Importance of toys

Rainbow Made: IMPORTANCE OF TOYS

Toys:
Children don’t require a lot of toys but the few they need have to be of good quality and well chosen. These toys need to be ‘open ended’ which means each toy presented has multiple uses. This lets the child use the toy as a tool in their imaginative play.
They need to be strong, made from natural materials and if any gets dirty or broken, remove from play and clean, fix or replace. Children need to see their toys being cared and looked after so they can model appropriate play behaviour. Providing cane or wooden baskets for storage helps the packing away process at the end of the day to be stress free and fun.
Many of these things can be obtained quite inexpensively, made at home or bought from online Steiner inspired websites. Opportunity shops are excellent for baskets, kitchen things, materials etc.

Suggestions:

* Cane basket filled with wooden building blocks of all shapes and sizes. – Particularly ones that lend themselves to road building and castle construction
* Wooden / knitted/ felt animals – firstly farm animal, particularly family groups i.e. cow – calf. Then expand to zoo animals,
* Families made from simple wire, wooden beads and wool felt.
* Dolls – made from natural materials and accessories i.e. hammocks, cradles, slings.
* Cloths and silks – pastel colours. These are used for dress up, with dolls and for room decoration.
* Wooden puzzles – tray, nature based concepts
* Wooden or metal cars and trucks
* Home Corner – wooden or made from boxes – stove, sink, wooden table, felt food or glass beads (for older children), wooden bowls, small cane baskets, utensils.
* Wooden Instruments – simple claves, xylophones, bells, triangles, ribbon sticks
* Books on a wooden bookshelf – there should be a well chosen selection of book with topics ranging from fairy tales, animal stories, nature stories all with gentle calming illustrations. A couple of cushions in front of the bookshelf helps the area look inviting and relaxing. The location of the book area should be away from the more active areas to preserve the calming atmosphere.

Art and Craft cupboard – stocked with beeswax crayons, good quality pencils, clean white paper, wool felt, wooden beads, paints, glue, pipe cleaners, wool fleece, ribbons, natural cottons, hessian, child size needles, cotton thread, coloured paper, cardboard, paint brushes, dolly pegs, paddle pop sticks, knitting pure wool, tissue paper. A large box, which can be used for a ‘useful’ box, is always handy; this is where the recycling cereal boxes, paper towel cylinders, can be stored.

As the child ages older you can add wooden train sets, dolls houses, dress ups made from cotton or silk, wood working, knitting needles.

OUTSIDE
* Sandpit – with a small selection of cooking utensils, buckets, spades.
* Waterplay – large round buckets with a small selection of plastic containers and spoons – use butter containers, old plastic containers – particularly if the lid still fits
* Gardening tools – good quality ones as flower, vegetable and fruit growing as it is very important to feel part of the earth for all people.
* A selection of balls, cane hula-hoops, skipping ropes, cubby (can be made from cardboard boxes) or old tent, kites, flags, carts, bikes,

Most importantly of all, the environment for play is calm, creative and fun!

Goodbye Playgroup

The time has come to say goodbye to our much love Steiner playgroup. Now that ds is 6yrs (on Sunday) and dd is 4yrs, it is time to move on. A friend who edited a National Homeschooling Magazine - Education Choices - asked me to write about our journey to steiner and homeschooling, this is what I wrote!

Journey to My Light Within.

