In 2013 Treehouse Board and staff adopted a community-focused initiative to help parents and grandparents prepare their children for the start of school. Recognizing that many children were starting Kindergarten in local schools without the skills they needed to succeed, and that many children do not attend any preschool programs before the start of their formal schooling, the Treehouse Board and staff organized the Early Learning Committee and worked with schools and community organizations, and a children's book illustrator and author, to provide new resources to both parents and teachers.

Baby Talk with Baby Bear

For the youngest children, ages birth to 3, Treehouse created the “Baby Talk with Baby Bear” package, with a booklet for parents about the importance of talking, reading, and singing to a child from birth, a board book of “Baby Baby Sees Blue” by Ashley Wolff (Ms. Wolff’s illustrations also appear in the parent booklet), and a plush Baby Bear. These are available for purchase at Treehouse, or you can donate to help Treehouse provide the materials to local parenting programs.

Thanks to the donor of the “Baby Talk with Baby Bear" project:

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten

Treehouse Museum and the author and the illustrator of the Miss Bindergarten book series, Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff, have teamed up with local schools to make it easier to help children master the skills they need to start school by providing easy-to-use materials to their parents. The Get Ready for Kindergarten with Miss Bindergarten Activity Books are designed for parents and children to do together over the summer months between Kindergarten Registration and the first day of Kindergarten. The kit contains the Treehouse “Get Ready for Kindergarten Activity Book” and a copy of the original Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten paperback book, both in a colorful cinch backpack.

To mark the start of Kindergarten and being ready to learn, Treehouse annually hosts a Kindergarten Celebration on the first Saturday of August from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Treehouse. This year it's Saturday, August 3, 2019. The Celebration has a circus theme and provides lots of activities that reinforce the skills presented in the Get Ready for Kindergarten Activity Books. "I'm Ready for Kindergarten" shirts are free to children starting Kindergarten while supplies last.

Here are some pictures of the fun:

There are circus themed activities outside and inside the Museum as we recognize all the thousands of children who were going to school ready to learn! Miss Bindergarten herself is there to hug her young fans.

Admission to the Kindergarten Celebration for all visitors is free, thanks to funding from Weber County RAMP.  Every year we look forward to thousands of children and parents celebrating being ready to learn with us as we continue to “Get Ready for Kindergarten” together!

Thanks to the major supporters of Treehouse’s Get Ready for Kindergarten Initiative:

These materials are available to school districts, individual schools, parents, and grandparents and may be purchased at Treehouse or on our website.

Visit the Treehouse Shop to purchase publications

Treehouse provides additional resources for both parents and teachers as part of our Get Ready for Kindergarten with Miss Bindergarten initiative.

Visit our online resources for PARENTS

Visit our online resources for TEACHERS