Silent Saturday.

Spring-colored wool drying in the sun.

Friday's Nature Table.

Welcome back to Friday's Nature Table. This is a weekly forum for us to share the nature inspired things we have done... our nature ideas, crafts, activities, inspirations and photos. Nature's beauty is all around... her magic is everywhere!

I encourage everyone to participate... just add your link in the form below and your post will become the next on the list for all to enjoy. The more wonderful ideas we can share about how to love our beautiful earth, the happier we will be.

Enjoy! and thank you for sharing today...

Blessings and magic.

Discovering Waldorf - 'Wet-on-wet Watercolor Painting'.

When I read Amy's post a couple of months ago on the Waldorf method of wet-on-wet painting with watercolors, I knew immediately that she would be a wonderful guest blogger for the Discovering Waldorf series. She described an enchanting painting experience, both for herself and her child. I loved to read how she brought magic and intrigue into the process and made painting almost spiritual. I am so happy that she agreed to share this method with all of us today.

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Wet-on-wet Watercolor Painting

There is something soothing and relaxing about painting with watercolors. In Waldorf education, wet-on-wet watercolor painting is the chosen method for painting. It is said that color in the liquid form reveals it's truest nature. If this is accurate, then this is one reason for using watercolors. Watercolors are vibrant, clean, and true. In addition to this, the use of watercolors allows for fluid mixing and movement on the paper. Colors bleed one into another, they move and creep and spread. They play, they grow, they seem to have life.

Because young children are so connected with their environment, they draw energy and feelings from the colors around them. A young child's interactions with the colors through the watercolor painting process can allow them to feel the effects of color within themselves and each color’s quality (bringing warmth or coolness). Unlike other creative means, watercolors don't limit the child to exactness in form, shape or outline so many children feel more free to create and experiment.

I have found the use of playful comments, poem or verse to be a wonderful way to invite creativity to a painting session. For a recent watercolor session with my daughter I began by selecting the poem February Twilight by Sara Teasdale.


The tone is set beginning with the preparation of the paint, water and paper (soaking or wiping with a wet sponge). While we prepare to paint I provide an image from the poem I will read at the end of our painting time. "This poem is about that time of day just before it gets dark." A comment like this adds to the anticipation of our painting time while also providing a picture image for my daughter to work with (if she so chooses). When we sit at the table ready to paint I add a bit more imagery. "We've seen the sky just after the sun goes to bed, and the beautiful colors. Think of that time right after the sun is gone and it is almost dark." This is her invitation to paint.


My daughter paints the sky. First with blue then with the other colors. (To encourage her to wash her brush after each color I have told her to wash "Peter Paintbrush's" hair after painting and dry his hair on the towel. Then he is ready to wear a new color.) After she seems done with the sky I add another image from the poem. "There is a hill. A hill with newly fallen snow." She then paints for a few minutes more. I then add "A single star shines in the sky." I try not to talk too much, just adding the images of the poem as we progress along. When she seems finished I ask if she is ready to hear the poem. Reading the poem at the end brings our painting session to a close. We listen to the words, we look at the colors. We take time to enjoy the moment.


February Twilight
by Sara Teasdale

I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new-laid snow,
A single star looked out
From the cold evening glow.
There was no other creature
That saw what I could see --
I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me.

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I am truly inspired, Amy! Thank you so much for sharing this magical painting method. Once again, the Waldorf way of gently guiding the child with beauty and reverence while allowing the child to freely express his own personality and creativity is awe-inspiring. This post reminds me of the power I hold in what I say AND in what I don't say.

Amy has a truly lovely blog called The Wonder Years which is full of the fun and gentle learning experiences she shares with her two sweet girls. Whenever I read her words, I always come away with a sense of pleasure in being a parent... she makes me feel proud of what I have done and motivates me to keep on doing it... she reminds me, even without words, that I am the spring that gives life to these two bubbling brooks who will, one day, go out into the world to work their magic. A more important task you could not find.

