In my previous post I wrote about how my plan to repurpose the old lounger cushions resulted in playroom renovation in order to move the ‘nature area trees’. I have been working on a post about the cushions and just realized that I never made a post about the trees after I finally got them moved. So now I’ve got a quick tree post to write – well, mostly just tree pictures to post.
Now that I’ve shown you the trees, I can finish the post about the cushions.
First, a bit of history…
I have four large outdoor lounger cushions. I bought them many years ago at an end-of-season clearance sale – the discounted price meant I got all four of them for less than the cost of just one toddler cot so I couldn’t resist. I briefly used them for napping children – they are thicker, wider and longer than other nap mats. They are very comfortable but also very heavy and cumbersome to set up and put away for daily naptime and take up a lot of space so I ended up getting more cots for naps indoors.
The fabric on the lounger cushions is intended for outdoor use so that is where we used them most – for napping or relaxing in tents or on the deck etc. When not in use they were stored in bags in the big shed. During the Vacation 2019 renovation, ‘Frankenshed’ was disassembled and the new toy storage shed was too small to store the large cushions so they were brought back inside and again stored with the other cots and bedding.
The small room off the main playroom is used for napping infants and storage of cots, bedding, books, and bulky items I don’t want to haul down to the basement storage area. This area is still sometimes referred to as the ‘Nature Area’ because I left the trees in there from when this used to be a play area – written about in the Nature Area and the Quiet Space posts.
Now, this is when the snowball began to form…
I recently wanted to use the big cushions for a toddler activity, but found it was very inconvenient to get them off the shelves behind the tree branches. I decided that on the upcoming long weekend I should move the trees into the main playroom. Afterall, though it did look nice having the tree branches forming a canopy over the cribs, it would be wonderful if the trees were in the playroom where everyone could enjoy them.
So, I started looking for the best place to mount the trees in the playroom…and decided that I would first need to move the toy food counter…which then meant I would need to change the block storage area. *sigh* The list of necessary changes continued to grow and after thirty plus hours of demo, rearranging, building and organizing the playroom has been mostly ‘prepped’ for the arrival of the trees but, even with a three-day weekend, there wasn’t enough time to actually move the trees.
I am pleased with the new arrangement – so far – and the children seemed to like it too. All of the children in the current group have only ever seen the trees as decorations in the nap area – never as part of the play space. They are familiar with having other things in the play environment change but probably don’t realize these trees can be relocated. I am certain they will be excited when I manage to complete the project – and with the cushion activity too whenever I get around to that.
There are still a few more little tasks to complete before the trees get moved but hopefully that will be done this weekend. The snowball forming now it the growing list of paperwork that I should be doing 🙂
Last summer the tree across the street was marked for removal – we loose so many of our grand old elm trees due to Dutch Elm Disease. Although loosing trees makes us sad, the tree removal process is also very exciting. One morning last week we noticed that the city workers were putting ‘No Parking’ on the street signs around the tree.
We had the perfect vantage point – the tree is directly in front of our window;
After the signs were put up the snow plow removed all the snow banks from the area around the tree. Then, for the rest of the morning there was no further activity. We waited. We had lunch and then I closed the blind so it was darker for the toddlers’ nap time. As the children slept I caught up on some paperwork and answered a few emails — then I heard the trucks.
Seriously, why do they always come at nap time? Who do I complain to about this? I paced back and forth listening to the chain saws and impatiently waiting for the children to wake. As soon as the children began to stir I flung open the blind and sent all the children to the window as I put away the cots. The baby stayed in his crib – standing there he could see over the children at the window.
All the branches had already been removed from the tree and they had cut a notch from the trunk;
They tied a rope to the tree as a safety measure so it would not fall on the nearby houses. Then, one more cut and the trunk began to fall;
CRASH! Wow, that was loud and the whole house shook.
As the workers began cutting the tree trunk into smaller pieces one of the children started complaining about the ‘bad pirate’ wrecking the tree. I was confused until they pointed to this worker’s helmet;
🙂
The tractor then picked up the trunk pieces;
And put them in a big dump truck;
It was all very interesting and kept the children engaged for the remainder of the afternoon. I printed off a series of pictures of the tree removal process and used them to create sequence cards. The children have enjoyed looking at them and reliving the excitement of the day.
