Being an Artful Parent

I would not say I am particularly good at art. I did not like art class very much at school, I really can't draw, and I surely cannot paint. But I do believe in having fun while doing art projects, and I definitely can do that.

Coming up with those fun ideas is not always easy for me, so when HG was little I turned to the internet. A wonderful blog called The Artful Parent was fairly new at that point and offered many terrific, easy ideas for things to do with kids. It also introduced me to some books on doing art with kids, to the concept of "process art," and to the idea of having an art play group. A couple of friends and I made a date to get together every month or so with our three toddlers, and each time I'd come up with a simple activity for the girls to do while we grown-ups chatted. It was totally brilliant.

Now the Artful Parent blogger, Jean, has published a book that shares all of her wonderful ideas. I took it out from the library one day and barely opened it during my three week stint because I got busy. When I tried to renew it I found there was a hold on it, so I did what I never do these days as I am trying to reduce the number of books in my life: I went and bought it.

I wanted to share one idea from the book, and then you can go look for it in your library to get the rest. This great idea hinges on art--or creativity--being something you can do for short periods. It does not have to be complicated, and it does not have to be messy, and you can squeeze it into your (or your kids') day, every day. Jean suggests, among other ideas on this theme, that you set up a little creativity space (kitchen table, designated art space, front porch...) for your kids to find after school or when they wake up on Saturday morning or whatever. Just put out a pad of paper and a few crayons one day, or some yarn and sticks on another day, or a couple of boxes from the recycling bin and a glue gun, or a bunch of different dried beans and rice and stuff in little cups and some elmers and cardboard, or toothpicks and marshmallows, or some felt pieces and needle and thread. See how none of that is very complicated? And guess how long it takes to set each of those things up? I especially love the idea of just leaving the tools and the space for the children to find. They can dream up whatever they want to with the tools you've provided, and they are not overwhelmed by so many choices that they can't move.

Here are a selection of tools and inspiration in green that I set up a few days ago.

This is the kind of creativity that Waldorf schools (and other schools too) try to encourage. By reducing the volume of "stuff," and increasing the possible outcomes through providing open-ended experiences, little ones (and big ones!) can create in freedom. In my view, when you give kids more rigid parameters, such as showing them an end product you hope they'll emulate, or setting down some sort of already finished product for them to simply embellish (I'm thinking particularly of all those little wooden objects and figures people get at craft stores for kids to take home and paint), their creativity isn't really involved. This is not to say that doing those kinds of activities is wrong--I've done them, and my kids have done them, and we've all had a smashing good time--but when you only do coloring books and craft kits you are limiting their imagination.

The other day HG came down to dinner having made a dinner bell with a stick she found outside, some string, and a few little Christmastime crafting bells we had in some box in the art cabinet. Now that's what I'm talking about! My hat goes off to Jean and her blog (and her book, The Artful Parent), for introducing me to art and creativity as process activities, and to how simple it all can be.

Our new dinner bell.

Our Newest Family Member!

Did I surprise you with that one? Introducing Baby, HG's new doll (yes, that is the name HG has given her). I have been thinking for years of getting her a soft, Waldorf-style doll and have held off for a number of reasons. First, she has quite a few hand-me-down dolls from her sister. Second, a handmade Waldorf doll is expensive. Third, I wasn't really even sure she was all that interested in dolls. Turns out to have been a very, very good purchase, and well-timed, too.

Waldorf dolls are entirely soft--there are no plastic or wooden parts. They are most often made of a cotton knit fabric for the skin and stuffed with wool. The softness gives them great huggability and also allows the heat of the child to transfer to them, giving them a warmth you can't find in a doll made of synthetic materials. Their features are ultra-simple so that the child can use his or her imagination and give whatever feelings she or he wants to the doll. The man who started Waldorf education, Rudolf Steiner, thought dolls should be even simpler. He suggested that you could form one out of a napkin and make dots with ink for eyes. But there are some ideas of Steiner's that I think we can just leave with him. Actually, that idea reminds me of my friend, a mom of one of HG's classmates, who suggested that for HG's birthday I give her doll an invisible friend. Just wrap up a box and put nothing in it. This is a lot funnier than the man who seriously suggested giving a wrinkled up napkin as a doll. But still, I'm not going to do it!

