, Brennan! Too cool!
Great post. We tend to forget that kids learn all the time, not just in school. I remember years ago when my then 10-year-old daughter came home with a 50% on a map reading exercise. She was convinced she was too stupid to ever learn this skill. Not!
We were heading out to Missouri to a concert, so I had her get us from our home in west KY to our destination, by reading a roadmap! I had looked at the map ahead of time, but she didn’t know that…With a little bit of guidance from me, we got to our destination, and she never had any more trouble with maps! It was great seeing the light come on when she realized that the line on the map was the road we were driving on! She knew exactly where we were.
Your kids are ALWAYS learning, so take advantage of that!
Hey Brennan, these are really awesome pictures! Wait till I show my girls…they will absolutely love them. Most of them have the mystical look in them; wonder what’s inside???
Thank you for sharing your map-reading story. I think this deserves a post of it’s own.
As you say, our kids are always learning, whether it’s productive, or nonproductive.
We need to take advantage of that hunger for knowledge and invest time and thought into helping them expand their horizons for the better.
You did a wonderful job of helping your daughter overcome a set-back that could have scarred her for life.
Smart Lady, Darlene!
Dear Evelyn,
I had so much fun (and trips down ‘memory lane’) researching these pictures. I found so many wonderful ones that it was hard to choose just the few.
And with your girls, you can concentrate on making a beautiful escape retreat.
When I was a child, my mother is the one who taught me about lumber and building and planning. She’s 5′1″ and never let any project stop her. I’m grateful to have learned carpentry, and other building skills, from her.
I think treehouses appeal to the mystical and fairy tale side in all of us. That’s probably why I was so attracted to some of these pictures.
If you and your girls build a treehouse, send me photos. O.K?
Imagine my surprise just now when I see a blog post about me hehe. Anyway, we actually built a fort, not a tree house. It is made out of fallen trees that we collected from around my wife’s parents’ property.. so really it is a “log fort”, built on the ground attached to trees.
The goal of it was to blend into the surroundings so we used as much of the natural materials as we could. It isn’t very pretty but the boys don’t care. It is much better than the fort they tried to build on their own.
The boys are already asking when we’re going to build another one. I am considering making an actual treehouse this next time and have picked out a good spot where one would fit.
I think that cooperation was the biggest obstacle
I would also add to that list of skills:
* Learning to use the right tools for the job.
* Physical skills such as using tools.
* Helping each other (holding things, carrying wood, etc)
* Planning. They’ve demanded that I plan better for the second one.
* I’m learning during this process too. How to work with kids, etc.
Here’s a couple pictures:
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm191/cozmogeek/fort/IMG_9338_sized.jpg <– view of the outside.
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm191/cozmogeek/fort/IMG_9612_sized.jpg <– My son checking out the inside.
Yep, Coz mo!
You are now famous! TeeHee!
I hope everybody will check out the links to the pictures you sent. They are wonderful! And what an adorable little boy you have!
Fort or treehouse, this is a place to magically escape to. I heartily commend your efforts.
Thanks for pointing out additional lessons learned. And please send pictures when you get your next project “off the ground’.
Brennan