Here are the other inspiring posts in the Discovering Waldorf series.

Thank you, Amy. Blessings and magic to you!

Periwinkle Sky

Please meet Becky of Periwinkle Sky.

It is so wonderful when you stumble upon an artist who seems to speak to your soul. My brother and I had a favorite book when we were young, Grumpets in Trumpetland. It had such magical illustrations, pages filled with treasures. We would lie together and point out hidden snails shells or sparkly gems to each other. Each page was magic and enchantment to us. I feel this same magic and enchantment when I look at Becky Kelly's illustrations. Each one is filled with the wonder of childhood and I am truly in awe of the magic she captures.

I love the illustration she has chosen for her button above... a little girl sitting on a daisy leaf, reading, with her ladybug friend reading next to her. There is just something about the pair that is extraordinary sweet... perhaps it's that they are leaning into each other in such a loving moment, perhaps it's the way the little girl's toes touch, I can't put my finger on exactly what it is but it makes me want to go and hug my own sweet little girl.

Perhaps I find Becky's illustrations so touching as they depict the imaginary things I encourage my children to see. Look at this little forest tea party... is it not the very scene we created with the mushroom at the arboretum last week?

And here, look at the fairies, squirrels and birds painting the leaves orange for fall... in our family we call it 'The Golding of the Leaves'... when summer becomes autumn and the fairies work tirelessly to turn the green leaves to gold.

And, when you stumble across a toadstool, do you not see, in your mind's eye, a little boy fairy resting upon it, just like this?

Perhaps I love these illustrations so much because Becky shows us the world through our children's eyes...

A world of fairies and magic and ladybird friends. A soft and gentle world... a world with a Periwinkle Sky!

Becky's illustrations and prints are available in her Etsy shop, Periwinkle Sky, and also in her website. She has many to choose from and each one is enchanting to the extreme. I put a lot of thought into what I fill my children's spaces with... each child has one or two, well chosen, pieces of art in their room... art that reflects their innocence and imagination... Mr T turns 3 in May and I know exactly what his birthday present is going to be...

It is going to be blessings and magic from Periwinkle Sky!

Make a Pretty Spring Nest.

We had so much fun yesterday making our 'Blossoms for Birds' tree and really started to think about nests... how they are made and how eggs are laid. K longs for a bird to make a nest where she can watch him. She is so hoping a bird will make a nest in the jasmine that grows over her bunny hutch as she would like to talk to the babies while she feeds her bunnies.

When I suggested we make a robin's nest, she agreed immediately.

We needed:

* a nest (make one from grape vine or find one at a craft store)

* blue wool roving

* dish detergent

* a glue gun

* ribbon

To make the sweet little robin's-blue eggs, pull off a 'palm-size' piece of the blue roving (I have small hands). Not too much wool or your eggs will be too large.

K set out the three tufts of wool for the three eggs. You can see how much wool we used for each egg in comparison to the nest.

Get a bowl of warm water. Fluff our the wool so that it is a rough round shape. Squirt a teaspoon of dish detergent into the palm of your hand. Very gently, roll the ball of wool roving in the detergent, trying to coat it evenly (this is not an exact science so 'just about' is 'good enough'!).
Keep rolling the wool gently in your hands. It will soon become a soggy mass... this is good!
Scoop a tiny amount of warm water onto the soggy mass and continue rolling gently.

After a while you will feel the soggy mass becoming firmer, taking the shape of a ball.
Now you can roll with more vigor and exert more pressure on the ball in your hands.
Your ball will harden into a perfect little egg.

Some kids love wet felting... the warm water, the bubbly detergent. It isn't K's favorite! She dislikes the beginning part when the wool is a soggy mass. So, I started the balls off for her and when they started to harden into shape, I handed them over to her to finish off.
When we had wet felted our three eggs, K rinsed them off and we put them in the sun to dry.
While they were drying, I tied the ribbon onto the nest so that it would hang.

