Curious Kids Classes

01/10/2024

We kicked off our Winter Tinkergarten program today by discovering that we are superheroes who can play outdoors all four seasons! We met our first persistent animal superhero of the season — Ice Worm! In honor of our most persistent frigid friend, we freed pretend worms from their frozen homes and excavated for objects locked inside of frozen treasures. At the end, we warmed up from the inside as we enjoyed our first tea time of the season together.

01/03/2024

Classes kick off in 1 week! We’re following the Tinkergarten “Persistence” curriculum—designed to nurture kids’ ability to stick with something, meet challenges and push ahead in order to either reach our goals, learn and grow. Each lesson is inspired by a different, persistent animal superhero. We can’t wait to get outside and explore with you!

Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdr-DJ4dyYLbHrUpaPw9h38vInYRFTA5KpHUW3H7hdERJuGug/viewform?usp=sf_link

12/20/2023

12/19/2023

WINTER REGISTRATION IS OPEN! Each season, we help children to develop one of our 8 core skills kids need to become curious, capable learners who can contribute to their world. This Winter, we focus on persistence— the ability to stick with something, meet challenges and push ahead in order to either reach our goals, learn and grow. Each lesson is inspired by a different, persistent animal superhero.

Register Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdr-DJ4dyYLbHrUpaPw9h38vInYRFTA5KpHUW3H7hdERJuGug/viewform?usp=sf_link

12/13/2023

This week we created winter wreaths. This lesson supported kids’ creativity, problem solving, and fine motor skills. Working with natural objects is also a workout for kids' sensory systems. This activity also invites kids to notice the gifts that nature provides in your area this time of year, helping them connect with the cycles and rhythms of the natural world.

12/05/2023

We are getting our materials ready for tomorrow’s lesson: gift giving! Engaging kids in creating gifts for the people they love helps them develop empathy and can help balance out the receiving that tends to dominate the holiday season.

Tomorrow we will head out on a nature walk where we will find gifts from nature to create simmer pot jars. Making mixtures never gets old—it's a tool for play and investigation they can (and likely will) use again and again. Gathering and mixing ingredients stimulates a range of senses. Kids can engage in the kind of playful and iterative exploration that is fundamental tinkering. And why is tinkering so important? It's a critical way to develop creativity and problem solving skills.

11/28/2023

This week we share and celebrate special traditions of our families as we bake pretend treats just like the ones so many of us share with family and friends during the holiday season. The rituals we share with our family, friends and community help us feel rooted in strong relationships and ready to fly.

- [ ] When kids combine materials together, or change the form of a material, they are activating the transforming schema.
- [ ] This play will engage all senses, helping kids to take in and process information about the world and helping their brains engage in a more robust and profound way.
- [ ] Our play is bound to get messy and messy play provides the ideal physical experience for training the brain to allow creative impulses and creative ideas to thrive.

11/15/2023

Today at Tinkergarten we learned more about the marvelous trees around us. Then, together, we used sticks and gratitude leaves to create a “thankful tree” to express the gratitude we felt for all that we share.

11/13/2023

Giving thanks plays a prominent role during the fall holidays, but it’s a practice that our children can benefit from all year. Not only does practicing gratitude make us more thankful, but it has lasting positive effects that can help us weather difficult moments down the road.

This lesson also reinforces other benefits for kids:

- [ ] Making a tree from found objects together is also a marvelous exercise to support creative thinking.
- [ ] Observing trees with all of our senses naturally develops curiosity and a base in a wide range of STEM concepts.
- [ ] Taking time to appreciate the trees around us helps kids develop empathy for other living things and become more prepared to protect both these amazing plants and the planet that supports us all.

11/03/2023

This lesson is designed to reinforce kids’ natural curiosity and wonder. Practicing wonder not only helps kids learn more about the world around them, it strengthens their wonder muscles, making that innate capacity less likely to diminish as kids age.

This lesson also reinforces other benefits for kids:
- [ ] Moving and pretending with squiggles helps foster creativity and inspires pretend play.
- [ ] As kids explore the natural treasures around them, they engage multiple senses.
- [ ] Tuning in to the sights, smells and sounds of nature develops kids' focus skills.
- [ ] Moving our bodies as we walk and engage in squiggle play helps build gross motor skills, physical wellness and body coordination.

Use the link in our bio to register. $15 Drop In

10/29/2023

Join us this November as we follow the Tinkergarten “Celebrate with Nature” curriculum—designed to cultivate JOY and connection to nature through irresistible play activities.