Moonbeams and Applesauce

One Year Blog Anniversary & Giveaway

2012-02-23T13:11:00.000-05:00

Will you join me on a look through the past year?

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since I created this special space. The joys and friendships I have formed through this blog I will be forever thankful for. And in the spirit of thanking all my followers and readers for everything they have given to me, I am hosting my first ever giveaway!

From my most popular tutorial, the winner will receive 4 handmade star lanterns, painted in any watercolor combination of their choosing.

To enter simply leave a comment below.

The winner will be selected a week from today by a random number generator.

Good Luck

Thank You for enjoying this space with me!

Some Really Big Portraits

2012-02-20T21:24:00.000-05:00

My little Joey had the grand idea of some really big portraits. First was her little sister which took three pieces of paper, followed promptly by a self portrait of four papers, and then a portrait of mommy, 5 pieces of paper. The one on the right is a friend named Molly from a book Joey is reading, called The Magic Half, a cute little story of twins, time travel, and magic; that Joey has really come to enjoy reading.

And while big sister worked on her portraits little sister worked on some more watercolor painting on the light table! It certainly was a day of artistic creativity.

Sunset Chasing

2012-02-16T08:36:00.004-05:00

Crayon Drawing

2012-02-12T21:11:00.002-05:00

Can you remember back to your childhood, when you were given rainbow sticks that had the magic power to color the world whatever way you dreamed? In that spirit, I made this tutorial for the child in us all, so that once again we can learn to color the world as we imagine it and inspire our own children to do the same! Will you come with me on a colorful journey of learning to draw with crayons?

Every journey must start with some supplies, we are going to need crayons and paper. Any crayons will work. The crayons you choose are up to you! Every artist has their favorites, but I'll show you our crayon collection and what I personally think about each kind for anyone wondering. Beeswax blocks and sticks (above) blend and smell beautifully, on the downside they are very expensive. The sticks are very wide, making them nice for small hands, but give less ability to add in detail and sharpening these crayons can't be done with a standard sharpener.

Beeswax blocks are very fun. They blend well and can cover great amounts of paper quickly. I love to use these to color in backgrounds of pictures. Block crayons can make details by using the corner point, however I've found the point does round after use. All beeswax crayons (both block and stick) need to be stored separate from one and other. I learned this the hard way, see above. If not, little bits of wax from the other crayons imbed on the blocks, and the next thing you know the yellow sun has bits of blue and green and doesn't look quite right! To prevent this, I make a wool felt case for them. Here is my tutorial for one.

Personally, I have found that standard crayons color just as well as beeswax. They are slim and have a nice point for finer detail. I prefer these for older children close to writing. Over the years, I have found that my standard crayons are stored best in an open basket with compartments like the one above. This way, the crayons make a pretty display that is easy to access. In this way my children are more likely to use them, plus it doubles as a great sorting toy at clean-up time. I also keep a mason jar on the side to collect bits of broken crayons so that....

When we have enough broken crayons, we can recycle them into these cool new crayons. These are made by pealing off the paper and melting the broken crayon bits in the oven on the lowest setting, using muffin tins. These are fun, but not the best for drawing pictures.

Rock crayons are great for helping to develop the tripod grasp. However, being small candy-looking things, I would say in my personal opinion that these are a choking hazard for most children. My girls rarely use these, we found them frustrating to work with, difficult to control, and the color was poor.

The second supply we will need is paper. Drawing with crayons is best done on a medium weight paper pad (found in most local craft stores). The crayons color best on the medium paper and having a smooth pad underneath prevents the work surface from rubbing through to the picture on top. Copy paper will work, I use this from time-to-time but the results are not quite as nice as the medium paper.

~ How to Draw with Beeswax Crayons ~

Diagram 1

Here are a few pages from my personal teacher's book. When drawing with beeswax crayons you will discover that each side lends a different effect. A-the corner point will draw a line. B-the edge line and point will allow you to color large amounts of paper. C- the largest surface of the crayon will allow you to shade or making one side darker, you can also do this by using the b side and tilting the block at an angle so that the point catches the page. (see above). When coloring with children, I call these the baby (A), mama (B), and papa (C) sides. By practicing with the crayons you will quickly learn the various effects the block can make. With beeswax crayons, you can make a fun color wheel, by blending the primary colors of red, yellow and blue to create secondary colors of orange, green, and purple. When showing this effect to children I say that the colors are going to "play" together to make a new friend.

When coloring one of the most common and difficult to images to draw are people. In waldorf education simple forms are drawn vs more common line images. This allows the child to imagine the details. It also allows encourages greater artistic development by helping the child to learn about basic form and gesture. The above diagram demonstrates how this is done, below I will explain the details.

First lets talk about proportions (top right of diagram 1). Humans are easy to draw if you know the proportions. The adult form can be divided into five sections. Line 1 marks the shoulders, the elbows are at line 2, the hands extend just past line 3, where should be the crotch, line 4 marks the knees, and line 5 the ankles. Pretty simple isn't it? For a toddler, there are only three sections. The head is just as large as the adults, the torso is typically longer than the legs and the abdomen is more round at the base (think toddler tummies). A baby can be simply drawn, making a small oval for the head and slightly elongated oval for the swaddling.

Steps to drawing the human figure; First start with an oval head and add a neck. Next draw a rounded hour glass shape. Follow with a pair of legs and two feet. Finish your form by adding two arms that end in the center of your figure.

Diagram 2

Action will help to communicate the story. An overwhelming concept for many beginning artists, but have no fear, I have drawn some common action poses that should help you tell almost any story!

Time of day and season will help you write your story in picture. (I'm sorry the true color of the art didn't come through when scanned but below, I will discuss how to color for seasons and weather.)

Sunrises are made by first drawing your horizon or ground. At the top a dark purple, followed by gradual shades of blue getting lighter until again they meet purple, red, orange, and finally yellow of the sun. You can use your yellow crayon to make rays that venture into the sky and ground.

Dawn, late day, and fairy tale landscapes are made with pretty shades of butter yellow that fill the sky and tint the ground.

Sunsets are created by using dark shades of red, orange, and sometimes violet. The ground and sky will be dark shades. I used black around the top corners and over the ground.

Night scenes can be colored by tinting everything with blue. Remember that trees and anything in your picture will be much darker and have a blue tint to them. By coloring around or leaving a negative space of white, you can make a moon and stars. I like to use gray in my moon to make it look more realistic. Another hint is to use a white crayon over the blue around the outside of the moon. This gives it that glowing and magical feel you see when looking at the real moon.

Day time scenes are perhaps the most well known; with a blue sky, green grass, and yellow sun. Here all colors are bright, clear, and vivid.

You may also want to consider season and weather when making your picture.

Summer heat can be created using yellowed grass and "heat waves" along the horizon. Autumn colors are gold yellows, oranges, deep purples and reds. The grass has usually gone into a dorment stage and is yellowed. Typically a windy time of year, wind can be drawn by showing blowing leaves or faint swirl marks with your crayons. Winter is best created by using cool shades of blue and gray. Snow can be drawn by using negative space or leaving some of the paper white. Drifts can be highlighted with blues or grays. Trees will be sparse, and typically the skies will be overcast having grey at the top. Spring will have early grass and buds. Yellow greens are perfect for the ground and I like to use robins egg blue for the sky. April showers bring May flowers, as the saying goes this time of year comes with rain. To draw rain, use faint blue lines over the entire landscape, including the ground.

When drawing archetype figures, start with the basic human form. Then add clothing over top and fill in and shade as you draw. If you can relax and let the form take on its own shape, you will be surprised at the results that show some character of your figures.

Animal forms are surprisingly simple. The human eye first recognizes form, and is very keen at doing so, you will be surprised how many animal forms your eye is trained at recognizing! I suggest starting with a basic shape in a light crayon, this way if you make a mistake it will be easy to fix. As your shape takes form, you can go in and shade as needed.

Hopefully that will get you started on practicing for now! I'm hoping to make another post about presenting drawing to little ones a little later on if time allows. Thanks for taking the coloring journey with me.

Enjoy!

The Indoor Swing

2012-02-10T12:31:00.002-05:00

Oh the joys of the indoor swing! Never has any toy been so used and so loved, and it is all thanks to our sweet and talented friend who so kindly made a swing attachment for our indoor trapeze.

The swing's construction is simple. Just a wood dowel, a board, and some rope. Two holes are drilled at each end of the dowel. A hole is drilled at the end of the board. The rope is simple tied. Such a lovely gift, that is relatively inexpensive and easy to make!

**As requested, the swing is attached to the ceiling with a large eyelet screw that is attached to a main beam in the ceiling. The carabiner allows us to interchange the trapeze attachment and swing attachment as needed. **

Cooking In Colonial America

2012-02-02T12:24:00.001-05:00

I just finished reading this charming children's book we checked out at the library and just had to write about it. Hasty Pudding, Johnnycakes, and Other Good Stuff Cooking In Colonial America by Loretta Frances Ichord. This beautifully illustrated, modern day cookbook includes foods that the early colonists would have prepared. It is also great introduction into early american history; with little tidbits here and there of every day life, tools, and habits of early American settlers, enslaved African Americans, and the indigenous Native Americans.

The book talks about the Native American's way of making Forest Taffy, to carry with them along hunting trips for needed energy and to satisfy their sweet tooth! Forest Taffy was made by slow boiling maple syrup to softball stage (235 degrees) then cooling it in a fine layer in the snow. How fun, I can't wait to try this one!

And speaking of table etiquette, you might find this interesting, a book printed during the revolution, A Pretty Little Pocket Book, listed the following guidelines for children sitting at the table:

Children should not sit at the table until blessing had been given

Children must wait to sit until parents asked

Children should not speak unless spoken to or look directly at another eater

Bread should be broken never bitten

Table salt should be collected with a clean knife

Bones should not be thrown under the table

For dinnerware, children shared one trencher (a square piece of wood with a hollowed out center shaped like a bowl), the family shared one cup that was passed around as needed, and hands were used to eat. Around 1776 when the East India Trade opened, china became available enabling even the poorest of families to own their own set of tableware...and share not quite so many germs!

Other interesting facts I found was that the Shakers valued healthy eating and a diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. The Shaker's culinary dishes were also heavily seasoned with herbs for their healing properties. Yeast was made from barm, the foamy top of fermenting ale. Early bread making was interesting to me as well, because I recently learned that the homemade bread I make contains genetically modified ingredients from the store yeast I have been using. I've heard of beer bread before, but have never tried it. Will be an interesting experiment to see if I can use beer foam as yeast. So much we can learn from our ancestor's old wisdom!

Imbolc, Candlemas, & Ground Hog Day

2012-01-31T19:34:00.001-05:00

This time of year is known by many names; Candlemas, Ground Hog day, and Imbolc to name a few. By whatever name it is called, this time of year marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It is a time of awakening. The quickening of the earth speaks of the promises of new beginnings, of birth, and of growth. In Waldorf Schools the festival of Candlemas is celebrated. Generally children will make candle or lantern crafts on this day. The children may recite a special verse or two. The nature table may now be turned to spring, and slowly new spring time verses will make their way into the school day. At home, to honor the beginnings of spring we celebrate Imbolc, one of the first European celebrations of this time of year , which translates as "in the belly", referring to the time of year when spring lambs were soon to be born, and milk once again returned to the land. This was an important time of year for families who depended upon the land. Here are a few of our traditions to honor this time of year!

~This year I made an herb wreath (a symbol of eternity) to bless our hearth and home. I used some wire to make the wreath and to secure the bay leaves. Herbs and flowers associated with this time of year are: angelica, basil, bay, blackberry, celandine, heather, iris, myrrh, violets, and all white or yellow flowers.
Here is a Saint Brighid verse or if you wish Mother Earth or Sister Spring could be substituted :

May Brigid bless the house wherein you dwell.

Bless every fireside, every wall and door

Bless every heart that beats beneath its roof

Bless every hand that toils to bring it joy.

Bless every foot that walks its portals through.

May Brighid bless this house that shelters you.

~Folk lore is that by leaving cloth on the mantle or window sill overnight, it will be blessed by Brighid with all the healing and abundant energy of spring. This year we are leaving our rainbow baby blankets on the window sill for blessings.

~ Make a lantern. Here are two of my most popular tutorials for a star lantern and a dodechadron lantern.

~Every year we go for a family spring walk in search of signs of early spring, and every year there is a new wonder to be seen! Some believe that weather this day can predict winter's decline or prolonged stay. Here is a weather verse:

If candlemas day be fair and bright

winter will have another fight

If candlemas day brings cloud and rain,

winter won't come again

If candlemas day be dry and fair

the half of the winter's to come and mair

If candlemas day be wet and foul

the half o the winter's gane at yule.

~White flowers symbolize purity and the promise of blooming to come. Nothing brightens winter like early spring flowers. Paper ones look nice too!

~To welcome in the light, we turn on every light in the house, open every window and place a candle in each. The fresh, cool air is always nice!

~This time of year we leave outdoor offerings of food to the birds and other small animals who might be having a difficult time finding sustenance during these barren months, we also leave small bits of yarn and cloth for the birdies to make their nests. In the spring, it's fun to see little bits of our gifts, that are now treasured in the birdie homes around us. (above is a little paper bird garland, Joey wanted to make in homage to her birdie friends.)

~I give the girls seeds to bless with love and growth, then we plant them in an indoor herb garden. This year we are forcing tulip bulbs.

~ We aren't making any of these because we have plenty, but in years past we made beeswax candles or decorated candles with paint, marker, beeswax and whatever struck as inspiration. The batch we made has lasted us several years and was a fun family project.

~Dairy and spicey foods are traditional for feasts this time of year. We don't do too much dairy because Genny has some trouble with it, but I do make an almond milk cake for dessert and spicy coconut shrimp for dinner. Here is an end of winter meal verse:

The winter is coming to an end

the stores of food well spent

Though winter's blanket is all around

our friends and warmth are felt in abound

The promise of spring we can see

So grateful are we for food, home and family.

~As this time of year is seen as a time of purification and growth. I like to reflect on my thoughts and goals for the year to come.

~Make room for the good things to come in your home by giving blessings to others. Do some spring cleaning, and donate unused items to those in need. This is a great opportunity to teach children about charity.