When the eggs were dry, we used our glue gun to glue them into the nest.

K decided to hang her sweet little robin's nest outside to show the other birds that this is a very nice place to build a nest.
I do hope it works!!

As I know so many of you and your kids will be excited to make a robin's nest too, I thought I would make it easy for you by listing for purchase a few kits for making your own in my shop. Enjoy!

Blessings and magic.

Blossoms for Birds.

Here in Southern California, Spring has definitely arrived! Our nights are cool, our mornings are crisp and our days are warm and sunny... it's lovely weather, my favorite time of the year. The squirrels come out, the jasmine blooms and the birds start collecting treasures to build their nests with.

We have a spring tradition that we call 'Blossoms for Birds'. Each year as Spring approaches and we start to notice the birds building their nests, we decorate a bare tree branch with lovely soft wool for them. We find a branch.

Saw it to the right length for little people to reach even the top branches.
And then we put the bare branch in a spot in the garden, just beyond our deck, where we can watch it from our dining room. It's best to put the branch in a visible place, somewhere where you can watch it, undetected by the outside creatures.
Collect a basket of spring-colored wool scraps. I let K choose any color she wanted from my precious stash.
Decorate the bare tree with the wool, winding it around the branches and twigs.
Timone, our squirrel, came to see what we were doing.
She caused great distress by climbing down our Blossoms for Birds tree, nearly knocking it over and making K very angry... "This is for the BIRDS, Timone!" K scolded.
We were able to placate her with a few nuts while we finished decorating our wool tree.
It looks so pretty, covered in colorful tufts of wool, however, a pretty tree is not why we made our Blossoms for Birds Tree... it's for the birds to build their nests with!
All Spring long, we'll watch from our dining room table as the neighborhood birds are attracted to the colorful wool. They'll twitter about in a frenzy of excitement at the lovely soft wool they've found. They'll take a colorful bundle in their beak and fly off with it to build their nests. Just imagine what their nests will look like... pink, blue yellow... so pretty and soft for the sweet little baby birds.I know that not many of you will have colorful wool roving scraps lying around, so I have listed for purchase a few packets of colorful wool bits in my shop. Enjoy!

Blessings and magic!

Silent Saturday.

Winter Flu.

Friday's Nature Table.

Welcome back to Friday's Nature Table. This is a weekly forum for us to share the nature inspired things we have done... our nature ideas, crafts, activities, inspirations and photos. Nature's beauty is all around... her magic is everywhere!

I encourage everyone to participate... just add your link in the form below and your post will become the next on the list for all to enjoy. The more wonderful ideas we can share about how to love our beautiful earth, the happier we will be.

Enjoy! and thank you for sharing today...

Blessings and magic.

Discovering Waldorf - 'Elemental Simplicity'.

Discovering Waldorf is brought to you today by Rick Tan. I am so pleased to be able to share his thoughts and wisdom with you. Rick is such an accomplished man... he has a degree in Biological Sciences and a Medical Doctorate, he spent time as an at-home-parent homeschooling his children, he is an artist, a designer, a wedding officiant and an educator. He is now studying Anthroposophy, Steiner and Waldorf Education. But, all these achievements aside, you have only to visit Ricks blog, The Waldorf Way, to see what a truly wonderful man, husband and dad he is. Please enjoy his lesson on the value of simplicity in childhood play.

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Elemental Simplicity by Rick Tan

Balmy skies, fruit trees, sampaguita vines, chickens, and the tropical countryside of a provincial town were the setting of my early childhood in the Philippines. I clearly remember when I was five years old, enjoying the company of two younger brothers. We were often barefoot, spending much of our days outside. The myriad of trees, sugar cane, banana, papaya, and lemons that dotted our property, and a mix of grasses and gravel, gave us our playground. We would play hide-and-seek, and tag, and be explorers. Sometimes, we would chase the chickens. Our imaginations saw fallen branches as swords or machetes, aiding us in adventures. My brothers and I would take water from the deep well pump and fill buckets to make waterfalls and rivers, and bits of branches and leaves became seafaring armadas. The gravel and rocks at our feet became a vast urban city or ancient ruins. A discarded bicycle tire offered plenty of rolling and spinning games. There was always the sound of laughter, and the cluck of chickens!

