BEDFORD, Ohio — Occupational therapists would agree being able to properly use scissors is important for children to learn.
Giovanni Washington, 6, worked on learning this fine motor skill at The Treehouse, a nonprofit in Bedford that offers low-cost, developmental playgroups for children of any ability.
“He has autism, so it was hard for us to find a playgroup that was a good fit for him because he had other needs that typical kids don’t always have. So that led us to The Treehouse because they’re amazing,” said Shandon Washington, Giovanni’s mother.
Shandon has had Giovanni and his 3-year-old brother, Gevon, attend playgroups at The Treehouse ever since they were old enough, and plans to send her youngest, Gavriel, when he turns two.
“When he started going, he wasn’t really verbal. He was barely talking and they were able to work with him. They were able to manage his behaviors and we fell in love, and we’ve been going back ever since,” said Shandon.
Pre-pandemic, they’d go in-person, but now they attend virtual sessions and use the newly-offered “to-go” bags to continue learning through making crafts, doing obstacle courses, and moving their bodies.
“We have done color to go bags. We have done pets. We’ve done transportation. We have done rainbows. We have done plants. We have done — we have done so many. I think almost everyone they’ve had,” said Shandon.
The to-go bags are made by executive directors of The Treehouse Claire Heffron and Lauren Drobnjak. Heffron is an occupational therapist and Drobnjak is a physical therapist.
“The to-go bags are just little snapshots of what we would typically do in a playgroup. So they have activities to address fine motor (skills). There’s movement. There’s direction … all those skills in a themed pack. So every week, we put out a different theme of skills and they can come and pick them up on our porch for free,” said Drobnjak.
Heffron and Drobnjak both worked together at a school district in Bedford before launching The Treehouse in 2017. They are also the co-creators of The Inspired Treehouse, a blog where they share activities, resources, and tips to help readers conquer common developmental issues that come up for kids.
“I think a lot of kids are coming into school just not ready. And you think of a teacher has a classroom of 24, 26 kids. It’s very hard for them to narrow down on one child to work on specific things, especially if that child’s not already identified and receiving therapy services,” said Drobnjak. “We ran into that a lot in our school-based practices that teachers were coming to us saying, ‘Hey, check out this kid. They’re not doing this, but they weren’t on our caseload, so we couldn’t treat them.’ So I think that’s where this comes in is that we’re able to grab those kids that aren’t necessarily identified with a need and hopefully get them caught up so that they’re not struggling so much within the classroom on those skills.”
“This is kind of a nice open and playful way, low-pressure way, for kids to practice those skills without feeling that panic of, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m falling behind or I’m missing something.’ Just the demands feel different. It’s fun. It’s light. We’re able to provide the support that they need as therapists, but they’re not getting a grade for it,” added Heffron.
Their motto is building strong and healthy minds and bodies through play.
“Free play is an extremely important part of development; we never want to downplay that and we really try to allow for some of that here at The Treehouse as well, but we also know that we’re able to target specific skills with kids when can make some of the play a little bit more structured and kind of introduce some ideas and introduce some materials,” said Heffron.
At The Treehouse, they offer low-cost developmental in-person and now virtual playgroups. They modify activities to provide a positive play experience for all kids.
The Washington Family.
“We feel that it’s very important for this to be a safe space for kids, whether they have some kind of diagnosed or identified special needs, or they’re just a family who wants to come in and find something fun for their kids to do. We’re really here for everybody,” said Heffron.
Ana Stepanyan, 5, began attending playgroups at The Treehouse when she turned 2 after her mom, Tracy, heard about it through a friend. Tracy said Ana doesn’t have any identified developmental disabilities.
“I don’t even think we realized we needed The Treehouse. But once she started going there, by the time she was two and a half, she could open her own water bottle right and she could do these things that other two year olds simply couldn’t do and before you know it she’s holding scissors correctly. And it’s not like they’re saying oh you have to hold it in this way; they teach them in a fun way.”
Their playgroups and to-go bags are focused on helping kids not only be prepared for and succeed in school, but also in life.
“In a typical setting or a therapy setting or a school setting, we’re following a goal and are having to meet certain targets. In this setting, we don’t have any expectations of them. We’re just giving them the opportunity to build those skills through something that they would naturally be doing anyway,” said Drobnjak.
“It’s a beautiful thing, I think too, for all of our kids to learn about each other and learn that we’re all different, we’re all made differently. We all move differently. We all think differently. We all play differently. And that’s just, I think, that’s a huge part of what we do here is to really normalize that,” added Heffron.
Ultimately, they aim to celebrate kids’ strengths and improve their weaknesses, all through having fun.
“I know that he’s going to have fun with all the kids his age. But if anything comes up, there will be somebody there that can handle whatever was happening. But they will also make him feel included. Because I think a lot of times, especially with special needs kids, they’re made to feel other or like you’re here, but we’re gonna handle you a little different, which is fine. But they also want to be part of a group. So I love that they can make each kid feel like an individual, but also like they’re a part of a whole team,” said Shandon.
“I love learning with Ms. Lauren and Ms. Claire,” said Giovanni.
Heffron and Drobnjak are looking to expand the reach of their to-go bags. The Treehouse is run solely on grants, sponsors and donations. If you’re interested in learning more about how you can support their mission or more about the to-go bags you can visit their website.
