PARENT HANDBOOK

TREEHOUSE kid and craft is a kid’s shop and creative studio. The original location (in Athens, GA) was opened in 2010 by founder, Kristen Bach. After much encouragement from the ATL community, Kristen and her sister Kim Bach opened a second location in Decatur, Georgia: CLUBHOUSE! They also follow the TREEHOUSE model by offering ethically made goods that promote creative play, as well as creative classes.

It is our goal to create an enriching and inspiring learning environment with a small class size. We encourage our students to learn through Art History, experience, practice, mistakes, and from their fellow classmates. We hope that our method is empowering and that our young artists go home with the feeling that they can make and create on their own.

SIGN UP

We have a website (you're on it!) www.www.treehousekidandcraftshop.com that makes signing up for our classes and camps easy. If you would like to do it over the phone, or in our brick and mortar, we can toooootally do that. If you ever have any questions, please feel free to call us!

LIABILITY WAIVER

Safety is our number one priority at TREEHOUSE kid and craft! If you are taking a class at either location, you are required to fill out a Liability Form. This form provides our staff with necessary information in the event that there is an injury, we need to call a parent or guardian, or take medical action. There's a link in our footer menu :)

SIGN IN // SIGN OUT

We have a sign in and sign out sheet for our parents. We ask that each day you follow our request to check in and out for your crafter. If your child will be carpooling or picked up by someone else, let us know - it's a little team here, we'll remember your faces :). It is our number one goal to keep everyone safe and this process helps us to manage everyones safety and whereabouts.

If our parking lot is full, we'll do our best to help you out! We always are fully staffed with enough hands to properly care for all of our students.

DROP OFF // PICK UP

Kids are welcome to come to class 10 minutes before class starts. Students will be asked to come to classroom and do some free drawing, or warm up! After class or camps end, students will be asked to remain in classroom until parents come to pick up. If you are going to be late, or can’t find a parking spot, just give us a call. We absolutely understand! If you don't get a chance to let us know, we'll give you a call after 15-20 minutes to check in and make sure everything's alright.

FAQ's

Are you a Certified Childcare Provider?

Due the fact that we only do short term classes and camps, we do not qualify to be a Certified Childcare Provider. We do, however, have an exemption through Bright from the Start, a division of the Georgia Government. We follow all rules deemed necessary by the state of Georgia to be an institution that conducts classes to children and families.

Do you do full day camps?

We do not do full day camps because of the limited indoor size of our space, alongside a lack of outdoor accessibility. We feel that it is important for kids to have ample time to play outdoors and our spaces do not offer that! We do love offering our 1-3 hour Art Intensive classes and fill those times with learning, fun, and plenty of creating.

Are your art instructors certified?

Most of our instructors are certified art instructors, and have degrees in Art or Art Education and have years of education experience. Some of our instructors are college students who are working to receive their fine art or art education degrees. We check all of our references and work with our instructors to make sure that they are well suited for our style of teaching and Art Education.

What can I do at home to encourage my child’s interest in Art?

There are soooooo many ways to encourage art making in your home! We love to encourage having an accessible and well stocked art area. This is a lot simpler than it sounds, lots of the resources we use in classes here are upcycled! This can be as simple as a box filled with scissors, glue sticks, washi tape, markers, pencils, oil pastels, and paper. Maybe venture into textures like cardboard and styrofoam from old packages! We also suggest having building blocks and/or magnatiles to help develop 3 dimensional and spatial skills. Making materials accessible is key so that your child is able to create when they are inspired or have an idea.

If you are ever interested in learning more about how to facilitate creativity in your home, email [email protected]. Someone on the TREEHOUSE team is happy to help you and give you some ideas.