Within the sphere of Waldorf teaching, the playground of my youth had offered ideal conditions for the sensuous experience of natural materials and forms. When given an environment that exercises resourcefulness, a young child’s creativity and imagination blossoms. This is the pedagogical basis for the minimalist, elemental approach of Waldorf for its classrooms, specifically for Kindergarten and the lower grades.

Elegantly simple, hand-carved toys, found materials such as stones, leaves, and branches, beautiful hand-made furniture, and naturally-dyed silks celebrate the Waldorf approach. Here, the teacher and the students work and play, building relationships and practical skills. Waldorf provides the child with a holistic classroom setting that sparks creative freedom, encourages the will forces, and enlivens the spirit.

One day, for grade one students, I brought a basket of items such as a potato, a river stone, clothespin, and a piece of bark. I was telling a story about a trip to the river, and showed them the stone that happened to appear to have two eyes, and it became a character in the story. While Mr. Rock waited by the side of the river, unsure of how to get across, I found the clothespin and squeezed it to open its clipping end. I asked the children what it looked like, and they responded, an “alligator!” Soon, in the story, Mr. Alligator helped Mr. Rock across the river, and they became the best of friends!

These days, our children are inundated with specialized, sophisticated toys that are overly adorned and poorly constructed. Clever ad campaigns draw parents and children in to purchase these toys, and after the initial excitement of the newness of the thing, the toy’s value as a play item rapidly diminishes. Clearly, a magnificent, sophisticated toy does not equate to hours of engagement of the child’s imagination, nor does it equate to building of the child’s emotional or intellectual growth.

Consider the simple cut and smoothed branch of wood from the standpoint of human physiology. In the child’s hand, where touch is engaged, and the weight of the wood is felt, hundreds of thousands of neurons are firing. The child smells the wood, sees its textures, and more neurons are firing. The child relates the wood to hikes and camping trips. The child then sees that it can be anything he or she chooses it to be: a cylindrical cup of juice, a vase for flowers, a bridge, a bench, a locomotive, a bus, anything! With the synchronization of the senses, the muscles at play, and the brain lighting up its memory centers, language, personality, and visual cortex, a simple branch of wood has a lot to offer in the way of development for the growing child.

Whether in a Waldorf classroom, a home school environment, or other parts of family life, we must be mindful of the elegance and strength of material economy and elemental simplicity. And we should also spend more time outside, barefoot!

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Thank you, Rick. It is sometimes hard to communicate the benefits of simplifying our children's environment... this post reminds us that less is more.

Rick's blog, The Waldorf Way, is such a lovely space. His wisdom and spirituality shine through in every post. I so enjoy his art and poetry as well as his family musings and anecdotes. Together with his wife, Jennifer, Rick owns a seriously gorgeous Etsy shop called Syrendell. Visit Syrendell to see their beautiful, Waldorf inspired creations... my favorites are their enchanting little wooden sprites.

I have learnt so much from you, Rick... thank you for sharing your journey with us.

Here is a link to the other inspiring Discovering Waldorf posts.

Blessings and magic.

A Fairy's Paintbrush.

Have you ever wondered where fairies get their paint brushes from? We have wondered endlessly... we know that painting is such an important fairy job. Just look at the brightly colored flowers, ladybugs and beetles... they have all, of course, been painted by the fairies. So, where do fairy paint brushes come from?

Periwinkles, of course. That's why periwinkle flowers are so beloved by the fairies.

