~ There is a nip in the air and mornings are getting quite chilly, even here in Virginia. As a teacher who is rooted in the Waldorf traditions, I look to celebrate the changing of the seasons. In the Waldorf pedagogy, nature is embraced and children are surrounded with the beauty of natural objects – from the wooden toys and plant dyed silks for open-ended imaginative play in the Waldorf kindergartens to the nature table in the classrooms where the treasures from nature are brought inside after outside play to display and admire.
The nature table is a lovely tradition to have in the classroom or home for the delight of young children. Every walk outside will be filled with treasures – at the beach in the summer, colorful leaves in the autumn, and stones or crystals in the winter. A lovely addition to the nature table is a figure made of felted wool fleece. This could be a small woodland creature, animals found at the beach, or even an autumn fairy.
There are many beautifully illustrated books for young children that celebrate the changing seasons. When my daughters were very young, we read many books written and illustrated by Elsa Beskow. And it is truly special to add a needle-felted character from a favorite children’s book, like King Winter or Mrs. Spring from the Elsa Beskow books.
In the Seasonal Craft classes, we will be making projects that include figures for your Nature tables at home – Autumn fairies, Mother Earth, King Winter, Root children, Lady Spring, Flower fairies – all characters from these special children’s books.