~Willow is a tree often associated with this time of year. We couldn't find any that had fallen, but made these pussy willow branches by wet felting bits of wool, then hot gluing are felted bits of wool, to sticks we found on our nature walks.

source

~ Braghid is said to walk the earth on Imbolc Eve. Traditionally in both catholic and pagan celebrations, wheat dolls were made to represent St Brighid. A bed of straw was made for her to rest on, adorned with baubles of ribbons and shells. All the young women of the village would gather collectively for a nightcap to welcome Brighid. I let the girls make up their bed and dolls St. Brighid style, decorating them with symbols of spring and ribbons. Then on Imbolc eve we have a fun camp out on the floor, tent sheets and all.

Happy Candlemas, Imbol, & Ground Hog Day!

Vintage Placemat Mini Tutorial

2012-01-26T19:31:00.002-05:00

My two little ones informed me that they are "big girls" now and in need of "big girl" accoutrements at the table. Wish granted! Here are our new elegant placemats, designed to help my "big girls" learn table etiquette, so that we can set the table and be proper princesses at any tea party.

To make these mats, I found these vintage plate and silverware graphics at the Graphic Fairy. In ms word I pasted the images into a place setting. Next I cut a piece of fabric and a piece of freezer paper, both to the size of standard paper 8 1/2" X 11". Then I ironed my fabric and my freezer paper together (wax side to fabric). Once the fabric and the freezer paper were fused, I put them in my printer's paper tray, and printed my table setting onto them.

Now, because theses placemats will get plenty of washings, I needed to set the ink. There is this stuff called bubble ink jet set. I chose not to use this because of the chemicals involved, plus it's very expensive. So I did a little googling and a little experimenting to set the ink in a more natural way. As this is my first project in ink setting on fabric, I can't tout the results, but here is what I did that seems to be working so far. To set the ink, I allowed the ink to dry completely (about 24 hours). Then I dry ironed my fabric on both sides. Next I washed my fabric in a bowl with the following recipe:

1 tsp salt

1 tsp alum

1 tbsp washing soda

4 cups of cold water

I allowed my fabric to soak for about 15 minutes. Then I gently wrung out the water and placed my fabric in the dryer to further heat set the ink.

For the border and back of the placemat, I quilted together some fabric of a vintage sheet I recently found at the thrift store. All in all a very simple project, and I just love the vintage beauty of it. What do you think? I've joined in Nicole's Keep Calm Craft On head on over there for more crafting fun.

Making a big girl room

2012-01-26T19:15:00.002-05:00

Did I mention I built a dollhouse for Christmas? My goodness did this project take forever! It's by Melissa and Doug from The House That Jack Built collection.

Originally I thought this might take a day maybe two. Ha-ha...that was a good one! Even with my great little helper (an expert in crummy direction translation), it took me three days and three very late nights to push for the holiday deadline. True, it was a lot of time that honestly I didn't have during the holidays, but while I put these tiny rooms together, I was reminded about the importance of the little things. It brought back memories of my own childhood and the fond hours I spent playing inside my little dollhouse world. Somehow the extra hours and tedious work, didn't seem so bad in the long run. In fact, I ended up enjoying taking my time to do things just right.

This month Joey and I just finished painting the exterior, she choose robins egg blue for the color and I think it looks just lovely. We are working on this at little bit every month because of time and budget constraints, but I have to say that while this process is taking a long time, I greatly enjoy the special mommy daughter time we spend together working on it; planning what wall paper will go where, dreaming up our dream kitchen and bath. This house has become a great lesson of enjoying the task and the rewards of patience.

Next on my to do list was hanging up the lucky horseshoe hanger.

The horseshoes are from our family's horse. When the farrier came to change the horse's shoes, I asked to keep the old ones. If you don't have a horse, you might give a farrier a call to get some for free. I spray painted the horseshoes pink, and nailed them to a piece of wood I had painted white. I used drawer knobs for the hooks.

This curtain rod and shelf has been on Joey's wish list for a while. I made the curtains with a sheet we found at Target, Joey picked it out and it has the cutest little horses on it. Below the window, she requested a shelf to put plants on for growing. I used Ikea shelf brackets and a piece of wood from the hardware store. Right now on the shelf we are propagating pussy willow branches, but I look forward to having a lot of little plants for her to take care of.

Joey also wanted a high shelf to store big girl toys away from little sissy, so I used decorative brackets as the curtain rod holder. It has given us lots of storage which is something I can see we will need as my little girl grows.

In the Land of Nod... A Child's Yoga Bedtime Story

2012-01-23T02:49:00.000-05:00

source

A sweet bedtime story-game of yoga poses by yours truly. Inspired by the Dutch lullaby Wynken, Blynken, and Nod, it is a great way to wind down for sweet slumber.

Start by sitting on the floor with your child. Tell your child that you wish to tell them a story, but that this is a very magical story and tonight you will need their help telling it.
( As you say the following lines perform the poses above. Your child should follow along. Remember to speak in a calming voice.)

Take Me To The Moon

Aka- The airplane

Wynken, Blyken, and Nod one night, sailed off in a wooden shoe.

The old moon laughed and sang a song, as they rocked in the wooden shoe,

and the wind sped them all night long ruffling the waves of dew.

Take deep inhale breath followed by an exhale while making a tshhhh sound of the ocean waves. Count to four when you inhale, hold for one, then count to 4 on exhale.

If your child's doesn't imitate you, then say, "We need an ocean to sail in, can you help me make the sounds?"

The Downward Dog pose. ( silver and gold net)

Hands and feet on the floor with buttocks in the air, like a triangle.

Where are you going and what do you wish,

the old moon asked the three.

We've come to fish for herring fish

that live in the sea;

nets of silver and gold have we,

said the fishermen three

The Star pose.

Sitting upright, bring your legs into a diamond shape. Sway gently side to side.

The little stars thought how much fun, we'll play along ,

we shall be the fish, now cast your nets where ever you wish.

The Seal (Pretending to be the wooden shoe)

Sitting with your legs out-stretched behind, torso extended arms straight.

All night long they threw

to stars of twinkling foam

Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe

bringing the fishermen home.

The Child's pose.
Sit on your heels with arms at your side. Lean forward, head to floor.
(pretending to be dreaming)
T'was the prettiest sail that it seemed as though it couldn't be
And some folks said t'was a dream they dreamed of sailing the beautiful sea

The Relaxation pose.
Lie flat on the back, arms at sides, feet slightly apart, eyes closed.
Now climb into your wooden shoe (bed) and I will tell a secret to you.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes (gently touch each eyelid.)
And Nod a little head ( trace a circle around the face)
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies is a wee-one's trundle bed.
So shut your eyes while (mother/father) sings
and you will see the beautiful things
as you rock in the misty sea.
With the fishermen three
(whisper) Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

I sing this sweet song while my children drift into the Land of Nod, a beautiful lullaby to the poem In the Land of Nod, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Teaching Children Reading and Writing: Part 1 Writing Prep

2012-01-21T06:11:00.000-05:00

(montessori moveable alphabet)

Montessori education is famous for stating that learning begins at birth, while Waldorf education is famous for delaying the teaching of reading until age 7. But, if you are a Waldorf parent, don't be tricked into thinking you can't prepare your child for writing. Here are some Waldorf friendly, Montessori activities, you can do to help your child at home. (there's also a few Montessori friendly, Waldorf activities for montessori parents too!)

Writing and Reading Prep: Activities in the Home

No where else, will you find a more rich source of tasks that develop writing skills than you will find in the every day home. In fact if you look at classrooms, many tables, work stations, sensory tables, and learning materials are simply recreating the tasks and sensory experiences of the everyday home. Let me show you what I mean.

Practical Life:

Household chores are an excellent way to cultivate memory and concentration skills, while also developing fine motor skills. Folding laundry, sweeping, mopping, dusting, polishing, sewing are work around the home that can help in writing prep. Below are two of my most favorite activities.

Washing a table:

An excellent activity for writing prep. When you model washing a table, show your child washing from left to right, top to bottom, in circular motions. (Think Mr. Miyagi; wax-on wax-off.) This repeated physical motion will become ingrained and when writing begins, writing (left to right, top to bottom) will feel very natural to the child.

Washing dishes:

In classrooms it's known as the "water sensory table" at home it's called "playing in the sink." Same thing, only in my opinion the sink is much more fun. Doing dishes allows children the rich sensory experience of water while also developing fine and gross motor skills. Doing dishes helps a child to participate in family life, boosting self esteem. When your child is finished eating, let them help in doing the dishes, and perhaps let them play in the water. Spilling it from cups and tipping it out of spoons. These activities all helping prepare for writing.

Cooking:

Another activity that is greatly overlooked for it's wealth of teaching skills. Kneading bread, greatly aids in strenghting the hand and fingers. This little one is developing his pincer grasp, and hand and eye coordination while sifting flour. Allow your child to pick up small objects and place them into containers; for example when making blueberry pancakes have the child put them each into the batter for you. Next perhaps try transferring something with spoons of different sizes, or tongs, forks. Measuring and pouring ingredients is great for this! I keep a small set of child size utinsils right next to mine. This way when I am cooking my children can cook along with me, and feel special having their own tools that fit their hands and make work easier.

Montessori infant table made by cutting down the legs of a regular child size table. Notice the nice flowers, vase, plate and baby conversation going on?

Table Manners:

Table manners aren't just ediquitte, they are writing prep too! Holding a fork, cutting with a butter knife, and using a spoon are wonderful tools! And please let children use knives. It's a good skill to learn and does wonders for independence. I'm not a fan of the wood forks and spoons, because they simply don't work. As an adult, skilled in using forks and spoons, I get frustrated trying to use these clunky things. I suggest instead giving your children, real child-size tools that do the job. Also tableware that is breakable, allows the child to develop a greater sense of touch, further refining fine motor skills. If they set the plate down to hard, it makes a loud clang. Plus, having fine things shows that we trust the child and value them, thereby boosting self esteem.

My suggestions for inexpensive child size tableware are:

A salad plate for dinner plate.

A glass votive candle holder for a cup. (perfect size and weight for little hands)

Appititezer utensils will work or Montessori services has a wonderful set of utensils and a great selection of all things child size. Just be warned, it's all so cute you'll want to buy it all.

Personal Care:
Although your child may be slow and not do the job, it's important to let them practice. Here is a previous post I made on how to make your home allow greater independence. Buttoning, zipping, snapping, tying all cultivate fine motor skills.

Toys :

Listing the toys that aid in writing prep could be an entire post in itself. Most of the toys in your home develop learning skills of some kind or another, but toys that require the use of fingers are what aid best in writing prep, in particular toys that require the use of the index finger and thumb. This is known as the pincer grasp, used in gripping a pencil. While not all use the pincer grasp here are a few toys to give you an idea.

Balls of various sizes and textures, bean bags, blocks,

Threading, lacing, and stacking toys

Dolls with clothes that can be removed; tied, buttoned, zipped, snapped.

Puzzles especially those with knobs

Jack in the box or music boxes

Dominos, pick up sticks, card games (memory)

Handwork:
Also aides in writing prep. Finger knitting, knitting, beeswax crayon drawing both block and stick, beeswax modeling, lyra pencils, the lyre and the glockenspeil, sewing, wool needle felting, watercolor painting and most toy making are all excellent activities to prep the fingers for writing.

Story telling, finger rhymes, singing, talking, and playing together
are the best ways to stimulate brain development according to current research. Did you know infants whose parents frequently talk to them know on average 300 more words by age 2 than children whose parents rarely speak to them? And a great vocabulary is an excellent start on reading on writing. Finger plays are a fun way to build fine motor skills in the fingers. The above book is my favorite, but many finger rhymes many may already know, such as the eensy wheensy spider and this little piggy to to market.

King Winter

2012-01-13T13:17:00.001-05:00

King Winter

The sky is dull and grey, piercing the chill its blast, 
each day grows gently darker, winter's come at last.
Mamma knits by thefire, her little ones round her knees. 
"It's dark before we tired, tell ussomething, if you please?"
Mama looked at her children, with a mother's eye so keen
I see that you are not too fond of winter's chill,
but if you'll listen and be still
I'll tell you about someone you haven't seen...
Someone very nice, a King who lives in a palace of ice. "
"We'll not be noisy at all, but as good as ever we can."
"Then," said mama smiling, "I will tell you about King Winter and Jack Frosthis man."

Some children don't like the dark, the forest bare with naught but bark
Some miss the summer's heat, autumns glow, and the spring's bower of flowery treats
The children shook their heads in agreement, "we could do well with out all this cold treatment"
But the wisest children see...that each season has gifts to be received,
One of them is a man very nice, his heart made of the purest ice.
And although some may think him cold, he gives mighty gifts greater than gold.
King Winter dwells in theNorth, far away in the frozen zone,
in a palace of snow he holds his court, upon an icy throne.
He has cushions of course: his queen made them out ofher wedding gown, 
stuffing them well with snowflakes fine, they are soft as a goose's down.
The King has a trusty servant, Jack Frost is his name,
his nose israspberry red, his beard is as white and stiff as a cane.
Jack isa good fellow of joy, and serves their Majesties well. 
He's here and he'sthere, and he's everywhere, and does more than I can tell.
but you might have seen him, he loves to make children art
On windows he paints flowers for you with shimmery frost.

Each year, about this time, the King and hisroyal train 
set off through the world, sweeping overmountain and plain.
His Majesty fails not to visit every land that's not toohot, 
to give chill both high and low, from the palace down to the smallest lot.

So that the Earth may stay warm and have water for the spring
The king knits of blanket of snow, the finest I've ever seen
Fine mirrors for children to skate on; none are finer than Jack can make;
in scratchless sheets ofcrystal clear he lays them on river and lake.
The trees, all naked and drear, herobes in the purest white,
with icicles shining of rainbow hues, making their branches bright.
"I have, I have seen him, he vistited just last night! "
"Quiet now", said susy to her her brother, "this story is such a delight!"
These wonders wrought in a single night maywell excite surprise, 
amazed is the sun when he gets up at dawn, and stares as he rises.
Then out come all the waking boys and girls, all of winter's gifts toview, 
and their noses and cheeks turn red with cold, some of them even turnblue.
Outside they pelt each other with snow, rolling it up in a mighty ball, 
and shout and laugh and scamper about, and heels overhead they fall.
Next they make a man of snow, as grand as a soldier tall. 
Awooden broom in his hand, a carrot for his nose.
He is the finest of friend any child should know.