Just see for yourself... dissect a periwinkle flower and you will see that in the middle, sits a perfect little fairy paintbrush.
Much too small for even the smallest child to use...
But just the right size for a fairy!

And if you were wondering where fairies got their lanterns from... pop over to this blog for the answer!

Blessings and magic!

Gnome's Home.

Happy Valentine's Day for yesterday! It was so lovely and warm here in Southern California that we packed a picnic lunch and headed up to our wonderful Arboretum. We climbed trees, watched peacocks, collected treasures and, as is our tradition, built a gnome home.

We couldn't resist... this mushroom was just begging to be played with...

First, we collected seed pods that would make perfect little gnome beds. K found two large leaves for a carpet. She put the Mommy Gnome and Daddy Gnome's bed on this smooth, cool carpet. The Baby Gnome's crib was special and went on a particularly pretty, square stone that Mr T found. Periwinkle blankets were found and soft frilly pillows.

Then the larder was stocked with berries and figs.

And then the table set. A little yellow beetle came to see what we were doing.

Small, clean pebbles were collected for Stone Soup... K assures me Stone Soup is a firm favorite gnome meal.

A funny, spiky-looking pod was collected for the gnome family to hang their winter coats on and, Voila!, our gnome home was complete.

I do admit that it was very hard for us to leave behind all the treasures we had collected. K was VERY torn between keeping her 'special collection' for herself and leaving it all for the gnome. I'm happy to report that, in the end, her generosity won out and there will be one happy gnome family in the Arboretum tonight. We hope they had a lovely Valentine's Day... a pretty candlelit dinner at their mushroom table, listened to the mosquito symphony and then cuddled up warmly in their cozy little beds. Now that we are cuddled up warmly in our own snugly beds, we sure are happy that we left our 'special collection' for others to enjoy.

Blessings and magic.

Silent Saturday.

Daddy Love!

Friday's Nature Table.

Welcome back to Friday's Nature Table. This is a weekly forum for us to share the nature inspired things we have done... our nature ideas, crafts, activities, inspirations and photos. Nature's beauty is all around... her magic is everywhere!

I encourage everyone to participate... just add your link in the form below and your post will become the next on the list for all to enjoy. The more wonderful ideas we can share about how to love our beautiful earth, the happier we will be.

Enjoy! and thank you for sharing today...

Blessings and magic.

Discovering Waldorf - 'Traditional School :: Waldorf Home'.

When I rediscovered Waldorf education a few years ago, I scoured the internet for anything on Waldorf. Lucky for me, I found Dawn's wonderful blog, Renaissance Mama. At that time Dawn home schooled her children following a Waldorf curriculum. Renaissance Mama was all about how she did it. It was packed full of Waldorf ideas and philosophies and I instantly fell in love with her gentle, confident approach to educating her children. I devoured everything she wrote and learnt so much from her.

Recently, she and her family moved to a new place and, after careful deliberation, Dawn and her husband decided not to continue homeschooling but send their two children to the local public school instead.

I know that there are so many of us who love 'the Waldorf way' but, for many different reasons, cannot send our children to Waldorf schools. A recurring question I have been asked is how to integrate Waldorf philosophies into our lives even with our children in mainstream education. Is Waldorf an all or nothing endeavor? It is my opinion that it does not have to be... purist Waldorf, yes. But many of the Waldorf philosophies and ideas can be followed in the home. A Waldorf home environment can compliment traditional schooling to the benefit of your children.

Lucky us! Dawn, who comes from a strong Waldorf background, has agreed to share with us how she keeps her home Wadorf inspired, while her children attend public school.

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Traditional School :: Waldorf Home.

My children attend public school but our home life is influenced by the Waldorf philosophy. For me, this means that I make an intentional daily effort to address the needs of the whole child…the head, the heart, and the hands.