Anyway, I purchased HG's doll from WildMarigold, on Etsy. HG decided on the hair, skin, and eye color. Jennie, the owner, was most accommodating when HG changed her mind at the last minute about the eye color. As a sewer, I can tell you that the construction of HG's doll is both beautiful and durable. I was not about to tackle the challenge of making a doll myself (and you can, with kits or entirely on your own), and I'm very glad Jennie made her for us. She is much faster and much better at it than I would be!

HG has been carrying Baby around everywhere. She arrived just before HG succumbed to a terrible bout of flu and missed several days of school with a fever that went as high as 104. She calls her the best doll in the world. But until today Baby hasn't had any clothes. While Jenny at WildMarigold makes clothes too, I thought I could figure that part out myself. For this first dress I adapted a pattern from ScientificSeamstress. I just used the construction method from a girls' dress pattern I bought from her (her name is Carla) and drew out a pattern free-hand that was much smaller. It took a few drawings before I had something that would fit Baby, but still the whole process of drafting the pattern, cutting the fabric, and sewing it up only took two hours or so. I've made several of those dresses for HG, and I have maybe four other patterns from Carla. If you ever want to learn to sew, I highly recommend her patterns. They are FULL of beginner-friendly advice and  tips, and they are extremely easy to follow.  As you can see from the pictures this dress is reversible with a button closure at the shoulder. I used three different fabrics for it from a line called Mimi by Moda, which I purchased at an actual fabric store back in January.

Isn't she beautiful?

Waldorf Paper Lanterns

My family had some very sad news last week, which was that my uncle passed away unexpectedly. I spent a couple of days trying to figure out what I could make for his little grandchildren, who range in age from 4 to 10, that would give them an opportunity to remember their grandfather and would also be beautiful. I did a bunch of searches for things like "bereavement gifts for children," which didn't turn up anything I was interested in. Finally I started thinking about Waldorf-oriented things (why this took me so long I don't know, since a core of Waldorf is children + beautiful), and I discovered paper lanterns made from wet-on-wet watercolor paintings. I read that these are usually used for decoration at the winter holiday season, but I think they will work perfectly for this purpose as well.

We have quite a stash of watercolor paintings from school last year, and it turns out making them isn't too difficult, once you get the hang of it. I used directions from here and here. Our paper seems to be much thicker than the paper these writers used, but it still works. Ours is also monochrome because children in the kindergarten only paint with one color at a time.

If you're interested in making them, I have a couple of recommendations.

1. Be sure you are exact as you can be with your cutting and folding. The bigger they are the easier it is to fold.
2. Don't plan on your first one being perfect. You might even try it on regular paper first so you can get the hang of it. 
3. This may be really obvious, but remember they are made of paper, oiled paper at that. I wouldn't leave them unattended or let children do the lighting. 

I boxed them up today and will mail them tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing my extended family next week at the services but I do wish it were for another reason.

"I am DONE with King Winter!"

HG's snowmen, sporting handmade hats and scarves.

So said HG this morning when we noticed the first snow flurries of our latest storm. While some of you are starting to enjoy little pieces of spring sunshine, and others across the world might be enjoying autumn, we here in New England are having just more and more winter. At our house there's been quite a lot of snow shoveling and days off from school, and plenty of hot chocolate and weekend afternoons inside by the fire, plus a few good sledding days. These activities always seem cozy and fun at the beginning of winter. Here's some sledding we did a couple of weeks ago.

At this stage many of us are pretty weary,  including even children! So here's a few ways to brighten your outlook and bring some color to the season.

During a rare day with bare ground HG gathered some sticks from the yard and brought them inside. She had the idea to cut out some stars and moons and also to tie little pieces of colored ribbon to her branches and put the decoration in a vase. We used her painting paper from school to make the stars. You can read more about Waldorf kindergarten wet-on-wet painting here.

The colored jars are lanterns, also made at school. They have a little tea light inside them and wire handles.

I made a snowflake garland out of glittery white eco-felt and blue card stock and just hung it with thread. No, I didn't design the snowflakes myself as I can't draw. At all. I traced them, which, if you're wondering, still counts as being creative in my book.

Lastly, HG brought home a simple Waldorf window star she made at school.

These are really beautiful decorations made from thick tissue paper called kite paper, which can be purchased easily online. There are lot of tutorials out there too and some books as well. If you're not really interested in making the stars yourself, there are some lovely, complicated ones from people on the Waldorf on Etsy team. Here are two of them.