King Winter laughs at the fun being had in his kingdom of snow
A happy tear streaks down his cheek as he cries, "Bravo!"
The children of this village delight in the fun and good of this season
I'll give to them more gifts for this happy reason.
"What my king,"asks Jake "shall you bring, when you have given so many wonderful things?"
The King smiled, showing his teeth of ice, "Oh gifts so very nice!"
I will make the child's breath be seen in my winters air
They can puff and huff like dragons, magic now theirs!
a crispy crunch of shimmer dust shall drape the the forest ground,
So that they shall never be lost, but always found.
My icicle tears shall drape the roofs of all their dwellings
so that they may know, whilst icicles may melt, my heart is ever swelling.
"Mama, mama, King Winter is so kind when will he pass our way?"
"He will stay with us past Christmas Day but usually leaves before May."
"Oh we love, we love this winter time," they said
Mama smiled and patted their heads...
"Now dream of all the wintery gifts of glittering snow and
all the love of Winter's time you're soon to know."

Watercolor Peonies and Roses from Coffee Filters

2012-01-12T12:52:00.002-05:00

With winter's chill setting in, and the colorful warmth of Christmas neatly boxed up for next year, the view around our house was rather gray. Last Saturday, the girls and I decided it was time for a bit of early spring. We had such a peaceful morning making these lovely watercolor peonies and roses out of coffee filters!

We were having too much fun, and I'm sorry I didn't get more pictures of the process. Here is the tutorial I used for the general idea but I made some adjustments to make the process easier and family friendly.

Supplies:

Round coffee filters (not the cone kind)

food coloring or watercolor paints

small bowls or container

pipe cleaners

florist tape

scissors

For painting, I used a couple of small bowls and filled them with warm water. Then I added in a couple drops of food coloring in. Alternately you could also use your children's watercolor paints. For my flowers, I used two drops of red for the pink, and a few drops of yellow for the centers.

Paint each filter and allow to dry flat. The kids can do this, it's a lot of fun. We painted a few filters solid yellow that would be the center of each flower. We painted some filters darker shades of pink and some lighter shades of pink to make my peonies and roses look more realistic. For roses, it is also nice just to paint the tips of the filters. I also left some filters plain white.

( To speed the process along, we used a blow dryer. It took only seconds.)

Once, your filters are dry, fold them in four. Cut a small portion at the bottom off. You want this to be very small, it is to be just large enough of a hole so that the pipe cleaner can get through.

Cut around the top. I used about 8-10 filters per flower, it really doesn't matter the amount, you can play around to see what you like best. My inside petals I cut down shorter, while the outside ones were longer. I found that for peonies the above pattern looked the most realistic with curves and jagged corners (the less perfect the better), while the roses looked more realistic with waves or curves.

Next make a loop at the end of the pipe cleaner, and then bend it so that it looks like this. (this make a hook so that the filters don't slide off) I didn't glue as the tutorial suggested because it made a real mess and the pipe cleaner didn't really stick well with the glue. By making a hook, (see above) the filters don't slip out and it gives body to the flower, without being seen.

Twist and wrap the coffee filter around the pipe cleaner. After two or three filters, I recommend securing with an inch or two of florist tape. When you stretch the florist tape, it gets stickier, so stretch away! Then working on the next set of three filters. Once finished wrap the florist tape around the base of your flower and continue down the length of the pipe cleaner. Then spread out your petals and you are done!

Here are some mini roses Joey made from the scraps of the tops of the coffee filters we cut off!

Lots of fun!

Making Wood Toys and Puzzles

2012-01-04T13:55:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to do this for many years and was so excited when I received a scroll saw as a gift! The process was quite easy, almost just like sewing but with some sawdust and a bit of a racket involved.

The two tutorials I found very helpful for making wood toys can be found here and here.

Our rainbow mermaid!

Here are a few of my own bits of advice.

To find inspiration, I googled outlines of what I was wanting to make, and then drew my own template from those inspirations.

When cutting start with soft pine, simple lines and broad curves on your first few pieces. The scroll saw takes some practice before really getting the hang of it enough so to make intricate cuts.

For anyone wondering if a Dremel tool is necessary; I'm looking forward to someday using one to sculpt the toys, but sanding by hand is actually very fast and rounds out the edges nicely (at least on pine anyway) So if you don't have one, don't let that stop you.

Watercolor painting...

I discovered that watercolors: red, orange, and purple, don't soak up into the wood very well. I'm not sure why, but we discovered that using food color to stain worked much better.

Once our pieces were dry, we sealed with our beeswax polish.

Here is our sun puzzle toy. I can't wait to make a moon one!

The girl's quickly found our sun puzzle also nicely turns into some toadstools, gnome houses, and

really cool looking autumn trees! I just love the imagination of children!

Oh yes, I think I have found a new favorite hobby of mine!

A Little Housekeeping...

2012-01-03T06:30:00.000-05:00

With the new year, I wanted to do a little house keeping (or shall I say blog keeping?) I had a to do list a mile long, but I thought what a great way to start off the new year by going over what I had done in the past one while organizing my pages here. It was so nice to look through all the things I did this year. Funny what a little perspective will do. Seeing that, made it easy to do the only reasonable solution. My to do list has been nicely chucked in the garbage without a second thought. and we are now operating on an as needed system. My schedule has miraculously opened up for the oh so important card playing with the children and I feel great about letting go! It held up a mirror for me about what matters and just how grateful I am for this space that reminds me. I am very excited about all the tutorials listed on the pages now, so please take a look through them if you have a chance. There are so many more tutorials and hopefully there will be just as much fun to look at next year!

Creating Verses of Your Very Own

2012-01-02T20:55:00.001-05:00

No matter how old we are, we can all recall a verse or two from nursery days of Mother Goose. These simple verses stick with us, and are a part of our childhood. Verses have been used for centuries to verbally pass along wisdom, knowledge, and tale. In Waldorf education, verses are in many ways almost like "magical spells", recited to help gently guide our children in fun poetic ways. During a typical kindergarten day a teacher may recite up to twenty different verses, each known by heart of everyone in the classroom. There are verses for saying good-bye, verses for taking off coats and mittens, verses for greeting the day, cleaning, painting and so on. They teach without teaching, guide without overbearing, and inspire vs. critique. In my parenting bag of tricks, verses are my most loved.

Many Waldorf school verses can be adapted to home, but as a parent, I found myself also wanting to create verses specific to our family life that could help me in parenting. This lead me to learn a thing or two about verse composing. Not being a poet myself, I was a bit intimidated studying poetry and verse. Since, I have simplified my own method of composing, that I thought might share to save other's both time and help in creating these special "magical spells" for their own little one's day. I think you will find that there is an even stronger magic to these parent created verses, that lights a spark in your child's eyes, which will quickly make any apprehension in amateur poetry melt away.

Really, verse writing is simple. If you say it, they will love it! I once made-up a verse to some of my children's friends, to appease the hungry waiting children while I grated cheese over their spaghetti. To my surprise the verse made such an impression that they instantly memorized it and now ask that I sing it every time we get together. Here is just how silly and amateur this verse was:

Swiftly, swiftly grate the cheese.
Don't let it get on the children's knees
Cause if you do, they may say achoo
I just sneezed!

Now if that silly verse can do the trick, anything can, but here is a short break down of how to create great sounding personal verses!

The Four R's of Verse Writing...

Rhyme, Rhythm, Repetition, and Real

Rhyme, not just for the end of the line.

Rhyming helps people to remember the words, when you have some idea of the predictable sound, it is easier to recall the next word. In poetry, lines are marked in rhyming schemes such as ABAB or ABBA.

For example :

The cat. (A)

The dog. (B)

The bat. (A)

The frog. (B)

The cat.(A)

The dog.(B)

The frog.(B)

The bat.(A)

When creating rhymes, don't worry if your rhymes don't sound original. The point is to focus the intent of the verse without paying attention to the words. Later, you can practice ways of combining words to create your own style.

Consonance is a way of combining words to suit your own personal style. Consonance is the repetition of similar consonant sounds such as;

Loose lips, sink ships. (l, s, and sh)

Alliteration is another option, it is the use of similar vowel sounds to create an internal rhyme.

How now brown cow.

Just remember, too much consonance and alliteration can lead to tongue twisters, which can be fun, but also difficult in certain situations. ~ for example: She sells sea shells by the sea shore.

Another point to remember in rhyme are the mechanics of human speech, some sounds have certain characteristics. Words that resonate in the back of your mouth usually have deeper sounds, while words created in the front of the mouth are typically higher. Moods can also be evoked with the right words; vowels are a rainbow of sounds and need particular consideration. For example some sounds like ah, oo, and oh are useful to create large ominous moods. While notes like ee or the short I, sound small (teeny weeny or itsy bitsy for example). Consonants like L and R also have a liquid sounds that flow on the tongue. While the letters p, b, t, d, k, g are more dramatic "stop" sounds, that cut off the air abruptly on the tongue. For those studying Eurythmy these sounds are given elemental characteristics along with each elements application toward the four-fold nature of man. Depending on the teacher and the native language these consonants are grouped differently, but here is a guide to help you group them yourself:

Water-Etheric (deep flowing sounds that come from the back of the mouth),
Fire-Ego (flow with the stream of breath),
Earth-Physical (grounded sounds that stop the breath) and
Air-Astral (light breathy sounds from the front of the mouth).

Rhythm, the beat of life.
The universe is full of rhythm. In nature and in our bodies patterns of reoccurrence, cycles, and seasons can be found. Rhythm is not just important to our day but also to verses. It drives the words like the beat of a drum. One of the most popular rhythms in verse is called iambic pentameter (five stresses per line in a pattern of daDUM) which sounds very similar to the beat of the human heart. No wonder this was Shakespeare's favorite!

You may choose to use a drum to practice your rhythm when verse creating. Clapping or snapping also help. Just find the beat that you like and that works best for the verse you are creating. I have found that verses for work are best when a steady beat is used, while slow gentle verses are best for verses at bedtime or to quiet down the room.

Repetition, saying it again for meaning.
Your goal or intent of the verse will help you focus and decide how to structure the repetition of your verse. If something is important, repeat it!

Quiet, quiet, say good-bye to noise.
Quiet, quiet, all the girls and boys. ~ my quiet verse

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.
Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow. ~ Mother Goose

Real
One thing that makes personalized verses so special is that they are well...personal. They are real, and apply specifically to your family. Be that a certain thing you do at home, silly family inside jokes, or saying a child's name in the verse. Making it personal, makes it their own and close to their heart. Like a boyfriend who writes a romantic song, it doesn't matter how good or bad it is, it was made for you out of love. Another way of keeping it "real" is to practice, your verse before teaching it to your children. If you become confused chances are your children will have difficulty as well. Another tip in keeping it real is to remember your tone and pace when saying the verse. If the verse is to quiet down, then it helps to say it quietly. If the verse is for bedtime, a slower pace, whereas a verse for morning time may be best recited full of energy. Real also means keeping verse making something you really like. Don't take verse making too seriously, it doesn't have to be a work of art, just something that makes you happy and is fun for your family!

For Waldorf Verse Inspiration I suggest:
Shea Darian Seven Times the Sun book and CD (love, love, love this!)
This is the Way We Wash-A-Day by Mary Thienes-Schunemann (tons of traditional Waldorf Verses)

2011-12-31T13:19:00.000-05:00

Tick-tock says the clock

it's twelve of the night

The new year's here

and the stars are bright

The old years gone

he's tired and worn

Christmas is past

the tree all shorn

The star children come

in the dead of the night

like the three wise men

bringing in the light

Tick-tock says the clock

the new year's come

Good year to you all

until the next to come

~ Elsa Beskow

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Nature Walks With Grandpa

2011-12-30T17:33:00.000-05:00

My dad's one wish for his Christmas visit were nature walks and we were happy to accomodate and show grandpa our favorite places. I thought it would be fun to take you along.

The rough shores of the south end of the island.

Walking in the islands last natural grassland.

The calm shores of the north end of the island.

A 100 year old English herb garden.

At the top of the hill.

Back on the ferry, where we pass by over 100 islands!

An early morning painting by Jack Frost....

Our favorite park...

Winter beach picnic on driftwood

The joys of finding a grandpa and me walking stick.

Yule Tide Glimpses Around Our Home

2011-12-30T17:04:00.000-05:00

Over the years, I have learned that simple homemade decorations are what make me feel warm during the holidays. A few years ago, we donated our old commercial decorations and each year since have made nearly all our decorations. Its fun adding as the years go by and looking back at the memories of the old ones we made.

We were on a tight budget this year for decorations, but thanks to Pinterest, I found some great inspiration for simple Scandinavian decorations that use natural and seasonal materials.

Gingerbread ornaments.

I used puffy paint to decorate, and hot glued the ribbon to the back.

Below are Scandinavian ornaments I made from 39 cent wood cutouts. I painted each ornament with white acrylic paint and although it looks like paint, (can you believe it?) I used a red sharpie marker to draw my designs on!

This Santa Moon I made to look like he was embroidered with red thread.

We made a popcorn cranberry garland, using stale popcorn, cranberries, a sewing needle, and floss.

I was surprised how quickly this went together. Plus it is a great activity for children to refine their fine motor skills needed in writing.

This snowman was a gift from a school teacher friend of ours and is a simple winter craft. He made it with his students in class from a sock and rubber bands. He stuffed it with rice at the bottom and cotton balls at the top. Markers were used for the coal eyes and mouth, and an orange toothpick for the nose.

Then they glued on some buttons and a scarf. Isn't this snowman just too cute?

We made these beeswax candles about two years ago, and they worked perfectly for our little holiday triangle. The children just love watching this go round and round. I think of all our decorations this is their favorite.

Our "Christmas Card Charlie Brown Tree"

( twigs tied together, clothes pins held the cards onto the twigs)

My favorite holiday quilt and rocking chair.

Burlap Stockings

I was down to the wire with my crafting this season. I made these stockings, literally just minutes before bedtime on Christmas Eve, while Grandpa was reading the children stories.

They took about 15 minutes to sew all four of them!

To hang we used a gold cafe rod.

Our hot chocolate and goodies bar.

This was a favorite this year.

Perfect for when we came in from cold nature walks.

I purchased this chalkboard to hang in our kitchen for grocery lists,

but found it very helpful for so many other things this holiday.

This was my early present to myself. I have always wanted silhouette portraits of the girls and I. These were very easy to make. The tutorial can be found here. I embellished a few details when cutting them out to make them look more old fashioned, like putting in eyelashes and large bows in our hair.

