If we lived in Seattle, Washington my children would be going to Teacher Tom. He is one of the most innovative, hands-on and daring teachers of preschoolers I have ever seen. He let's them use power tools!
So when I saw a project that he did with his kids a while back that I thougt I might be able to tackle I just had to try it. But of course it didn't work out. I couldn't do with my hand saw what he could do with a table saw. BUT I have a father with a construction company! So I put him on the job of creating me some tree blocks!
They can simply be used for stacking and building but Teacher Tom took it one step further and made something to go with the blocks. So once again I asked Pawpaw to get busy and he made us this.
Put the two together and you get...
And for your viewing pleasure!
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The Nitty Gritty!
These blocks are amazing. Sam has had so much fun playing with them already. She "makes" trees with them, counts and builds. I think the hand-eye coordination work is great. I know there are plastic toys that do the same thing but I really think anytime she can use natural products instead of plastic it is a good thing. Today she also noticed that not all the blocks looked the same which prompted a conversation about how all trees are not the same, that they look different, are different sizes, shapes and colors. We wouldn't have had that conversation if we were building with a plastic set!
Here is the link that inspired these blocks.
Teacher Tom - Tree Blocks
But I have also seen these blocks at Counting Coconuts.
Teacher Tom also posted about how they turned the blocks into beads! Can't wait to do this as well.
So thank you Pawpaw! Head on over and check out Kuhn Construction's latest projects and leave him some comment love! I mean a construction company that is blogging...how cool is that!?
