The Famous Treehouse

The building of a structure in the trees, capable of holding up to a dozen people at one time, must be solid. Here the boys learn about what it means to build in this solid way—as compared to taking short-cuts with the quality of materials or construction.

The famous treehouse under construction & under attack

Like the practical third pig, who built his house of brick, the boys will understand where strength is essential and where it is not (like not using brick for a treehouse)—and what a perfect age to do so. By engaging in the direct building of a structure such as this, linking the intellectual task with the physical task, children learn in a deep way, coming to understand about different materials, tools, fasteners, strength needs, the compatibility of varied material forms, working closely with others, and the physics of putting it all together.

Helper Elves

Another beautiful aspect of all of this is the witnessing of a thought—build into a procedural idea—grow into plans drawn on a page—then come alive in the actual form – a treehouse; from idea to two-dimensional drawings to three-dimensional structure. To have a hand in each part of this process leads to a learning that if described in words, could cover pages—and the process allows each builder to look back at something that she or he had an integral hand in creating. Beautiful!