Gingerbread

2011-12-30T16:07:00.003-05:00

Gingerbread House

We made this Swedish Gingerbread house with our neighbor. Great company and yummy goodies the perfect combo for fun! The template can be found here and the recipe (which I love, love, love!) here.

After reading the poor reviews for the carmel icing, we tried royal icing instead, however, didn't have much luck getting it to hold the house together and ended up assembling with the hot glue gun.

If you make one of these, here is a hint. While the template is on top of your gingerbread, use a toothpick to trace around the window lines in the template, making depressions in the dough of the window. Then you can cut the window perfectly...(well almost perfectly in my case).

I also found that once some of the edges became uneven during baking, but if I put the template on immediately after taking them out of the oven, the gingerbread was still soft enough to cut, to even them out, making putting the house together much more easy and uniform.

Decorating of course was all the fun! This little house was a lot of work, but a lot of joy too.

Gingerbread Garland

I used the remaining dough to make a gingerbread garland. Using cookie cutters to cut out various shapes. To make the hole in the center; I took a pen and removed all its parts, the ink catridge, the ball point, and bottom, then I washed the hollow plastic casing- which made the perfect hole punch for my gingerbread garland. To hand my garland, I threaded my gingerbread through a red ribbon and hung the ribbon with gold tacks. Very simple and it smelled amazing every time I washed dishes. Very helpful during the holidays!

Our Winter Tissue Paper Window

2011-12-15T12:35:00.007-05:00

I've always loved stain glass windows and the color they bring into the world. Did you know stain glass windows were originally put into churches in the middle ages to tell stories of the bible for those who were unable to read? Still in use today, they are known to set a calm mood and aid in focus for reflection.

In Waldorf classrooms, much like stain glass, tissue paper windows provide a beautiful piece of art which is representative of the season, or stories being told within the class. Having a beautiful illuminated piece of art allows the children, who can't read, to play amongst the images throughout the day and take the story deep within. The windows serve a dual purpose, as a means to filter any harsh light or views that may interrupt the child's "dream world" state as they are playing, and to remove any imagery that may take away focus from the teacher.

We have very large windows in our home, and I wanted to create a tissue paper window to help keep the focus in our room, but I found myself at a bit of a loss on how to create these beautiful pictures when I first tried. Now that I've experimented around and have done some reading on the subject, I thought it might be nice to share what I have learned for anyone who is curious.

Tips for how to:

Pictures made with tissue paper are called transparencies. Some transparencies are made in a cardboard frame with a white tissue background; others are created directly on the window.

Here are some supplies I've found useful:

Tissue paper
scissors
exacto knife
glue stick
markers, beeswax crayons

When creating your picture, (as you will notice in all Waldorf art, the less details the better) as this is just the spark; leaving the details for the imagination to fill in. I've found it helpful to look at Waldorf prints as inspirations for my images.

Tissue paper is prone to fading and should be kept out of direct sunlight, unless you don't mind changing your image frequently. The colors fade at different rates. I've noticed, yellow fades less, while reds and pinks will fade rather quickly.

All tissue paper has a grain. Tearing with the grain, will create straight tears; bearing down and tearing slowly at an angle will create soft lines and arches. Tearing against this grain, the paper will crumple, which can be useful to create mock folds in clothing and so forth. Cutting with scissors or an Exacto knife creates a sharp edge which is useful when details are wanted. Experimenting will allow you to develop your own technique. For more information about the process of creating transparencies the book Rose Windows is a great resource.

In working with children, I've found it helpful to keep it fun. Because the windows take a long time to make, our windows are a process. We add to them as time goes by. I also have found that it was easier for me to do the details (like the gnomes and moon), while I let the kids have fun adding in the background (like the snow and night sky). I let the kids put the blue and white in first, then I made templates for the moon and gnomes, so that I could cut out a space for them in the background. I've found snow was easy to make with tiny paper circles from our hole punch, and that sparkly stars can be created by tearing small holes in the blue sky. I've also found that placing color on top of color creates entirely new colors. This is really pretty to look at and fun for the children to participate in. We will be adding in some indigo mountains and homes in the background later using this technique. Another trick I've learned to add detail, (which also gets the kids really excited), is to let the kids draw with beeswax crayons or markers. For example to add wood grain to the staff we drew lines with a brown crown. To make the star "glow", we traced marker around the star, which made an entirely new effect as the wet marker made the star more transparent.

I hope that helps anyone who is interested in creating these. Have fun and please feel free to add any tips you have in the comments below.

Family Time Advent Calender

2011-12-09T04:21:00.008-05:00

We love our yearly advent calenders. I have experimented over the years with candy and gift ones, but this year I tried something different; printing out inexpensive 30-minute seasonal family crafts that we could make as gifts. I have to say I think this may be my favorite type of advent calender yet. It has changed the focus from "getting" to "giving" and the joy that brings to the heart. It also has encouraged us to set aside and enjoy family time together during the busy season.

To make the calender, I purchased inexpensive felt stockings from the craft store and wrote the numbers 1-25 on them. To hang the stockings, I bought little wire candy canes found in most craft stores this time of year (see above) and twisted them into "s" shaped hooks. If you can't find the candy canes, mini clothes pins would look really cute too.

Here are 15 ideas for activities with links to tutorials:

Celebrating Advent with Little Ones

2011-12-08T05:50:00.063-05:00

As winter approaches, it is easy for children to observe in nature an outer sleepiness in the world. The once busy and ever active forest floor is now covered in a quiet blanket of snow and many of the children's forest friends have tucked themselves in for a long winter's nap. The once rustling forest canopy that was kissed with brilliant orange, red, and yellow is now barren. Gone are the golden days of late summer, replaced by a dull grey as the nights grow ever longer and the days grow cold.

Advent is a wonderful time of year that balances this sleepy dark time, with the anticipation and excitement of the celebration of returning light. One way Waldorf schools help to deepen the child's relationship to the world and build anticipation of the season is by celebrating advent with the four kingdoms of nature; minerals, plants, animals and human kind. Traditionally a new candle is lit each week, to symbolize the four weeks of advent. Many waldorf parents choose to symbolize each kingdom by adding elements of the four kingdoms to their advent wreath or nature table as they light each weekly candle. In the first week parents may add gemstones, rocks, or seashells. In the second perhaps greenery, flowers, or plants. In the third week figures of animals or feathers. And in the final forth week parents may add pictures of loved ones, watercolor prints, or hearts to symbolize human kind.

One aspect to keep in mind when celebrating advent with a young child is to keep things simple. This not only supports the young child's needs but it creates less stress in the adult's life as well. So often we can easily become overwhelmed by holidays. Elaborate events and decorations are not needed for meaningful celebrations; simple gesture and moods are what help to build fond memories and are what speaks deepest to the child.

A verse can help to create a sense of reverence and meaning for advent. A calm voice and slower pace, will help to create the mood when saying the verse. Verses will have more meaning when known by heart, so if possible try to memorize them. Below are some of my favorite verses to go along with weekly advent celebrations. I've listed short and long versions for those memorizing. :)

Short Four Kingdoms Verse:

The first light of advent is the light of stones that lives in crystals, shells and bones.

The second light of advent is the light of plants, plants that reach up to the sun and in the breezes dance.

The third light of advent is the light of beasts, the light of hope that we may see in the greatest and the least.

The forth light of advent is the light of man. The light of love, the light of thought, to give and to understand.

Long Four Kingdoms Verse:

In the first light of advent shines, the light of crystals in the mines. The rocks, the jewels, and the stones, the shining seashells and our bones. Now the stones are on the earth;in darkness, light will come to birth.

In the second light of advent shines, the plants and berries on the vines. The bright green grass, and stately trees, the flowers dancing in the breeze. Now the plants are on the earth in darkness, light will come to birth.

In the third light of advent shines, the wonderful beasts of every kind. Tiny insects, soaring birds, wile woodland folk and faithful hers. Now the beasts are on the earth; in darkness, light will come to birth.

In the fourth light of advent shines, the light of man and human kind. The goodness of thought and deed, humans helping others in need. Now that man has come to earth; in darkness, light will come to birth.

Short Verse for Candle Lighting

Winter is dark

yet each tiny spark

brightens the way

to Christmas day

shine little light

and show us the way

to the bright, bright light

of christmas day.

Long Verse for Candle Lighting

The gift of light we thankfully take

but it shall not be alone for our sake

the more we give light to one and other

it glows and grows and spreads even farther

until every hearth by love set aflame

in every place great joy shall proclaim

not long shall continue the darkness of year

the light draws near.

Salt Dough Recipe for Advent Spiral Garden & My Favorite Advent Spiral Verse and Song

2011-12-07T17:31:00.009-05:00

Salt Dough Advent Spiral Garden

1/2 cup table salt

1/2 cup water

1 cup flour

bake at 350 degrees until dough is hardened

Advent is traditionally marked as the first four sundays preceding December 25th. The word advent comes from the latin word advenir "to arrive". Advent is a time of celebration of the return of the light when the earth has reached its darkest point of the season. While each Waldorf school celebrates advent in their own special way, one common tradition is the celebration of the advent garden or advent spiral. Of all the festivals in Waldorf Schools, the advent spiral is the most reverent. Advent spirals are used in Waldorf Schools to symbolize the inward journey all humans must make to find their path and inner light, and the returning gift of using that brightness to illuminate the path for others.

Advent Spiral celebrations are usually held in the late afternoon or early evening. Teachers lay out a large spiral path of evergreen boughs which are used to symbolize everlasting life. In the center of the spiral is placed a large white glowing candle. Along the edges of the green path are golden stars and other decorations such as seashells. The teacher will then hand each child an apple with an unlit candle in the center. The apple is to represent the body and the candle is representative of the human spirit. As parents sing songs or carols, the children each take turns walking inward toward the center of the spiral with their candle; representative of the journey every soul must make in life known in Waldorf education as the incarnating process. As the child reaches the center, they light their candle. The teachers gently guide the children through the ceremony, much as they do in education, careful to let them walk at their own pace and light their own candle. On the journey back out of the spiral, the child chooses a golden star to leave their apple candle upon, to light the path for their friends waiting their turn. At the end of the ceremony the spiral is aglow with all the tiny lights and smiling parents, demonstrating that in community our spirits shining together shed a mighty light.

I made the above advent spiral garden with my girls as a way of bringing the advent into our home. To make this spiral follow the recipe above. Knead the dough and roll into a long "snake" roll. Then wrap the roll around into a spiral form on a greased cookie sheet. I used the bottom of a teaspoon to make the depressions in the advent spiral to hold stones or it could hold candles as well. (I did notice that in baking the dough seems to swell, so make the depression just a little larger than the size you are needing.) Bake at 350 degrees until your spiral is hard. For us this was about 45 minutes, but we weren't counting very well, as we were off making salt dough ornaments with this recipe too. You can paint the spiral or draw designs with pen to decorate. The options are endless!

My favorite advent spiral verse:

Deep mid-winter is drawing near,

Darkness in our garden here

One small flame yet bravely burns

to show a path which ever turns

Earth and minerals please bear us as we go,

seeking light to send aglow

branches green and moss and fern

mark our path to trace each turn

brother animals teach us too

to serve with patience as you do

we walk with candle toward the light

the spark of human kindness bright

love may spread o'er all the earth

deep mid-winter drawing near

may light arise in our garden here.

&

My favorite song for the advent spiral walk:

Twinkle, twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are
up above the world so high
like a diamond in the sky
Twinkle, twinkle little star
how I wonder what you are.

Are you a gateway in the sky
are you the twinkle in a fairies eye
Shine your starry light to earth
bring a thousand stars to birth

Stars on apple, seed pod, pear
stars on berries everywhere
So you guard me near and far
Twinkle, twinkle little star.

2011-11-24T11:10:00.001-05:00

~ For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night, For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Thanksgiving

A Counting Material: Introduction to the Teens and Tens

2011-11-22T13:01:00.003-05:00

To teach counting, I created a Waldorf-inspired adaptation of the Montessori counting stair and teen counting stair exercise. This exercise demonstrates the numerals 1-19. The aim is to help the child learn the names of the numbers and the representative qualities the numbers represent. This material also emphasizes visually the difference between odd and even; and is an introduction to addition by ten. To adapt this material to our math gnome curriculum, I made "gem" strands, to go along with our math stories. Each strand increases by one and is colored in the order of the rainbow, so that my daughter can check her own work. I like learning materials to have a self-correct method, as it encourages independent learning thereby boosting self-esteem. The colors of the beads also correspond to the colors of our math gnomes that are also used in our division and multiplication board.

I made a little "home" for our gnomes to make clean-up and respect for our toys into more of a game and play material.

Here is a video of the counting stair exercise...

And here is a video of the teen counting stair exercise...

Creating the bead strands was very simple and took far less time than I imagined. Above is a video of how I made our strands. If you don't have a montessori stair, cup hooks would work just as well; or for some beautiful light play another version is to use suction cups (with hooks on them) stuck to a window to create your stair. Originally I thought it would be nice to create these strands from real gem stone beads like rose quartz for pink and so on. Time constraints ruled this out for me right now, but if you have the time, I think that would be a wonderful way to use natural materials and teach about natural stones at the same time.

Glimmer Lantern Glimmer

2011-11-14T10:33:00.005-05:00

Glimmer, lantern, glimmer
Little stars a-shimmer
Over meadow, moor and dale
Flitter, flutter, elfin veil
Pee-wit, pee-wit, tikka-tikka-tik
Rucoo, rucoo.

Glimmer, lantern, glimmer
Little stars a-shimmer
Over rock and stock and stone
Wandering, skipping, little gnome
Pee-wit, pee-wit, tikka-tikka-tik
Rucoo, rucoo.

The Lantern Prince Story.

I hope everyone had a very happy Martinmas.

Watercolor Painting and a Light Table

2011-11-09T17:33:00.001-05:00

Paper so white

Colors so bright

Red, yellow, and blue

Now it's time for me to play with you!~ My watercolor verse.

I love when two methodologies in education can be blended together to learn something new. Today we experimented with Waldorf watercolor painting on our Reggio light table. I have to say the photos don't capture the warmth and beauty we experienced while painting this way. The light reflecting from below illuminated the fluidity of the colors mixing and playing together. The pure transparent color of the watercolors were brought to their full glory and even the paper itself felt very magical with light transferring through. This truly was an entirely new experience in watercolor painting!