The head or the intellectual domain encompasses what one might call academics. My kids are now in a traditional mainstream public school that doesn't do things “the Waldorf way”. It might not be my first choice, but that’s fine. They’re still learning, and their primary influence is still coming from home. My husband and I hold the ultimate responsibility for our kid's education, but we’ve delegated that authority during the time they’re in school to their teachers. We’ll support their teachers in every way possible to help them do their best. This means for example, that I’m helping my kindergarten son learn to read each evening, even though this goes against traditional Waldorf pedagogy. Since much of their school day is spent in the head, I want to balance this with time at home focusing more on the needs of the heart and hands.

Obviously, learning doesn't stop as soon as school lets out. Questions are asked and curious minds want to know! Particularly when it comes to how the natural world works. I try to keep explanations developmentally appropriate and simple. A detailed scientific explanation of how the seasons work is not appropriate when a six year asks, for example, why it gets dark so early in the winter. That’s why books that explain the natural world in a whimsical, fun way, such as Mother Earth and Her Children, the Tales of Tiptoes Lightly, and many of Elsa Beskow’s books are read frequently in many Waldorf homes, mine included.

The heart is where I see the three R’s playing an important role. These are a different three R’s….relationships, rhythm, and reverence. One way that we try to nourish relationships in our home is to simply spend lots of time together. We guard our schedules carefully in order to make plenty of space for each other. The hours that I do have with my children at home are precious. That’s one reason we don’t have a television. The kids do watch DVD’s on the computer, but coming home from school and flipping through the channels out of boredom is not an option. Boredom can be a wonderful gift, prompting the most creative, focused, meaningful play. It also opens the door to bickering among siblings on occasion. These are the times that I’m most tempted to get a TV, but again, here’s an opportunity to work on relationships!
An established rhythm to our days is vital to the successful functioning of our household, it provides security and predictability. But this was wonderfully addressed in another Discovering Waldorf post so I’ll move along.
Reverence means honor or respect shown. I try to bring a sense of reverence into our home by setting apart certain times of the day with ritual. A candle lit at dinnertime, prayers said before bed, the same “I love you” hand gesture given each time before we part, “mandatory” snuggles on the couch every morning before breakfast; these are little ways to recognize and bring honor to each other and to our creator, and to address the needs of the heart. A book that has helped me in simplifying my home life in order to make room for these three R's, is called Simplicity Parenting. It's written from a Waldorf perspective, but it doesn't seem to assume that you are sending your kids to Waldorf school, something I found helpful.
The hands, or physical activity is where I would place activities such handwork/crafts, gardening, housework, cooking, and active play. All these activities have a place in a Waldorf home. Varied practical and artistic abilities are all important in producing well rounded individuals. With my kids in public school and gone for much of the day, I’m finding that I can’t leave time for these things to chance. I have to plan ahead, and take advantage of school vacation days, weekends, and evenings. It’s helpful to have art supplies set out and readily available at all times. Chores are important! Plenty of time for unstructured, free play is an invaluable gift.Valentines exchange at school...an opportunity to pull out the watercolors.


The needs of the head, the hands, and the heart can not really be separated as simply as I have done for the purpose of this post, they're all interconnected. I find that when things feel a little off, in our home life, it's often because these needs are not balanced. For varied reasons, many of us cannot provide our children with full time Waldorf education, but that does not mean that we cannot benefit from applying helpful aspects of the philosophy into our home lives. Keeping a focus on balancing the needs of the head, heart, and hands is a good place to start if you want bring a Waldorf influence into your daily life.

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Thank you for sharing your perspective on this very common struggle, Dawn, and showing us that traditional schooling can coexist with a Waldorf home. In your words, 'I make an intentional daily effort to address the needs of the whole child…the head, the heart, and the hands... Since much of their school day is spent in the head, I want to balance this with time at home focusing more on the needs of the heart and hands.' Simplified beautifully!

For more of Dawn's wonderful wisdom, visit her blog, Renaissance Mama... you will be returning again and again for a dose of her gentle confidence.

Thank you, Dawn... blessings and magic to you.