Tinkergarten with April

Follow along as we continue to play and explore outdoors

Just a stroll down memory lane. So happy I had the opportunity to make Tinkergarten classes available in my community. Z had just turned 3 when I began teaching them and Zaelyn has been attending since she was in the womb! Looking forward to continuing our nature play

What a sweet and joyful ending to our Winter Problem Solving season! This week we worked together to whip up a pretend feast to celebrate our play this season. We wrapped up our celebration of the season with well-earned Problem Solving Badges, too!  

Today we worked together as a team to build a nest large enough for all of us to fit inside!

Today we embarked on a mystery walk, finding clues along the way. Our clues led us to a present from our featured creature fox—forest putty for us to play and create tracks with! I loved seeing the explorers’ problem solve ways to get the surprise down from the tree.

Today we explored the air around us and wondered how we can learn about something that we can’t see. We used wind flags, parachutes, bubbles and other tools to experiment and play with air. The explorers had fun making mini parachutes and testing them out!

Have you ever noticed the colorful backdrop nature provides us in the sky? This week we used frozen paint to explore freezing and melting as we created our own version of the beautiful winter sky and sunset. I loved seeing kids’ problem-solving as they found ways to get the color onto the large canvas!

Today we experimented with ways to balance our bodies and objects. Explorers used scales and balance boards to explore physics concepts in playful ways, and they challenged themselves by balancing through and obstacle course and on a slack line! We also used wood pieces and sticks to build like the creature who inspired todays play…beavers!

Last week we used our bodies, string and scoops to measure the objects in our outdoor classroom.

This week we wondered what animals in our park build nests. We went on a walk and found a birds nest, spider webs, a hole in a tree that we wondered about, and a squirrels nest. Then, we made nests for pretend hibernating hedgehogs. Explorers especially loved pretending to hibernate in the cozy nest the guides built for them!

We kicked off our Winter Tinkergarten season today with a sensory hunt for nature treasures in our outdoor classroom. Then, we used our treasures to “brew” our own pretend teas.

What a sweet and joyful ending to our Fall season! This week at Tinkergarten we cooked a pretend feast just like the ones so many of us share with family and friends during the holiday season. We wrapped up our celebration of the season with well-earned Wellness Badges, too!  



I can’t wait for our upcoming winter “We’re All Problem Solvers!” season with a focus on Problem Solving!