We used our light table tray (also made in the tutorial) to paint on, so that the light could shine through, which also worked perfectly to contain all of our supplies and mess making clean-up a breeze.

To set up our station, I cut our watercolor paper in half so that both girls could paint at the same time. I set our watercolor tray in the middle of the tray to create separate work spaces and so that both girls could access the paint. I then put some small glass jars for each girl for rinsing water. A flannel cloth to dry the paint brushes and any messes made. I set a pretty glass vase to hold the various size brushes for the girls to choose from and I also put the watercolor boards next to the table so that the pictures could dry when the girls were finished.

I really wish the camera could catch the true life beauty of this painting. I am sure special photography skills would have helped, but here you can see how the light shines through and illuminates the color.

The light table, what a beautiful tool for learning, especially when combined with the art of Waldorf watercolor painting.

Super Simple Lined Pants

2011-11-08T11:51:00.011-05:00

Around here, when the weather gets chilly there is nothing we love more than to put on a pair of sweatpants. Sure they may not look the fanciest but they are oh-so warm and comfy to play in. In fact, when I ran a school and parents asked me what the best school clothing for children was I always answered sweatpants. Our motto was dress to play and make a mess, don't dress to impress. Sweats allow for movement, perfect for play and toddler tummies. They are easy to pull on and off without adult help, especially nice for potty training and independence. In my mind if children could design clothing sweatpants would be the highest of fashion. The only problem? Now that my children are a little older sweatpants just don't hold-up durability wise to the challenge of big-kid outdoor play, which in our house is often. So what is a mama to do?

I looked into lined jeans, but was a little disappointed to find most of the lined jeans were made with fleece lining (a synthetic material I stay away from because it doesn't breathe, causing my girls to sweat which makes some very stinky laundry for me). Plus in Waldorf philosophy, unnatural materials should not be used to dress children, because of the child's strong developing senses and need for warmth. My plan was to sew some cotton-flannel lined jeans, but I was not looking forward to all the hoo-ha this involved. As I was packing our old pants away for charity, missing our comfy sweats and wishing there was an easier way, an idea struck me!

I rescued an old pair of sweats (which were just a little too short and worn-out) from the charity box and cut off the elastic waist. Then turned a pair of jeans inside-out and pulled my sweats (right side facing out) over the top of the jeans (aka wrong-sides together). Then, I used a piece of chalk to create a rubbing outline of the zipper opening, and then all I had to do was cut around this line so that the sweats fit around the zipper. (see below)

To attach my new sweatpants lining, I stitched by hand around the top of the sweats (just below the waist line of the jeans) with navy thread so that my stitches couldn't be seen on the outside of the jeans. This was unbelievably simple and took minutes.

To secure the sweats to the bottom of the jeans, I used embroidery floss and a blanket stitch,

which conveniently happens to look very nice even if the bottoms are turned up.

Before I knew it my pants were finished! I'm very proud of my creation. I think the jeans turned out very nice and the best part of all is that we now have the best of both worlds; comfy sweats and the durability of jeans. All while recycling and saving time and money in the process! Yea!

An Autumn Breakfast

2011-11-02T10:25:00.000-04:00

Vegan Baked Oatmeal in Apple Cups

Ingredients:

4-5 Apples

1 1/2 Cups Oatmeal

Brown Sugar or Maple Syrup to taste (I used 1/2 cup)

2 Tbsp Vegan Butter

3/4 cup warm water

1 tbsp Cinnamon

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash apples and cut tops off with a paring knife, cut at an angle in a similar fashion to carving a pumpkin top, so that the top will pop off easily. Using a potato peeler or spoon core and create a bowl as desired. My bowl was about 2/3rd deep. In a separate mixing bowl melt butter. Add oatmeal, sugar/maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add water and stir until oatmeal becomes moist. Spoon mixture into apples. Place apples in a baking dish. Heat for 30-45 minutes or until apples become soft.

This warm breakfast makes the whole house fill with the yummy smells of autumn! You can also substitute other grains in the recipe like brown rice, barley, or steel cut oatmeal that has been soaked overnight. Very yummy!

Wool Felt Bat Garland

2011-10-28T16:01:00.002-04:00

We are getting ready for Halloween around here. Last year we tried going candy free, but the girls felt very disappointed. They were happy to go from house to house in a neighborhood that supported no candy, which made mom very happy. The girls were treated instead to songs and dances, and even received some small natural treats like baby squash, honey sticks, and nuts. The girls were very appreciative of the treats but thought it was a bit of a let down from the years past of fun candy goodies. So this year we decided that Halloween does only come once a year and that candy (and later teeth brushing) was in order.

I made this wool felt bat garland. I've seen these made in several tutorials online, however instead of cutting out each little bat as the other tutorials showed, I cut a long narrow strip of felt and folded my felt accordion style. Then using my bat template, I cut out the bats so that they connected and made something similar to a paper chain. Then I only had to sew each strip together making these garlands whip up pretty fast. In fact they were so easy, I'm thinking of making more for the porch.

Here is the template I made.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A Mama's Guide to Preserving Leaves in Beeswax as a Family

2011-10-28T15:24:00.005-04:00

I had a request for a detailed tutorial on preserving leaves with beeswax which I thought was a wonderful idea! My learning of this process was by trial and error. So to save you the mistakes and effort, here is what I have found to be the easiest and simplest method for preserving leaves and making this activity a fun family tradition.

Supplies:

Beeswax-
My favorite source for beeswax is at my local farmer's market, I usually ask the honey sellers who get very excited to sell some wax. This wax is usually the best quality and a great deal (mine was $2.00/lb). If you don't have access to a local source, the next best place is online here or at your local craft store typically found near the candle section. I use natural yellow beeswax.

Double boiler-
You don't need anything fancy. The beeswax just needs to be heated without having direct contact with the heat source. Also as beeswax does tend to leave a film, I suggest having a dedicated pot to melting beeswax in. For the fist couple of years I did this, I didn't have a double boiler and simply used a large pot and set a smaller pot suspended by the pot's handles on top of it. So if you are on a budget and don't have a double boiler, don't let this stop you, just be creative and mindful about safety and watching your project.

Pyrex Glass Liquid Measuring Cup or Metal Wax Melting pot-optional

Wax Paper-
This is what we will be using as a cling free surface for the leaves to dry on. Making clean-up a breeze!

Clean Fresh Autumn Leaves-
To keep your beeswax fresh for other projects and to ensure each leaf is preserved nicely, it is a good idea to clean and make sure each leaf is dry- see below step 2. Also as I mentioned in my earlier post, leaves picked directly from the tree are much better for preserving. They are more supple, brightly colored, flat, and free of decay.

Silicone Muffin Tray- optional

Paper towel-

Step 1:

Collect your leaves. This is always fun to do as a family. We love to watch the tree for when the leaves are just right for harvesting. It also helps to make sure to bring a basket for collecting the leaves and a step stool so that the littles reach the lower branches and participate.

While we are outside I may also have a nice pot of apple cider or chili brewing inside in my crock pot, it is a great thing to home to after being outside in the crisp autumn air.

Step 2:
Clean the leaves. You don't have to sterilize them, or even wash them in water. Just give them a quick dust off to make sure there isn't any dirt on them to spoil the beeswax, or moisture on them because beeswax and water don't mix well. I let the little ones take on this job as cleaning elves and leaf inspectors.

Another great idea is that you can also use a sharpie to write messages on the leaves at this point, if you are going to use them as gift tags or on a grateful tree- (see above). It is a lot of fun to think of things you are grateful for as a family and a nice way to connect together about all of the small things the past year that really meant a lot. I was surprised and touched to hear what my children came up with. It really is that small yet meaningful things that children value.

While the kiddos are cleaning and "inspecting leaves" move on to the next step.

Step 3:
Come inside and fill your base pot with hot water. You don't want the pot to be full, because of displacement once you put your smaller pot in. I usually fill my bottom pot about half way full. Place your second pot on top of the bottom one. Add in your beeswax. How much you ask? Well, the amount doesn't have to be exact, you just need enough wax to fill your inner pot deep enough to preserve the leaves. Beeswax once it melts seems to increase by about 10% in volume, so let that be your guide. I use about 8-16 oz when I preserve mine in my pyrex liquid measuring cup. If you have a smaller pot you might not need as much, if you have a larger pot you may need more. (If you are using a pyrex liquid measuring cup, you will also want to fill your upper pot with about an inch or two of water. This will help the glass from breaking, but remember that glass can break under stress of heat, so keep a close eye on your wax and make sure it doesn't get too hot.) Turn your burner to medium-high. While you wait for the wax to melt you can set up your work station.

Step 4:
Setting up your work station. Tear off several sheets of wax paper and set them on the counter next to your burner. Make sure that they aren't close enough to touch the burner or catch fire, but you do want the paper as close as possible to your pot to collect the wax drops so that clean up is easier.

Step 5:
Once your wax is completely melted, turn down your burner to low. Take a leaf by the stem and submerge it into the wax. I don't recommend allowing young kiddo's to do this, as the wax is very hot. This is a quick in and out dip. I squiggle mine gently from side to side to make sure that the leaf submerges quickly. Now here is the trick, when you take the leaf out of the wax, it will be dripping with wax, and naturally you will want to allow the excess wax to drip off before taking the leaf out of the pot so that you don't make a mess. But what happens is, is that the wax slides off the base of the leaf and collects at the top of the leaf, making itlook cloudy at the top once dry. Instead, when you pull the leaf out of the wax give it a quick shake, and place it quickly onto the wax paper. You will have a few drips onto the wax paper, but that is better than a cloudy leaf.

Step 6:
Allow your leaves dipped in wax to cool (about 5-10 min). Once cooled you can easily peel them from the wax paper. I find that the kids love to do this part.

Step 7:
Clean up. Once you have dipped all your leaves, turn off the burner.

You can allow your wax to cool in your pot and will have a solid circle hunk of wax once cooled. However, ~~sometimes~~ (most of the time), the wax doesn't release easily out of the pot. Also a large chunk of wax is difficult to break into littler bits for future projects that may only need a few ounces (We usually make next, beeswax window and christmas ornaments or candles, and lip balm or furniture polish for Christmas gifts). So, instead I suggest using a silicone muffin mold. Each muffin cup holds only a few ounces of wax in my case 4 oz, making future projects a breeze as you can simply add in more wax as you need. The silicon molds are also flexible making releasing the cooled wax a breeze. I highly suggest using one of these if you can.

Another tip I have, is that I found that immediately transferring my wax into a mold greatly aides in clean-up. Once you pour the wax into the mold, your pot will still have a fine layer of wax coating the pan. Not to worry, before this layer coagulates, use a paper towel, wipe the edges to collect the remaining wax. The wax will be drawn into the paper towel removing most if not all the wax! Yay! When finished simply throw the paper towel away and wash your pot with some soap and warm water.

2011-10-26T03:33:00.000-04:00

The Versatile Blogger Award

Wow! My first award. I am so honored. Thank you

Shirley Ann from Under an English Sky for nominating me! You are so kind.

7 Things about me....

I love mornings, there is nothing is more beautiful than seeing the sun rise on a new day. I do however, think it should be mandatory that all parents get to sleep in on Sunday. (Ha-Ha! Good one I know, but a girl is allowed to dream right? Please see number 5.)
I have come to believe that some of life's greatest joys come in sharing with our family: a yummy meal, a special moment, and a great laugh.
In my spare time, my favorite thing to do is read. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel.
I have always loved teaching. Even as a child, I would hold school for my dollies and stuffed animals.
I am a dreamer and a believer in the existence of all fairy tale creatures, magic, and happy endings.
I love to write, and write at least ten pages every night. I am just putting the final touches on a novel right now.
Some of the greatest things I have learned as a parent is: to enjoy every moment of this special time I have with my children; to trust my own abilities and intuition as a parent; and that humility, humor, and love go a really long way.

If I nominated your blog below, here are the rules for this award:

Thank the person(s) who nominated you and link back up them.

Tell Readers 7 things about yourself. Pass this award onto 15 newly

discovered bloggers and let them know.

My 15 Versatile Bloggers Are:

The Shetland Trader

Et si on apprenait...a la maison?!

Golden Sun Family

Urban Homestead South Africa

The Edible Schoolyard

Maybe Montessori

Poppenatelier Barbara

Tenacious Lace

Chocolate Eyes

Mondorfment

Cherished Hearts at Home

Each one of these blogs is a favorite for a different reason, each one inspiring.

In warmth and light,

Jessica

Seasonal Fun: Preserving the Glorious Colors of Autumn

2011-10-21T01:32:00.000-04:00

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.

~Albert Camus

My goodness it has been a long time since my last post! I broke my power adapter to my lap top. I wish I had some fantastic story to tell of how it was broken, but in truth it was my fault for doing something that have told my children never to do. Pull the plug out of the wall by the cord. I felt like such a hypocrite! Have you ever done anything like that? I never realized just how much I use my mac book until it was gone for a few days. Ah, but now my computer is back and I have much to report.

Today we collected leaves that we are going to be preserving in beeswax tomorrow to use in a garland and wreath we are making. Preserving leaves is a much anticipated tradition in our house. First there is the thrill of the treasure hunt in finding the prettiest leaves, then there is the warm smell of the beeswax that fills the house, and next the beautiful colors of the season brought into the home. But I think the best part of preserving leaves is the joy and memories in collecting them.

In years past, I have always used beeswax to preserve our leaves. However, I have found this is somewhat of an art form. If the wax is too hot then the wax doesn't coat evenly, if the wax is too cold then the wax is too thick and the color of the leaf doesn't show. The margins for the "just right" temp are very thin. I have been reading other ways to preserve leaves with mod podge and glycerin. I still am leaning towards the traditional beeswax method. After all the beeswax does smell so wonderful and it just reminds me of autumn, but I think perhaps we will try a few leaves with the other methods just to see and I'll have to report the results.

To preserve leaves I have found a couple of tricks I thought I might share. Firstly, I have discovered that it is best to collect the leaves before they hit the ground. In this way, the leaves are more supple, the stems firmer for dipping, and that black decay hasn't taken effect. Another tip I have is that if you time collecting your leaves just right, when the leaves are still turning, the leaves collected will be more brightly colored. This is a small window, but it is fun to watch the tree together and decide as a family when "the perfect" time for harvesting is. Today many of our leaves still had some green in them, along with bright yellow, red, and orange. Very pretty. Another tip I have is that I have found it is easiest to bring a stool outside so that the littles can help with the harvesting, otherwise patience and interest is quickly lost.

