Dear Parents, Friends and Family ...Can you help us?

Recently I had a friend ask me. "How do you find all these cool supplies to make things with?" You must spend a fortune on craft paper etc." Then I told her "Actually a lot of the materials I use are recycled or recycled items  from friends and family." "Really?", was the response I got "All of this is recycled?"

Yes, you can make some of the most beautiful thngs from recycled materials. No need to spend a fortune on expensive craft paper, you don't even need to waste ink printing pictures ! You can start yourself by recycling boxes, magazines, scrap paper, you can create a post on craigslist looking for recycled items , or even check out your local Freecycle and make a post there asking for specific items.

If you are looking for a prefect craft especially with Earth day coming up why not try this. Get some scrap paper together and glue some recycled items on it or have your child draw some cool recycled items on the paper. Then write a letter to friends and family asking them to help you out by collecting recycled items for you .

Here is a Sample letter:

Dear Friends,

Could you please help me? I would love to have a collection of recycled materials to use to make collages and sculptures. Do you think you could save me the following items so I could make crafts with them?
Thanks so much!

Pie tins
paper bags
pine cones
buttons
sandpaper
ribbon
newspapers
sponges
seashells
yarn
wood scraps
eggshells
crayon pieces
coffee cans
computer paper
cornhusks
clothespins
egg cartons
material scraps
candles


You can basically add whatever you like to the list. This is also a lot of fun to do with preschoolers. You can create a special box at home and before throwing things out see if it is something that can be reused first and have them start adding things to the box. You will be surprised at how fast you can fill the box!

Here is a Sculpture we made out of some stones and an old pie tin:

Having fun with Cornstarch packing peanuts

Dinosaur creations :D So much fun!

Expression, painting and Spiritual development

One must surround their children with beauty. Watercolors naturally create very beautiful works without technical talent. Watercolor paints remind me of the silk scarves that parents are encouraged to use as drapes over their babies’ cradles. When children are small, their perception of the physical world is still veiled. Most young children are not able to perceive strict realism. They are still emerging from their spiritual womb. This emergence will continue until the child is well into adulthood. As a matter of fact, Waldorf philosophy is quite emphatic that to push a child into realism (through premature reading or denial of fantasy play) can cripple their spiritual development.

I thought I would share with you our watercolor paintings from today and some fun painting verses as well.

"There's a bridge of wondrous light
Filled with colors shining bright
Red and orange, yellow, green,
The fairest colors ever seen,
Blue and violet, magic rose;
Down from heaven to earth it goes"




Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Gathering light from sun and star,
gathering light from heaven afar,
Down to earth all things to greet,
sharing the light with all we meet.
Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

Working with beeswax ~ Verses

Beeswax is a wonderful and natural alternative to the synthetic modeling materials available (which are too bright and smell bad not to mention TOXIC!). It is all natural, non toxic and it smells so nice when you work with it. Another benefit is that it doesn't tend to really blend like the play dough - so you can use it time and again. Primarily though, I think what is best about it is that it takes human warmth to make it work. The other "stuff" feels cold and is non reactive. You can feel the warmth and love of the bees when working with beeswax! I know several moms who place it into their bras or their pockets to warm it up before the lesson begins! Another purpose of using the beeswax vs. play dough is that you have to sit patiently and slowly work the wax. Children learn patience...

In a Waldorf setting, beeswax is introduced very early, in preschool. Generally the children make gnomes, flowers, frogs or bugs. Starting with quite small pieces helps. The children find it very relaxing and it is a calming activity. Good tip: Buy many colors and pack in a ziplock baggie. On long vacations it literally works wonders as children get very creative when sitting still for so long - you'll be amazed at the creative settings they will come up with! We take it in long drives, planes, trains, ferries.....

A good idea is to tell a fairy tale and let the little ones keep their hands busy warming the wax during the telling of the story. (Remember that you should also be working a piece to correctly model it for them.) Please by all means let the littlest helpers work the wax too - they like to just pinch and squeeze and feel the warming effect and will feel so "big" when allowed to participate with older siblings or friends.

THEN as they get ready for lessons, you can shape the figures, or letters that go with the story for the days lesson...

Here is a sweet beeswax verse:

Little bees give their gift of gold
For you my little dears to warm and hold.
Story time is here to tell
Come listen to the fairy's spell
Create with your gift of gold
Something kind, true and bold.