Who am I, and how am I going to parent and educate these two children?
This is the question I asked myself three years ago, looking at our toddler and newborn. I needed direction; I needed to find the light that was going to guide me through this new stage of life.
A chance ad in a newspaper led me to a local hall and in that hall I found Steiner playgroup. From the morning circle that was filled with verses and songs that created beautiful images to the toys made from wool, wood and natural cottons to the parents who I connected with instantly. Ok, they were not on the homeschooling journey with me but they had a parenting style that was in tune with what was in me. No university degree in Early Childhood gave me what those parents gave me in that first morning of playgroup. They gave me my light!
After many hours of reading and researching I had direction. That direction included respectful parenting that protected our children’s spirits, providing a calm environment that connected with nature and with ample opportunity to use and develop their imagination. It was sometimes a bumpy ride to get my husband and family to understand where I was heading with my philosophy but I thought leading by example was the best way to explain.
With a routine that is filled with creative play, nature walks, vegetable growing, handicrafts and many hours of story telling. Three years later we have two children that have a wide variety of interests, are sensitive to others and animals, love making anything from paper, sticky tape and ribbon and are always happy to be at home playing. I am really happy with where we are in our journey and I wouldn’t change a thing. We certainly have our fair share of challenges but with an understanding and a determination to find calm solutions to problems, we usually overcome them. We take one day at a time and love it!
Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925) was an Austrian scientist – philosopher (Simmons, D 2004 pp 3) who founded the first Waldorf School in Germany. For me, and as our children are still young at 5yrs and 3yrs, I see the Steiner philosophies as a parenting guide. My aim at the moment is to provide them with an environment that will protect their childhood and give them the opportunity to slowly awaken to the world around them.
In Donna Simmons book “Kindergarten With Your Three to Six Year Old”; the author defines the first seven years of a child’s life as the “Dreamtime”.
‘These are the years of uninterrupted creative play; of imitation and imagination; of active whole body exploration; and of being surrounded by the right example of loving adults who carefully frame and form the child’s experiences, building upon the young child’s natural oneness and openness to the world’.
Then at seven years, children are ready for a more structured based learning which is presented in a creative format and then balanced with artistic activities. Educating the whole child ‘the head, heart and hands’ (Barnes 1995, pp 12) is providing a sound start to life.
There are many curriculum guides available in Australia and Overseas; the Internet has really opened up number of resources available. I really haven’t any plans for when our son reaches 7 years or when he shows an interest in more structured learning. Maybe writing our own curriculum could be fun – one that is based on nature and also our interest at the time. Anyway, that is a whole other subject. We might throw it all to the wind, grab our backpacks and explore this beautiful country of ours, what a great way for the children to really connect with the world around them. It is all part of life’s journey so let’s wait and see!

Reference List

Barnes, H. ‘Learning that Grows With the Learner’ Edited by Fenner, P.J & Rivers, K.L 1995. Waldorf Education. A Family Guide. Michaelmas Press. USA.

Simmons, D. 2004. Kindergarten With Your Three to Six Year Old. Christopherus Homeschool Resources. USA.

Verses in our day!

For Steiner playgroup

Morning Verse
The golden sun is shining
Up in the sky so blue
Good morning happy morning
To you and you and you.

Goodbye verse
The golden sun is shining
Up in the sky so blue
Farewell, my friends, farewell
To you and you and you.

Blessing
Blessings on the blossom,
Blessings on the root,
Blessings on the leaves and stems
And blessings on this fruit.
Blessings on our playgroup and a happy happy day.


Cleaning up
I have my golden hands, helping today.
I have my golden hands putting things away

Hand washing
Flip and dip your hands like fish
Fly and dry them gently so
Flip and dip your hands like fish
Fly and dry them gently so

Gathering for Circle Time
Puffer train oh puffer train
Carry me through the sun and rain
Down and up the hills we climb
Taking me to circle time

Breadbaking
Miller, miller, grind our grain,
Grow from sun and earth and rain,
With this grain we bake our bread
With this grain our friends we feed

Healing
Healing water cool and mild
Take the pain
From this little child

Lavender
Lavender, Lavender from the soil
Lavender, Lavender give us your oil
Lavender, Lavender tell me true
How does the perfume get into you

These verses have been collected over time and I apologise for no references. I will add if I find them

Steiner Playgroup

The children and I have been attending a Steiner playgroup for three years now and it has given me the direction I have been looking for in my parenting and educating the children. Over the last year, I have stepped in and taken on a more programming role at this playgroup which i have loved. It has got me back in touch with my preschool programming days - but so much more fun.
Steiner Playgroup Ideas

· home based routine
· baking when first arrive
· morning verse and favourite songs
· free play with drawing and crayons
· finger and felt story
· fruit then baking

While children are in free play, parents sit down with craft basket and weave, doll making, knitting, sewing

Routine flows and parents watch for any behaviour guidance that maybe needed ie if being rough – warming hands up muslin wraps, wax or clay play, walk in the garden to find happy self.
I have lots of programs I can share during the course of the year. As we live in the southern hemisphere, it is based on Australian seasons and festivals