Here is our garland we made last year. I didn't even glue the leaves on, I simply attached them to the twine while the beeswax was still warm on the leaves. This worked fairly well, but wasn't the most secure way of making a garland. We lost a leaf or two every week. This year, I think that I will be making our garland by using a needle and thread to string them on. Like this

Beautiful garland.

Here are a few more ideas I grabbed from my Pinterest boards for using preserved leaves:

(Click on the link for original sources.)

Hang from a window for a pretty fall display. As the sun warms the leaves the smell of beeswax fills your home.

Use leaves to create an autumn wreath.

Leaves preserved in candles.

Place leaves and apples into candles. To do this easy, take a candle. Press leaves and apples into the side, then dip into hot beeswax a couple of times.

Leaf luminaries.

Here is another way to preserve leaves. Take a fall leaf and sandwich it between two sheets of wax paper. Iron and the leaves are preserved.

I love this idea of framing leaves to create seasonal artwork.

Here is a fall mobile.

Instead of paper use preserved leaves as tags and labels for lunches and gifts.

Collect a leaf book.

Pentatonic Flute, the Penny Whistle, and Teaching Music with Rainbows

2011-10-11T11:52:00.026-04:00

I had little experience with the pentatonic flute other than hearing its wonderful sound at our festivals. When it came to order school supplies, I wasn't sure if the educational difference between the two justified the cost, as pentatonic flutes cost around $100 and a penny whistle costs around $8.00. I did a little research and found that many other homeschooling families had some of the same questions I did, but I couldn't find very much written about the difference between the two. In the end I decided to purchase the pentatonic flute because I found a companion guide for teaching it. Now that I have had experimented with teaching both, I thought I might write a post about my experience for others who were debating between the two.

So after a month of teaching what do I think between the pentatonic flute and the penny whistle? Well... to be honest I love both! But to better explain I'll list what I personally see as the pro's and con's between the two so that it is easier for anyone debating to judge for them self what is best for their family.

As far as care. The penny whistle is by far easier to care for. It is small enough to take just about anywhere. And because it is made of metal and resilient to just about anything, we do take our penny whistle just about everywhere we go, especially out on nature walks. If it does get dirty the penny whistle is easy to clean and disinfect, and it doesn't require much maintenance. However, as much as I love metal's durability and ease of care, I don't like the cold feel of the penny whistle and the plastic mouth piece.

The pentatonic flute in contrast is made of pear wood. It needs to be oiled at least once every two weeks per the manufacturers instructions. Although some wouldn't like this extra care, I will say that I enjoy caring for the flute and the reverence this caring for provides. The wood and the oil have a very unique smell that is heavenly. Oiling the flute is simple. The flute comes with a cleaning rod to apply the oil inside the flute, but the special flute oil is a separate purchase. On the downside, I don't see how it is possible to truly disinfect the pentatonic flute, which makes these an expensive personal instrument. Another factor in the care of the pentatonic flute is what is called the tone block (that is the tiny piece of wood sticking out just below the mouth piece in the picture). This small piece of wood allows for fine tuning, however the problem is that unless you have skilled hands at moving this tonic block it can easily be broken or lost. My companion guide suggests glueing this piece in, although the manufacturer suggests not touching the tone block as it can be so easily broken. Our tone block is secure in the flute, which sounds perfectly tuned to me so I'm not too worried about this problem, but time will tell.

For ease in playing, the penny whistle is very easy to get tiny hands around and the holes are just right for little fingers to cover up. The mouth piece is ergonomic and playing the penny whistle comes very naturally to small mouths.

The pentatonic flute on the other hand is larger and has an extra hole on the backside (see above). This extra hole must be covered to play any note other than e; which can be difficult to master at first. I like that the pentatonic flute is cut so that the fingers naturally rest on the flute properly, but to be honest, the spacing of the flute's holes is not condusive to the natural grasp of small first grader hands. Some might argue with me on this, but to me, the flute's holes are spaced more for an adult and so to play correctly the child must stretch their hands quite a bit. This isn't a terrible thing, because (as any piano player knows) stretching the hands to play is a needed skill but the fingering isn't the easiest to master and at times can feel a bit awkward even for me as an adult; with children who have limited patience/coordination this could be an issue.

To show you what I mean, this is the proper fingering for playing the pentatonic flute. As you can see, the right middle finger and left ring finger simply rests on the wood, (to me this just isn't the most natural feeling) and as you can see my daughter's hands do have to stretch into an unnatural position to play. This was easily overcome, but it did take a bit of creativity on my part to teach and encourage.

As far as playing and range. I also like that the penny whistle has a few more notes so that we can play a greater variety of songs. This is the scale we can play on the penny whistle. Wow that is quite a bit!

On the other hand, the pentatonic flute having less notes (E, D, B, A, G, E, D), makes music playing for beginners easier, and being scaled pentatonic all the notes sound harmonious together. Also because the pentatonic scale has only seven notes, I have been able to teach reading music without letters by incorporating rainbow colors as a way for my daughter to read and play music independently while she is in the pre-literacy stage.

I'll show you what I mean....

This is the pentatonic scale in rainbow colors, see below for how it corresponds on the flute. On my daughter's sheet music I simply color in the music notes so that when she plays...

She knows what hole to cover. The holes go in order of the rainbow on the flute as do the notes on the scale, making learning to read music and play connect in a visible way. This method has made learning through imitation very simple and it has made learning music whimsical as the colors lend an additional quality to the notes. This isn't a method used in Waldorf schools, it is simply something I came up with to make learning more easy, fun, and independent. This method fits in nicely with our other montessori/waldorf school materials (remember our math gnomes?) that use the order of the rainbow as a self-check method. It really has worked out quite well for us and I love that she is able to read sheet music without actually being able to read yet.

In the end, I'm really glad that we purchased both. I asked my daughter which instrument she prefers and she says she likes the pentatonic flute best although it was a tough call. I think having the two instruments gives us diversity in our music playing, and it allows me to play along with my daughter. I am grateful for the companion guide to use for this school year. It is called Playing and Teaching the Pentatonic Flute an the Pentatonic Recorder by David Darcy. It really is a curriculum book, that has everything you need to teach the flute. I won't say that it is presented in the most friendly of ways for those who have never taught music before, but it starts with basic exercises for parents to practice playing, then works up to basic one finger songs for the children to begin. The cd is wonderful aid to listen to if you aren't sure if you are playing the song correctly and as a bonus the author also includes several discussions and pointers for parents about teaching. I really like that the guide also includes many seasonal songs and a wonderful introductory story about how the first flute was made. Well worth the purchase if you are planning to teach at home with the penny whistle or pentatonic flute. I really love the rich sensory experience that the feel and smell of the wood brings to our playing. However, I do think the penny whistle is just as wonderful and an excellent alternative to the pentatonic flute if a parent is on a budget.

Nature Walks

2011-10-10T15:28:00.000-04:00

We found this sweet little heart in a piece of driftwood and I just had to take a photo of my loved ones through it. Hope you are enjoying your special places too.

2011-10-05T10:34:00.001-04:00

Taking some time away from this space, to be with family. Hope you have a wonderful week full of all the goodness of Autumn. See you Monday.

Beeswax Crayon Holders

2011-10-04T14:44:00.000-04:00

Here are the beeswax block crayon and stick crayon holders I made during my friend's and my craft day. We had so much fun chatting and crafting while our daughters played together. It was a very sweet day.

If you have purchased beeswax crayons then you know this one familiar problem... that as soon as they touch each other little bits of color transfer onto the other crayons, and then before you know it, the yellow sun you meant to color ends up looking more like a rainbow speckled easter egg in the sky. The beeswax crayon box comes with a scraper doo-dad to clean off the crayons, but I have found these scrappers leave deep groves in the crayons which affects coloring and also that these tools are really impractical for little ones.

One of the reasons I like holders is because I think that by taking care of our crayons not only do the children learn a sense of reverence for their things, but also that they feel special because they are trusted with such fine things. I also like that the tools the children need are always organized and readily available for them when they need them.

I added little flaps inside so that the crayons were easily accessible while keeping out of contact with the other crayons.

I designed the holder to roll up so that we can take these along with us anywhere we go, which is very convenient. I hand sewed these holders with a decorative blanket stitch, which to be honest took a lot of time, but these could be whipped up fairly quickly with a machine. To make them, I used a rectangular piece of felt and fold up the top and bottom edges to create flaps. Then I placed the crayons inside the flaps and pinned in between the crayons to mark where I should sew for the pockets. For the flaps that go over the top of the crayons, I just cut a strip of felt and sewed over the top. There are all kinds of possibilities to close these. Velcro, snaps, zippers, but we chose a button which works out very nicely and I like that it helps the girls to refine their fine motor skills and pincer grasp (needed for writing).

Modeling at Home and an Autumn Playdough Recipe

2011-10-03T11:25:00.000-04:00

Modeling with beeswax has been an activity that we have used in our home for some years now, but I thought for first grade I should learn a bit more about modeling work done in the grades. So when I bought our new modeling wax supplies, I also purchased a book called, Learning About the World Through Modeling: Sculptural Ideas for School and Home by Arthur Auer. I love, love, love this book and all that it is teaching us! I can't even begin to describe the richness of the content of this book. It explains why modeling is used in Waldorf schools and the benefits it brings to a child's development. It also comes along with a complete set of beautifully illustrated exercises from grade one through high school.

Allow me to introduce September from Christopher's Harvest Story. We have been reading this at bedtime and the girls just love the tale. It has struck a chord with them and now we see September, Brother Wind, and Prince Autumn on our nature walks and I don't think a day has gone by when a beautifully colored leaf isn't brought in as proof that September has been in our yard.

But in our modeling work, I have found that beeswax modeling takes a little too much patience for Genny. After reading how important modeling is at all ages, I still wanted to include her in our modeling activities. So, Genny and I made some playdough together. We were feeling a little creative and wanted something that smelled like all the wonderful warm smells of the season. We did a little experimenting and came up with some super yummy smelling play dough.

This is the recipe we used.

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 tsp allum

1/4 cup salt

Any spice of your choice

we used:

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground all spice

sprinkle of ground nutmeg

sprinkle of ground cloves

The cream color with little brown speckles looked so much like cookies we had a lot of fun "baking". The only hard part was not eating them!

This moment...

2011-09-30T11:09:00.003-04:00

a single photo capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment from the week. inspired by soulemama.

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~

this week, i am grateful for...

~ a joyous michaelmas celebration

~ relishing the spontaneous creations of art, form drawing is blossoming in the heart and mind of my little one

~ the anticipation of a crunchy autumn walk in the leaves and a fall picnic an old but oh so warm wool blanket.

In gratitude,

Jess

Happy Michaelmas

2011-09-29T10:11:00.001-04:00

Michaelmas - in the middle ages celebrated the end of the harvest. Holiday activities were often held on September 29th, following the equinox, marking the official end of the farming and accounting year. This was an important time, when manor books were closed out, rents paid, a new reeve (the chief officer of the village) was chosen, and storehouses stocked for the winter ahead.

St. Michael, patron saint of Somerset, revered in medieval times for his strength and courage, is the angel credited with casting Lucifer "the dragon" out of paradise and conveying souls off to the place of judgement, for which reason he is also patron saint of trades using scales (police, chefs, goldsmiths, and millers, no doubt).

Celebration of this holiday traditionally was symbolized with the glove which represented the open-handedness and generosity of the lord of the village, goose eaten for good luck in the coming year (“If you eat goose on Michelmasse day, you will never want money all year”), and ginger, believed to provide protection against infection. The harvest feast paid the laborers for their boon work with meat, fish, ale and good bread. In Waldorf schools Michaelmas represents a time for celebrating the harvest and a time for turning inwards as the outer light begins to fade. Keeping our inner light stoked and warm, despite the coming darkness, we find courage within and can be a light for others. Michaelmas is traditionally celebrated with the colors of yellow and orange, and a school community festival which including a feast and a play performed by the school children of St. Michael and the dragon. Baked Dragon bread (to symbolize the dragon) and Michaelmas daisies (which grow at this time of year) are often seen at the celebration and the Michaelmas Harvest song can be heard playing on flutes and hummed all around.

In Autumn Saint Michael with sword and with shield,

Passes over meadow and orchard and field.

He's on the path to battle 'gainst darkness and strife,

He is the heavenly warrior protector of life.

The harvest let us gather with Michael's aid;

The light he sheddeth fails not nor does it fade

and when the corn is cut and the meadows are bare

We'll don Saint Michael's armour and onward we'll fare.

We are Saint Michael's warriors with strong heart and mind,

We forge our way through darkness Saint Michael to find.

And there he stands in glory, Saint Michael we pray,

Lead us into battle and show us thy way. -Anonymous

Michaelmas No Knead Dragon Bread Recipe

2011-09-28T10:14:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share a simple Michaelmas Dragon bread recipe that is my favorite, because it requires no kneading and really bakes into a great dragon shape.

1 1/2 cups luke warm water
One packet fast acting yeast
3/4 tablespoons kosher salt
3 1/2 cups unsifted unbleached all purpose white flour

This makes a small dragon. If you want a really big one, like the one above double the ingredients

Warm the water slightly. Sprinkle yeast on top of water and cover until yeast has foamed about 5 minutes. Mix in flour and salt, KNEADING IIS UNNECESSARY just stir with wooden spoon, cover and set in a warm place. Allow to rise. Once bread has risen, chill for (about three hours), this will make the dough less sticky. Sprinkle flour on your hands before shaping the dough into the dragon. See this video for shaping the bread without kneading. Make a shape for the head, body, arms, legs and tail. Use natural ingredients like raisins and almonds to create the eyes, teeth, claws, scales and nose. Bake at 350 degrees until your dragon has a nice golden crust.

Enjoy!

Here are tutorials I posted in the past for making a golden Michaelmas cape and a Michaelmas shield from a wooden plate.

