Tinker With Us

Week 2 of Tinkergarten focused on matching our feelings to colors. We had a berry smashing station to represent anger. We made emotion potions with colored ice cubes to represent our silly emotions. And we made Feelings Soup with our nature treasures to represent what we can do if someone is feeling sad, sick, or hurt.

We had so much fun mixing, smashing, and shaking!

We kicked off our summer Tinkergarten program today by making faces with our nature treasures to show how we feel- a super way to help kids learn to recognize emotions in themselves and others.

Enjoy looking through all of the fun we had!

Tinkergarten Empathy classes start tomorrow! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone!

An email was sent last week with additional information, please be sure to read it before class.

🌳 🪵 🌞💐🪾🏕️

https://forms.gle/LUANQqiJe3Q3s2YY6

⬆️Registration for Summer 2025 is OPEN! Please use the link above to sign up for some fun, purposeful play this summer.

New age specific classes and two extra family classes added this summer to meet the needs of more families! See the days and times offered below to pick the best option for your family!

Register via this link: https://forms.gle/JbYGeYe5vNm5h6rQ9

https://forms.gle/LUANQqiJe3Q3s2YY6

⬆️Registration for Summer 2025 is now OPEN! Please use the link above to sign up for some fun, purposeful play this summer.

Keep an eye out! Summer 2025 registration opens this week! We will be following the Spring Empathy curriculum with many more class options and a new location at Lower Cato Falls park!

In week 5 of Tinkergarten, we stimulated our senses of sight, smell, touch and even sound as we mixed, mashed and extracted pigments from plants, fruit and other objects. When kids use more than one sense at the same time, multiple regions of the brain light up and engage. Kids also get practice integrating the various senses- something they’ll need to do in order to focus and learn. Enjoy a few photos we captured of this week’s colorful play.

This week at Tinkergarten, we moved through a series of obstacles, all while moving our heads and bodies like different animals. As we moved in different positions, we activated one of our hidden senses, the vestibular system. We use vestibular input to support our balance, muscle tone, eye movements, and to help us move without bumping into things.

In week 4 of Tinkergarten, we used our ears to tune into the many sounds of summer. Then we used objects around us to create our own summer symphony. Practice in quieting down, tuning in, and listening for the music of nature is a wonderful way to develop kids listening “muscles”.

This week at Tinkergarten we activated our olfactory sense with a hunt for scented objects hidden around our outdoor space. Then, we used the scented ingredients we found to create our own nature perfume. Many of our memories are formed by early sensory experiences. Scent, in particular, evokes strong emotions. The more chances kids have to form scent memories in nature, the more easily they will be able to conjure joyful experiences with nature as they grow. Enjoy a few of the photos we captured of this week’s play!

This week in our Tinkergarten lesson “Mud Sensation”, we awakened our sense of touch with our favorite messy play material-mud! We explored new textures and sensations as each of us discovered our own “just right” way to play with mud. Enjoy a few of the photos we captured of this generative, playful learning.