A star from harvestmoonbyhand

One from La Lutine.

So if King Winter is still hanging around your part of the world, try out some of these simple activities to add some color!

A Visit to Earth Care Farm

Last Friday HG and I visited Earth Care Farm, which is run by the grandparents of one of her Waldorf classmates.

The farm opened their fences for families to take a short tour and see some of their animals. At the end of the tour Farmer Jayne (the mom of HG's classmate) read a story to the kids and passed out cookies and apples. It was a chilly morning but terrific fun. Several of HG's classmates were in attendance, and I enjoy connecting with their parents.

I'm writing about the visit because it is the kind of thing we Waldorf families go nuts for. It was outside, it was smelly, it was muddy, and it was hands-on. Who goes to visit a farm when there's a foot of snow on the ground, it's kinda raining, and it's 37 degrees outside? We do!

HG taking a turn at turning the newest compost.

Earth Care Farm is most known for their compost production. They take all of the manure from the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence! They have gigantic piles of compost almost as big as a house and an employee known as the "compost manager." I think he spends his entire day driving the front loader around and turning the piles.

The seagulls are after the bits of clam meat and other ocean goodies the farm receives for its compost.

All that foggy stuff is steam. I learned today that the inside of a compost pile reaches about 160 degrees. That's the heat produced by the microorganisms eating and and being eaten inside the pile. It takes about a year for the zoo animal manure and everything else to break down into garden-ready compost. The benefits of using compost in your garden rather than artificial fertilizers are significant. AM did a science experiment a couple of years ago where she grew plants in different media. The plants in organic compost won.

I liked the compost piles the best, but we also saw a week-old angus calf, some piglets, and even a tiny little garlic shoot coming up.

The cow shelter (the calf is hiding inside).

I didn't realize until the end of the visit that we were under surveillance.

The spotted piglets are actually called "Cheetah Pigs."

Farmer Jayne's glove is pointing to the tiny little garlic shoot.

At the end, we enjoyed the cookies and the story. Thanks to all the farmers for getting us outside and giving us such a great time.

Please share any ideas you may have for getting out in the cold and wet!  I know we'd all appreciate more thoughts, as one can play chutes and ladders for only so long!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It is Valentine's Day and I wanted to share with you the lovely handmade cards HG received from the children in her class. They celebrated on Wednesday because not all the children come to school on Fridays. Her class is mixed age and many younger children come only three days, which is M-W at her school. 

In HG's Waldorf classroom there is a special emphasis on handing out the cards. Each child has an opportunity to play postal carrier, and the other children sit facing the outside of the circle, according to HG. I'm not completely clear on how or why the distribution works like that--it's not always easy to get the full story from a five-year-old, but like everything else in Miss Nancy and Miss Jane's classroom, I trust them to have a reason supported by years of experience and love and knowledge of young children. In any case, HG was very excited about the day, and when I asked her whether she preferred giving or receiving her valentines, she wholeheartedly said "giving!"

Here are some of the lovely cards HG received from her classmates.  

Those two mulitcolored 3D hearts are made from melted crayons. This child must have had a lot of fun making his valentines! 

I admire the dedication it takes the children to do these--imagine the effort this nearly-six child expended writing the same thing on 12 cards. Keep in mind that at Waldorf schools children are not introduced to letters at this age, so while some children have some familiarity, they are not used to spending time writing every day!  

This child baked little clay hearts. 

Here is a younger child's exploration with letters (back), and a gorgeous softly watercolored heart (front). 

More cuteness with lettering and cutting.

The children also spent time in school the last couple of weeks making valentines for their families. According to HG, Miss Nancy's husband carved these beautiful hearts from a fallen tree in their yard. Someone at school folded the boxes from paper, and the children sanded and then oiled (waxed? I'm not sure what they put on the wood) their hearts. Each heart came placed in the box on a bed of natural wool roving. 

The teachers' valentine was homemade strawberry jam, quite possibly made from the strawberries that grow in the children's play yard. HG enjoyed an awful lot of hers on her toast this morning! 

We enrolled HG in Waldorf because of how often the children go outside, the dedication to educating the whole child, and how beautiful the spaces are, among other things. While the emphasis on community and on teaching life lessons like the joys of giving wasn't entirely unexpected, I am always amazed at the depth of care the teachers and children show. 

Happy Valentine's Day!