Feathering Our Nest

2011-09-27T03:28:00.001-04:00

There is something about the crisp autumn mornings and evenings that bring out that mamma bird in me to "feather our nest", and bring in that extra warmth to our home for the coming season. So, on a recent shopping trip in the city, I went out looking for some flannel sheets for my baby bird's beds. The selection was slim. Perhaps I was looking too early or perhaps many other mom's had the same idea before me, but I finally found just the perfect one. It was the style I was looking for and on clearance even! The only problem was that it only came in a king size and I needed two twins. I stood for a moment rather frustrated, but then I thought to myself, what a gift! Perhaps I could sew a king pair of sheets into two duvet covers. After all, the girls are always kicking their sheets to the end of the bed, which makes bed making difficult in the morning and defeats the purpose of having the sheets. Plus duvet covers are so expensive, this could be a cleaver way to save money and stay very warm this season. So I bought the sheets and was very happy that they worked perfectly as duvet covers! They are so warm, soft and snuggly.

To make the duvet covers, I cut the elastic off the fitted sheet. Then I cut along the diagonal seams in the corners. I had something that looked like this.

I cut off the top and bottom pieces. Then I folded over twice toward the wrong side of the fabric, at the bottom (where I needed my duvet to open) and pinned so that I had a nice inside edge about 1/2" wide. Once that seam was sewn, I folded the sheet in half, and marked where I wanted my buttons and button holes to close my duvet. There are many ways to close a duvet, you can use snaps, ties, and velcro; but I choose to go with clear buttons. Once my holes and buttons were in, I folded my sheet in half with the right sides together and pinned along the edges to sew a 1/2 inch seam along the side and top edge to close my duvet.

The flat sheet was much more simple. All I had to do was trim off a little of length to fit my comforter. On this duvet, I choose to sew a strip of the length I had cut off onto the top of my duvet cover. This piece can be folded back to open (see below), and folded forward like and envelope to close the duvet with one button.

The pillow cases were king size of course and too long for our pillows but this was a quick fix. I just laid a standard pillow case on top for a template and cut the king size down to the standard size. One quick seam up the edge and we had a standard pillow case to match our duvets.

The best part is that I still have a lot of flannel fabric left over, that I am already thinking of uses for. Maybe as a binding for some flannel pajamas, or as a cuff to smaller jeans? How fun it is to find less expensive ways of doing things!

How to Bring Fairies to Your Autumn Garden

2011-09-26T03:12:00.004-04:00

What a better way to invite the "wee folk" into your garden than by creating a special garden just for them. We made ours under our favorite chinese maple tree which sits just beside our herb garden. It is well hidden under the umbrella of the tree that will soon turn a brilliant red, just the perfect place for little children and "wee ones" to enter.

To make fairies feel welcome, build next to a few of their favorite autumn flowers and herbs (Autumns Joy, Mistletoe, Miscanthus, Goldenrod, Joe Pye Weed, Autumn Crocus, Hardy Mum, and rosemary), add some natural building materials such as small rocks, twigs, or shells for them to make their home. Sparkeling things like glass stones, sea glass, glitter, or pretty ribbons will help to attract the fairies and some offerings of bread, milk, honey mixed with vanilla, and butter are always appreciated. My girls have really been enjoying bringing a new gift to the fairies each morning after breakfast.

Here is a verse for planting:

I ask a fairy from the wild,

to come and tend this wee name of plant child,

A babe of air she thrives today,

root her in the Earth's good clay,

Fairies make this plant your bower,

and by your magic we shall see her flower.

We made a special table for our fairies out of a tree slice and stump. Then we decorated it with pretty rocks, sea shells, and tiny flowers as the centerpiece and we left crumbs of bread for our "little" friends.

Once you have your garden completed, all you have to do is sit back and believe....

Here is a great video about finding and attract elves to your garden and here is another fun one about making fairy homes...

A Donsy of Gnomes

2011-09-22T22:23:00.002-04:00

Please let me introduce you to the newest members of our family. We have adopted a donsy of gnomes who have agreed to very graciously help us with mathematics this year.

They are named number 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

When we were painting them, we made each one with a different skin color because it is important to me that the girls learn about diversity. Although you can't see very well in the picture some are pink, brown, yellow, and tan. Each gnome is also a different color of the rainbow- (the results of our food coloring wool project posted yesterday. I think it turned out rather nicely, except for the purple which wasn't as bright as I would have liked. I used regular red and blue to create this purple, instead of the purple that comes in the neon packet that I discovered works much better and isn't really neon). The gnomes are rainbow colored this way in order to provide a way for Joey to check her own work by using Goethe's theory of color. I have more math materials coming, all will use our gnome theme, and rainbows as a control and self check measure, very exciting stuff!

Our friends the gnomes have come to visit us at just the perfect time. We are reading A Donsy of Gnomes by Sieglinde De Francesca, who is an amazing artist and Waldorf educator. Some of you might recognize her from another book she has written called Coloring with Block Crayons. A Donsy of Gnomes is filled with sweet gnome stories and gnome crafts as well as tales of the author's personal experience with gnomes as a child. I'm very glad I purchased it and would recommend it to any Gnomey fan.

One of the stories in the book we are reading is called Pebble, a young gnome who is given by his father a special box called a "seed keeper" and taken to the top of a mountain. A shower of stars sprinkle above them and Pebble soon learns that star dust is the way gnomes plant crystal gardens in the deep earth.

Our math material has special blue glowing gems that the gnomes need help adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Pebble's tale complements this beautifully. This material is of my own design. I was inspired to create it, after studying of the years the various methods of teaching math, that in my mind could be combined to utilize the best of all worlds.

I greatly love how Montessori builds a concrete foundation for preparing the child for the abstract world of numbers. If you plan on using this I suggest that you look into some of the beginning montessori math exercises and materials. On my pinterest boards are some DIY tutorials for these. The montessori math curriculum is very rewarding and I love how Montessori allows for self-paced learning and exploration. Here are some Montessori math materials that I will explain as an example for those that aren't familiar with the method.

This is a montessori division board. Click here if you would like to see a video demonstration. The students are given a division equation. This one was 9 divided by 3. The student then takes three pegs and places the pegs at the top of the board. Then the child carefully counts out nine beads and divides them equally on the board among the three pegs to get the answer 3. Some Montessori teachers will refer in their lesson to the pegs as people to make the division more fun for the child.

This is a montessori multiplication board. Click here to see a video of a child demonstrating the board to her mother. The student is given an equation. This one is 5 x 2. The child will put five beads on the board two times and be able to find the answer by counting the resulting beads.

And lastly this is a hundreds board (it looks kind of similar to mine because it is). Click here for a video presentation. This board has 100 tiles and a control chart showing the numbers going 10 across and 10 down. This allows the children to begin counting to 100 and check their own work by the control board and by the patterns created on the board.

My board performs multiplication almost identically to the Montessori board with the exception that it has gnomes instead of skittles. For division, it performs exactly the same as the Montessori division board, except instead of using markers, mine is using...gnomes. To perform counting, the gnomes are removed and we use the tiles that came with our board in just the same way that the montessori hundreds board is used. To perform addition, Joey is given an equation, say 4 + 5. She will collect in one "seed keeper" 4 gems, and in another "seed keeper" 5 gems. Then she will place all of them collectively on the board and count them all to get the answer. As the board is numbered on the side, counting for the answer is easily done.

If you would like to make gnomes like these, I have the pattern to the gnome hat and cape which I will try to get up here soon. I had to make the pattern special because our gnomes were skittle shaped. I already had a hundreds board and I didn't see any sense in building it from scratch, but they could be made by dividing a square board in equal squares of 10 rows x 10 columns. To adapt my hundreds board to perform all these functions, I drilled holes in the center of each square so that our gems would stay and not roll around. It just so happened to add a nice effect of allowing light play from our light table as an added element to the material. The board of course, can be used without the light table, but I am really love how the gems sparkle and glow just like the stars in the story.

Dying Wool and Silk with Food Coloring

2011-09-22T04:02:00.002-04:00

Have you even wanted to make a bunch of different color gnomes or a bunch of rainbow fairies? Me too!

Our gnomes are for a Waldorf-Montessori material I am creating and I needed 10 different colors of the rainbow, which meant creating various shades of red, orange, and so on.

So, we tried our hand at dying both wool felt and silk with food coloring and I am happy to say it was a success! In fact it worked out better than any other method I have tried.

Here is the recipe we used:

For wool felt I poured about 1/2 cup of hot water into a bowl, and mixed in 1 tablespoon of vinegar, then 20 drops of food coloring. (Anything less than 20 drops, I noticed turns out looking faded). I let the girls paint the felt until it was saturated. Our climate is very humid, so to speed up drying I put the oven on the 170 degrees and put the wool felt on cookie sheets to dry. The oven dried the felt nicely without shrinking it and the colors turned out very vibrant.

For the silks I added just enough hot water to cover my silk, which to estimate was about 4 cups. I mixed in 1/4 tsp of allum and 30 drops of food coloring.

I am very happy with the results. They were very vibrant, and I was able to adjust the hue to fit our multiple rainbow color needs.

I think from now on we will use this method. It was easy, fast, and the colors turned out lovely. The purple I have found out that mixing the standard blue and red, no matter what combination I used, looked a little dull. But the neon version of purple actually isn't very neon and looks just about right as seen in the purple silk below.

Here is our finished silks, that I tacked up to the ceiling! Joey and Genny are calling it the rainbow spider. It looks really cool when the lights shine through it at night and I can see adding some more as the year goes on!

An Autumn Nature Walk

2011-09-21T18:34:00.001-04:00

Would you like to take an Autumn Nature walk with me?

We start by heading into the old growth forest. The forest is old, having never been cleared. The forest floor is a living circle of life, as new trees grow on top of old. You are reminding of the depth of life this forest is grown upon as your feet spring along the ground of old fallen hallow logs. Ancient wisdom whispers in the carpet of ferns and gargantuan tree trucks tell tales of things that happened long ago.

Along the quite path we find a moss covered bench of logs that the gnomes must have built just for us! A perfect place to rest and play some new tunes we have learned on our pentatonic flute and glockenspeil. Birds chirp in chorus as the merry melodies echo in the quiet woods. Before we leave, we eat a small snack and continue on our way.

We are mindful to watch out for all of our friends. To walk quietly so as not to scare them.

We pause at trees to listen to them or to hug the ones that need a friend. We find the moss children and whisper words to them as we spot spider webs along the tree glittering with dew drops and fairy magic.

The path bends and just around the corner we spy a glassy blue twinkling at us through the leaves. The smell of the sea and all of its moisture drifts our way and clings to our skin. An old wooden stairway leads us down to the quiet beach below where we promptly remove our socks and boots to feel the sand and earth between our toes.

We spot so many friends along the way. Mr Crab, little sand bugs, and snails all greet us merrily.

The drift wood gifts left by the sea are just the perfect place for climbing on. And as we explore the other side, we hear the gurgling of water trickling down the mountain side. It is a sound that is peaceful, a sound that calms, as its gentle waters flow over the sand into the gently pounding waves. Ships pass by and their gentle hum adds to the serenity of this special place that trees and animals know.

Our lives are always so busy. Even the best of plans for quiet days somehow seem to end up busy. But mother nature has a way of reminding us, to take time and remember her love and beauty. Will you listen to the Autumn waterfall with me?

A rock is moved by the waterfall, creating a new path to the ocean. We use a large stick to help it along its path. And on the way we decide to do form drawing in the sand.

And all too quickly the tide comes in reminding us it is time to go home. The walk back is filled with pleasant memories and a bag full of treasures collected from the day. And as we drive home back to our modern life we are not sad at saying good-bye, for mother nature had not left us, we all have taken a little piece of her nature home with us in our hearts.

A Rainbow Fairy Mobile

2011-09-20T22:46:00.000-04:00

We have a nasty pest problem of the worst kind in our house. Monsters. They've recently taken up residence in my little Genny's room, coming out in the dark to half scare her out of her wits. There is no telling where they will pop out next, but one thing for sure is that they always wait until the middle of the night to surprise attack. We made some monster spray (water with lavender oil in a spray bottle), but it wasn't doing the trick we needed something stronger. So the other night, thinking out loud I said, "what can we do to scare those monsters away for good?" Then Genny said to me that "fairies would chase the monsters away for good because fairies have very powerful rainbow magic." I told Genny she was right, what monsters would not tremble in fear from rainbow fairy magic? Don't mess with the rainbow.

So I went looking the next day and found a tutorial for this beautiful mobile here. It was very simple and easy to understand. I made a few adjustments to the original tutorial.

Instead of having raw edges on my silk pieces, I used 12 rolled hem silk hankies, that I had originally bought from Dharma Trading for puppets. They worked out perfectly because the hankies were a little too small for puppets and came in a package of a dozen just the number we needed for the mobile. The hankies were white, so to color the hankies, we experimented with food coloring to dye them in the 12 various shades of the rainbow. It was very simple and I love the way the colors turned out. (recipe is coming tomorrow)

The tutorial uses a wood ring, but I took her idea of trying a tree branch instead. I clipped a branch from a bush in the garden and formed it into a circle, securing it with some florist wire. I love the natural effect this created.

I am pleased to say that the fairies have scared those monsters away. They most certainly do have super rainbow power! Genny is loving her mobile and so is mama! Now, I just need one for my room : )

Autumn Window Tree

2011-09-20T04:20:00.005-04:00

We had the best time over the weekend making this little piece of window art. This was truly a great family project that is really spreading the glow of autumn into our home. I so wish I had one of those fancy cameras to capture the true color and light just as it is in real life, but you will have to take my word that in life this art looks like a stain glass window and it is so easy to do!

For the tree I gave the girls the brown tissue paper and said rip away! They looked at me like I had gone mad, but then a smile spread across their face as they ripped away to their hearts content. Maybe it reminded them of opening presents or just the fact that it was ok to rip something, but the girls just loved, loved, loved this part! When we had our pieces good, we used glue sticks to start layering the tree together on the window. Joey was the "designer" here. She stepped back and advised us just where the tree needed more bark.

I traced some leaves on a folded up piece of tissue paper and let the little ones cut them out stick them to the tree. Genny let out a gasp when we placed some off the tree, "Mama," she said " It looks like they are really falling down!" and then one of the leaves fell, twisting and gliding as real leaves do. She just let out a squeal of delight and I smiled at how this art had come to life for her.

Joey and Genny wanted to make the leaves look more real, so we used our beeswax crayons to draw veins in the leaves and to shade our pumpkin moonshine.

Our tree needed some friends so we added a few more things like apples and an owl friend. I have also seen beautiful leaves made by watercolor painting coffee filters and cutting out leaf shapes. I think that would also look beautiful on the tree too. I can see us adding more to our magic window throughout the season.

What a joy this project was!