Yesterday we spent the day at Kildonan Park. We’ve been there before – many times – and I wrote a post about their playground here. This time however, we didn’t spend any time at the playground – we were otherwise entertained.
We began our outing by going for a hike. Stopping for snack along the way – cheese quesadillas, applesauce and water — plenty of water. The scorching temperatures and high humidity meant many breaks for water and rest in the shade.
Some people had to work outdoors in the heat. We noticed some workers on the other side of the road were preparing to take down a tree in the park. The children were fascinated as we watched from a distance. First they cut some notches;
Then they brought the tractor;
To push the tree;
Down to the ground;
We continued on our hike and then stopped to rest and play a little soccer;
We continued on to our lunch time shelter and were thrilled to have more tree falling entertainment right beside our table! First the notches again;
We were waiting for the tractor to move closer but then we noticed the rope. This time the tree was pulled down instead of being pushed;
When it landed it was VERY loud;
One of the children didn’t notice – sleeping through the whole show. After lunch we took some time to draw pictures of the flowers;
The gardens were pretty but I prefer the ‘natural’ look the coneflowers we saw by the creek on the way back to the van;
It was a great day at the park with plenty of entertainment.
One day last week as I was helping to get the toddlers dressed to go outside I told the preschoolers to put on their boots. They looked at me and in unison asked “Are we going for a walk?”
They know the routine. We get dressed at the front door because there is more room there but we carry our boots to the back door to go outside to play. We only put our boots on at the front door if we are going out the front to go for a walk.
They sounded a little disappointed. They look forward to playing in the yard and sometimes the toddlers walk so slowly that we run out of time to play. I reassured them that we were just walking around the block and would come in the back yard to play.
There was something on the street that I thought they would like to see. I had noticed the ‘No Parking – Street Work’ signs the day before and now the trucks were down at the end of the block.
We went out on the step;
“What are they doing?” the children asked.
“Trimming the trees” I replied.
“Can we go watch them?”
“Yes, but not to close.” We talked about the warning signs;
We discussed the things we saw and heard. The equipment was very loud. I explained that it was easier to trim the trees in the winter when there were no leaves and the trees were dormant. One child expressed concern that the workers would cut down ‘all the trees and we’ll have none left’. Awww.
We walked around to the back yard to play. I was hoping that by the time we came back inside the workers would have moved farther down the street and the children would be able to watch some more from the playroom window.
By lunchtime the trucks had only moved slightly closer – they didn’t appear to be making much progress. I figured at this rate they wouldn’t reach my house until the middle of nap time – grrrr.
Actually, they never did come further down the street. I wondered why.
The school bus dropped off the older children and then had to back down the street to leave because the trucks were still blocking the road. That’s when we noticed this;
That’s some MAJOR trimming. Luckily they only cut down the one tree and not all of them. We still have some left – for now.
It started as a competition. The school-age children were making pyramids with blocks. The five of them were each building their own structure and they began bickering and complaining that there were not going to be enough blocks.
The arguing began to escalate and then one of the children suggested that they should combine all the blocks and work together. A few minutes later they announced that they had made a ‘tree’;
Later in the day, during quiet time there was another tree;
I was informed that this one was from ‘The Lorax’. A detailed description and re-enactment of the story followed.
All this tree talk reminded me of the funky yellow thing we found at the park this past summer – I assumed it was some typed of fungi. It was growning on a tree and the children were fascinated;
Yesterday at circle time we looked at the trees in the nature guide, discussed their simalarities and differences and picked our favourites;
Then I read ‘Signs Along the River‘ by Kayo Robertson. The children were getting restless so we went outside to run around and of course look at trees;
Later we looked through the items in our nature treasure box;
And sorted the items into two groups – ‘Parts of trees’ and ‘Not from trees’.
Trees (and children) are amazing.
Yesterday’s topic suggestion at The Daily Post was “You’ve got a magic tree: what does it grow?”
I believe all trees are magic.
They provide shelter and serenity when we need it.
They demonstrate resiliency and determination helping us to overcome adversity.
They possess the power to inspire — creating awe and wonder and urging us to dream.
Young children know this – too many adults have forgotten.
Slow down, take a stroll through a forest and feel the magic.
Note: All these photos show trees the children and I have connected with while on nature walks in our area.
Cheryl's Child Care 