“You know so much about child development,” exclaimed the director of the Key Peninsula Cooperative Preschool when we shared our preliminary vision to the school’s new “Giving Tree Garden.”

Inspired by the Shel Silverstein classic of the tree that always has something more to offer, our work was informed by a Douglas fir that towers over the site and took on the audacious challenge of using all elements of a tree to continuously nurture the kids as they grow. From rootwads to trunks, from cones to branches, each element of the tree becomes an armature for place-connected play and thriving childhood development.

Of particular interest was the frog scupture that brought back memories of a past site where there was access to a small pond, allowing the kids’ connection to nature to continue through this charismatic animal.