Two Little Seeds asked a very great question about clean up. Kind of important to know how to clean up said messes, so I thought I would post up here for everyone to see instead of down in the notes. So here is the deal on removing glue stick glue from windows. Normally if the glue hasn't been stuck to the window very long and was put on thin, glass cleaner or a homemade glass cleaning solution of equal parts white vinegar: water will do the trick. But if for example your little helpers got a tiny bit carried away with the glue, or Mr. Sun kindly baked it to your window, or if life happens and the autumn display stays up until mid-summer; I have plenty of experience on all accounts and a great trick for you!

Take a lemon, and roll it around on a hard surface. This is to break the lemon down and juice it without making a mess. Next cut the lemon in half and sprinkle a thin layer of baking soda on top. It will foam and hiss which the kids will probably love watching, and think you are some kind of magician for being able to do. After the kids are through observing said coolness, take your lemon and wipe it over the glue spots. Leave the lemon juice/baking soda solution on for a second or two until the glue breaks down. You can see the glue starting to get slimy and that is when you can easily wipe the glue off. After removing the glue, finish up with some glass cleaner to make your windows shine like new again : )

DIY Inexpensive Light Table

2011-09-19T01:24:00.005-04:00

As promised, here it is, our light table tutorial. I am so excited to share this! I have been looking and wishing for a light table for sometime. When I saw the prices of the commercial ones (about$300), I knew that having a light table meant some DIY creativity from me. So I researched how photographers had made light tables of their own and adapted what I learned to a child's table. I estimate the light table in total cost me about $70 to build. This table took some time for me to figure out, but once I had it, the process is actually quite simple. I wish I had taken pictures of the process to share so that this tutorial could be more easily understood, but if you have any questions please feel free to email me. Here is what I did...

Supplies:

One of these Ikea child's table

One sheet plexi-glass (two if you want to make a tray). The size you need is the same size as the piece of particle board that comes with the table and is designed to be the top of the table. My plexiglass piece came in just the right width and height, so hopefully you can find one this size too for less cuts.

one sheet of plywood (large enough to fit under your table top.

white paint

wood screws

picture frame nails

clear caulk if you are making a tray

sandpaper- I used a general purpose grade

two small under cabinet floresant lights with cords. (this is very important, other types of lights like led get too hot. I learned this the hard way and the lights started melting my plexiglass. ) The lights need to be small enough to fit inside your table and be (under cabinet) or mountable meaning that it will come with hardware to affix the light to a surface.

Step 1:
Paint one side, or two if you like, of your plywood base white. This is to make it reflective. Don't put away your paint supplies yet, we still have a little more painting to do in a minute.

Step 2:
Now, put the table together as instructed except.... omit the particle board top and the wood cross support beams that go underneath. Instead we are going to slide in a piece of plexiglass, but for the plexiglass to fit we must first use the particle board as a template and cut out the four corners, so that the plexiglass can slide around the table legs. There are special cutters for cutting plexiglass, but I found that my saw cut the plexiglass much easier and cleaner, but no promises so do that at your own risk. Once you have the plexiglass cut, you will want to sanded this plexiglass on top and bottom to make it opaque. You don't want the light blinding the kiddos. Sand in all directions, up down, side ways and back, in circles. Just when you think you are done, sand a little more until you have a really nice frosted look.

Step 3:
Now with the plexiglass in you should be able to put the entire table together as instructed by the booklet that came with the table, excluding our little editions and ommitions. Please note that we do not add the wooden support beams under the plexiglass, but reserve those pieces we will use them later. With your table assembled, now flip over and paint the inside beams just under the plexiglass white. This is to make the inside of the table reflective.

Step 4:
On one of those side beams you just painted white, you will want to drill a hole for the cords to fit through. This hole needs to be large enough for the electrical plug to fit through. I used 1" 1/2 drill but this was very large.

Step 5:
You are almost done! Next you will need to cut the corners of your plywood so that it fits underneath the table. You can't really use the particle board as the template because that is slightly smaller, and we need this particle board to fit evenly underneath the table, not inside it, because this board will be attached by screwing it into the wood frame. An easy trick I found was to set my table on top of my particle board and trace around the legs, then cut those corners out.

Step 6:
Once you have the corners cut, you will want to attach your lights to the white plywood base. Space the lights evenly apart. Once the lights are attached. Thread the light cords through the hole and attach the plywood to the base of the table with screws.

You are finished! Pretty simple huh and just think of all the money you saved!

The Tray:

To make a custom tray, for work on top of the light table, get those reserved cross support beams that came with your table. Shape them into a frame. They will be just slightly too large to fit evenly on your table, so mark where they should be cut, so that your frame fits just inside the table top. I used some small picture frame nails to secure my frame together. Once you have created this frame, cut the sheet of plexi-glass to fit just underneath your frame. The frame is going to sit on top of this plexiglass so don't cut it to fit inside, but just fit outside of the frame. Using shower caulk or hot glue secure the plexi-glass to the frame. I caulked around the corners and edges of my frame so that my tray was waterproof for paint, sand, and water play.

I do want to give a disclaimer and word of caution. Use at your own risk. I am sure the cross beams were to support the table top, and if you have a really active kiddo, the plexi-glass won't support the weight. You could chose to keep the support beams in, but that affects the light. So just be careful and use your judgement. The table has been great and withstood plenty of weight from the tray and materials we have placed on it, but my children listen very well and know that this is for "big girls" and that it is not for climbing on and must be respected.

Here is a great article on playing with light in the current issue of Rhythm of the Home, and here is my earlier post on ways we will be adapting the light table to use in our Waldorf classroom.

Hope you guys enjoy!

I also thought perhaps I should write why I support a light table in our Waldorf homeschool. There are many educational, sensorial and therapeutic benefits that light tables provide that are, to me, in harmony with the Waldorf approach. They provide warmth, not just in the glow that shines from them, but also physical warmth, something that is very important in Waldorf education. Light tables are also like real world fairy dust providing sparkle and magic into ordinary items. Seeing the world and its creations illuminated as never before, pure color radiating and seen in its true form. The beauty within each object shines. Artistically this table is incredible for children. Artistry surrounds Waldorf education and this type of table, after all is often used by professional artists. Seeing every stroke made in painting and drawing; the thickness and the thinness and the results. With watercolor painting you can see the colors float, play, and blend as never before. Children can practice drawing letters, numbers, and forms by using the earth element of sand, which demands as Waldorf prefers true form drawing, but also in a playful and mistake forgiving way. If the form isn't right, the child sees it and can easily shake the tray and start anew. With sand drawings the possibilities for story telling are endless and story telling is a large part of the Waldorf classroom. Connecting children with their hands is another focus of Waldorf education, one reason handwork is heavily focused on, and these tables allow for a full five-sense multi-senory experience encouraging hand coordination. Beeswax is gently warmed and smells amazing. Water play and any form of texture imaginable can be used in the light table trays to delight the hand and senses. As I have watched in my own children, this multi-sensory tool has therapeudic qualities, allowing their mind to wander deeply and almost meditatively into the experience. From what I have seen these tables are a very peaceful and magical experience, which after all is what Waldorf schools strive to create.

Now I will address the arguments I can see against light tables. One obvious reason is that they include artificial light. I argued with myself pretty heavily about this one, I even thought of alternatives using sunlight, thinking of ways to tilt mirrors to reflect light upward to the table. I thought of perhaps candle light but stopped thinking as soon as I got to the flame required. In the end I decided that artificial light is something that is in every child's life. It is a product of every modern home and even our schools. Just last year, I was surprised when our school closed down because the power had been lost. We were a Waldorf school for goodness sake! We make beeswax candles for fun, they were on every table. Why would no artificial light close our school down? But it did. Because in truth, the school just like everything else these days, relied on artificial light. So to me the benefits of the table far outweighed the modern light. Another consideration I thought of was eye strain as a byproduct of artificial light. Although I couldn't find any research about light tables and eye strain specifically, I will say that staring at the computer screen which to me is a similar light does give me headaches. However computer screens have words and images, so it isn't a fair comparation. In the end I felt that moderation not exclusion would be best . The last argument I could think of was the use of unnatural materials like plexiglass. The solution to this would be a glass tabletop, but this was out to me because safety was the most important. Glass breaks far too easily and with disastrous consequences. So that meant deciding if the fact that the tabletop was plexiglass was enough to exclude the light table. I decided, at least for us, that I am very careful about what we include in our home, plastic on the whole is omitted. And if the little bit of plastic that is in our home, is there for safety and educational benefits, well to me that isn't doing too bad.

I once asked one of mentors who had spent years in child development study and research, what he thought was the best educational method. He told me that there was no perfect method and the best we could do was to draw from each method, the best ways with which we could use to teach to each individual child. This has always stayed with me, because my mentor had studied and seen so many classrooms, and the impacts on children. Personally in my learning of various pedagogies, I have discovered that many methods have little love for any truths other than their own. But if we look into each method with an open mind it is easy to see the ways in which each method compliments the others, and also ways that they arrivive at similar truths just by different paths. So do light tables belong in a Waldorf school or home? I guess that is a question we must all decide personally. For Waldorf purist I am sure the answer is no, but to me it is a wonderful addition. As always I will keep a keen eye out for the effects of it on my children, but from what I have seen so far it is a marvelous tool for learning.

This moment

2011-09-16T01:47:00.001-04:00

a single photo capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment from the week. inspired

by soulemama.

This week I am grateful for...

Having my hair "professionally" done by two of the best

little hairdressers around.

For spending several minutes before bed trying to get out every

bow we own of said hair-do.

For taking the kids to school with my

burning-the- midnight-oil red eyes, in pajamas, and with

several bows still in my hair.

And for not only being OK with it,

but for enjoying every luxury, hard work, and minute

our new homeschooling life affords...

What are you grateful for this week?

A Homemade Veil Chalkboard

2011-09-15T04:20:00.103-04:00

I'm so excited to finally be sharing this with everyone because this chalkboard has truly been a labor of love and creativity. I knew this year meant making our own chalkboard, and to be honest I wasn't too excited about having a massive black spot in our room. After all, black is known to be overwhelming to the senses of the young child, and yet it is the focus in many classrooms. When I saw the recipe for make your own chalkboard paint in any color, my mind starting thinking of all the beautiful colors we could use instead of black.

I am one of those people that really value the wisdom of elders and knew that there had to be a reason black was used. I was pretty sure that black showed the best contrast of color and I questioned wither or not lighter colors would work. So, I researched to see if the recipe worked in lighter colors. The people who used it reported being very happy with the results and I even saw pictures of chalkboards in pastel colors like pale blue and pink that looked as though white chalk showed up well. So I quickly ran out and bought the supplies and painted our wall a peachy pink. When the wall was dry I excitedly tried it out and to my disappointment, I realized that the small amount of texture on our walls made our chalkboard too bumpy to work.

The next day I went to the hardware store and purchased a smooth piece of plywood to paint on instead.

I painted again with fingers crossed, but when the paint dried it was still bumpy and full of ridges. My neighbor said this commonly happens when painting wood and is known as the rising of the grain. Oh dear, I was really starting to think my dreams of a pastel chalkboard were out. I tried one more thing, to hand sand in hopes of removing the ridges without taking off too much paint. To my surprise this took off most of the bumps. The board still isn't as smooth as I would like but it works.

I made this board very large so that both the girls and I could draw on it with ease. Ours is 4 feet by 8 feet. I hung a curtain so that I when I do make our chalk drawings, I can draw them and reveal to the girls just at the right time during the week. I also made a divider so that I could have a space to keep things for the week that wouldn't get erased. Instead of attaching the frame to the chalkboard, I made the frame to fit around the outside incase I decide I want something a little smoother or darker later on in the year. Because I don't like sharp right angles, (I think they look a little too perfect, too machine made to feel warm and pleasing to the senses) I rounded the frame's edges by whittling them with a knife. That was a fun experience that was much easier than I thought it would be, and although you can't see it in the picture I think it really added a "made with the hands from the heart" touch adding one additional warmth to our chalkboard.

Since I was going to the extra effort of repainting again, I wanted our board to be a work of art and very dreamy; like a doorway to a fantasy land. So I chose to paint it this time in several colors, hoping to make a similar effect as Waldorf veil paintings. The painting technique I was using couldn't have been more different than a real veil painting, because of the thick paint mixed with grout, but I wanted to try. I purchased a quart of white flat paint. Then in six bowls, I poured 1/2 cup paint mixed with 1 tbsp grout into each bowl and added 1 tbsp of a different color acrylic paint to tint each one a different color. As I painted I mixed different colors together to create the effect.

My poor little yellow gnome got lost in my drawing, yellow and pink seems to be the only colors that don't show well. This drawing is for our math work, right now we are in our form drawing block, but I think I may use this again for our letter s, later on in the year. Does her hair make the perfect S? I still have much work to do on my chalkboard drawing skills, but my audience is very kind and forgiving which is something I love dearly about children, their kind and accepting way.

Fairy Ring Math Board

2011-09-14T10:45:00.002-04:00

Follow, follow me to the ring of the fairies,

Follow, follow me where the fairies dance and sing

Gather with me here all the magic you can carry

As we circle and circle round the dancing fairy ring. - Shea Darwin from Seven Times the Sun

Yesterday we had so much fun making a Waldorf math board, I just had to share. Math boards are used in Waldorf Education to teach multiplication, skip counting and the corresponding geometric shapes they create. To make it we first collected a tree slice.

Then we traced a circle on the inside of our tree slice. We used a mixing bowl that we had on hand to use as our circle template. Next, I marked 10 notches equally spaced around the circle. I didn't calculate the diameter and measure, I just eyeballed it.

Next the littles hammered nails where my notches were. This would have worked but Joey thought those nails were too poky and then I had a great idea! To use little wooden pegs instead and paint them to look like mushrooms so that our board looked like a fairy ring! It would tie in perfect to our math gnomes! (- more on that tomorrow.)

So a quick trip to the craft store, good thing it's just around the corner. Then we set up a little assembly line and pretended to be elves. Genny painted the tops red.

Joey painted the bottoms white.

And I drilled some small holes for the pegs with a drill and added a drop of glue to secure the pegs when the ~~girls~~ elves had finished painting them. (Genny says it helps if you stick your tongue out while painting!)

And before we knew it our fairy ring was complete. Even I found myself excited about the tiny magic ring. It really looks like a place where fairies dance and sing; a perfectly magical place to teach multiplication and counting.