Making an Autumn Wreath - Transformation

Taking children on a nature hunt as the seasons change is a wonderful way to honor the plants and the new season.  During Autumn, we enjoy collecting acorn caps, oak balls, dried flowers and rose hips, while marveling at the changing colors of leaves and wild grasses in the preserved pond area near our home.  The landscape has truly transformed!

Once we collected a variety of dried flowers, we decided to create a beautiful wreath for our front door, welcoming autumn into our home.  A bit of Feng Shui included -- wreaths are a way to bring positive energy to your family life.

Supplies:

1.  Two gauges of wire
2.  Wire cutters
3.  Variety of dried flowers, herbs, rose hips
4.  Optional: ribbons and other embellishments (we chose to keep this wreather all natural with no ribbons)

We started off making a circle out of a thicker wire, and then cut pieces of thinner wire for wrapping.

 















Long pieces of sage were placed around the circle and tied on with bits of wire. 

Then, we added dried flowers, berries and rose hips. 

Eventually, there was enough wire wrapped so that all we had to do was stick the plants into the wreath and they would stay. 

We'll add and change out some of the plant material as ithe wreath dries over time, and as we continue on our nature hunt adventures!  

It was exciting to see the rose bushes so transformed from flowers to hips...we wonder what we will find on our next trip! 

Nature Tables

We love creating nature tables.  It can be as simple as gathering seasonal objects from nature and displaying on a mantel, or making artistic projects to feature in a nook or on a shelf.

The nature table is not stagnant, but rather alive and constantly changing!  As the seasons progress, so does the nature table.

Children can be involved in so many ways.  Even the process of taking down one season's setting, cleaning, gathering items, and talking about how to set up the next season can be a lesson all on its own.  Reverence for changes in nature make us feel connected to the Earth, and also help us to understand the changes that we feel within ourselves.

Sometimes, the weather drastically changes earlier or later than we estimate, so rather than sticking strictly to the solstices and equinoxes, we change the nature table when we "feel" that it is time.  Then, little creatures appear for holidays, such as bunnies and chicks for Easter. 

The nature table can get cluttered!  Taking away is as important as adding to the setting.  Keeping special objects in a moth-proof/critter-proof container is helpful for storage. 

Each year, we like to create at least one new object for the nature table per season.  Singing, sharing stories, and saying verses while changing the nature tables is a happy family ritual.  For inspiration on nature tables, look at pictures on Flickr, take a peek inside of Pre-K-5th grade Waldorf classrooms, read books about the seasons, or search for pictures on blogs.

Enjoying Math!

We've been enjoying math lately!  Come and take a peek....

Time Charts (seasons, months, weather, solstice/equinox -- thank you to the amazing Our Little Nature Nest blog for inspiration!)

Mathematicians (theories, biography writing)

Artistic Geometry

Tesselations

Clock

Syrendell Sprites

With the gloomy weather hanging over head the past few days, we welcomed the visit by our magical friends, the syrendell sprites. This morning, with bouquets of flowers, twigs, and leaves in hand, they brought cheerfulness and joy. From them, we can appreciate the beauty of nature, found in the tiniest details of the flowers they lovingly hold. Cloaked in wonderfully vibrant hues, syrendell sprites signal the coming of the seasons. Only with a serene and open spirit will you hear them; they speak in whispered tones, they hum tunes learned from woodland creatures. Syrendell sprites, like the fairydell and hoblins, are children of Nature, finding sanctuary in the magical places of Syrendell.