The Chi of Streamer Wands

We had the pleasure of creating these wonderful streamer wands for a wedding. We can just imagine the joy of those attending the ceremony as they wave their streamers to bless the newlyweds! In feng shui, colorful ribbons and flags may be placed near a home and as they move to gentle breezes, it is said that they capture and stir the nurturing chi energy. For a wedding, the fluttering streamers would certainly call the energies of love, sensuality, and happiness. As for a child, well, there's just something infinitely cool and captivating when a simple circular motion of the arm creates a lively, shimmery, ribbony trail.

We made the sticks of poplar, cut to seven inch lengths. An earlier prototype of our streamer wand had a metal eyelet screwed to the top of the stick for the ribbons, but in our new design, we carved a subtle dual concavity and drilled a hole for the ribbons to loop through - a safer, more elegant design!

The ribbons are of silk strips that had been naturally hand-dyed - oh so pretty!





Streamer wands - from weddings to playtime to enhancing chi, ribbons on a stick go a long way!

Felting a Wool Ball

Felting a wool ball is easy, enjoyable, and an amazing tactile experience! This week, Wilson felted a ball along with Mommy. Here is how to do it:

1. Choose 3 colors of wool fiber.

2. Card the fibers with hand carders. Keep a wispy piece set aside.

3. Roll the fibers in a ball with hands.

4. Get fibers wet and soapy, then agitate on a washboard or other bumpy surface, turning the fiber ball constantly.

5. Rinse and allow to air dry (might take a day or more).

6. Take the wispy piece of fibers that you had set aside, cover the ball, and needlefelt it onto the surface to make a smooth, continuous feel and look.

7. Roll the ball in your hands until smooth!

You can also put weights or beans or marbles in the center of the balls for weight. Another great option is to needlefelt designs onto the ball with other colors. Wool works best. Wool and needlefelting equipment may be purchased online at http://www.mielkesfarm.com/

Today, we threw Wilson's felted ball around during circle time while saying the colors of the rainbow in English and Spanish. What fun!

Watercolor Mother's Day Cards

Here's an easy way to make beautiful Mother's Day cards for Mom, Grandma and Great-Grandma out of old, watercolor art work:

1. Locate your children's old watercolor paintings or practice sheets. Or, create a new water color painting on an 11 x 17 piece of watercolor paper. Make it simple, like 2-3 bands of color.

2. Fold the art work in half, then half again.


3. Glue or glue stick to keep the insides together.

4. Trim, if needed.

5. With a pen, have the kids write a poem, draw a simple picture and sign their names!

Geometry Hunt!

Here is an easy and fun way to gently introduce geometry to little ones.

1. Find bowls or containers in the shapes that you want to teach. We used wood bowls from thrift stores in the shapes of circle, oval, square and triangle.

2. Send the kids on a "geometry hunt" or "shape hunt" throughout the house and/or yard. They will place items in that shape inside the bowls. The bowls limit the size, but not the imagination!

3. Place the bowls in a prominent place and allow items to be added throughout the week.

4. At the end of the week, gather the bowls together, share what was found, and talk about the shapes (how many sides, how do they move, what do they make...). Older children will be able to talk about sphere vs. half-dome vs. circle, whereas little ones will be excited by anything that is circular! Notice which shapes are more prevalent in the house, in nature, etc.

Don't be surprised if the hunt continues beyond the week! Lately, we are especially excited to find anything triangular....

May Day at Sacramento Waldorf School

Today we attended the May Day festival at the Sacramento Waldorf School in Fair Oaks, CA. The rain stopped just long enough for the students to perform! What a beautiful May pole...

May Day!

Today we learned about May Day. We read about how it has been celebrated throughout Europe in the book All Year Round. We made a miniature May pole, sang May Day songs, and talked about our upcoming trip this Sunday to the Sacramento Waldorf School May Day celebration!

Making a Miniature May Pole
Daddy made a small stick with a hole and finished it with beeswax. Mommy dyed some silk ribbons with natural ingredients to make 6 colors (pink, raspberry, blue, green, peach, lavender). Ricky found some Do-kee-doo and formed a stand for the stick. Joey and Wilson put the ribbons through the stick, layed a play silk around the base, and placed a fresh flower at the top.

May Day Songs/Verses
It's May Time
It's May-time! It's May-time!
That's the happy play-time!
We'll dance around the blooming trees,
So fragrant and so fair.
The sweet white petals falling,
The glad bird-voices calling;
It's May-time and a happy time
For children everywhere.

May Day
We're quaint little milk-maids, dancing in the hay,
Each dainty and sweet as a Queen o' the May;
With vine and with bough we now show you how
In honor of May Day we garland our cow.
A rosette of ribbons, as pink as the morn,
We've tied to the tip of each crooked white horn,
With courtesy and bow we now show you how
In honor of May Day we dance round our cow.

Waldorf in the Home Conference

Mommy attended the Educating our Children -- Changing the Future conference, put on by Rahima Baldwin Dancy at www.waldorfinthehome.com. The conference was at the Sacramento Waldorf School in Fair Oaks, CA this past weekend. Wilson came along on Sunday and had a wonderful time with other K children, playing on the beautiful K playground.

Some highlights:

Shea Darian is an amazing keynote speaker! She also did a wonderful presentation on the importance of rhythm and ritual at home. Her books are such a wonderful resource for homeschooling families: Living Passages for the Whole Family, Sanctuaries of Childhood, and Seven Times the Sun.

Deanna L'am spoke of the importance of honoring children's rites of passage as they grow older, especially girls. Fascinating subject! We got a signed copy of her wonderful book, Becoming Peers: Mentoring Girls into Womanhood.

Ellen Springwind presented on watercoloring. What a lovely and useful presentation!



Melisa Nielssen from www.alittlegardenflower.com did a wonderful presentation on 1st grade at home. We bought her 1st grade book and a CD full of songs that we will start incorporating in our circle times this next year. (If you purchase from her, please tell her that Syrendell sent you!)

We bought a lovely, biodynamic lavender essential oil from Napa Valley Apothecary. We used this for inhalation before going to bed and topically to heal a scrape. Wilson and Mommy added a few drops in our homemade lemonade today since we enjoyed the lavender lemonade at the conference so much!

Jan Schubert had her handmade, beeswax candles for sale, as well as her beautiful book, The Sun Seed. We couldn't resist getting candles and her book!

Marin Lipowitz presented on how to teach math to grades 1-4 using manipulatives from her upcoming math kits. A former Waldorf teacher, she showed how the kits incorporated Waldorf philosophy, CA state standards, and national standards. She gave us a few pieces of the kits to take home. Wilson enjoyed making numbers out of pipe cleaners today.

Many other wonderful vendors were on hand, including the Steiner College bookstore.

We enjoyed eating fresh, organic, biodynamic food and drinks for lunch and breaks, while enjoying the beauty of the campus. Singing each morning was the best way to start each of the two days of the conference. Overall, the conference was informative, enjoyable and inspirational!

Knights in the Kingdom of Caid

Digging through some of our activity archives, we found these pics taken in 2006 from a Renaissance Fair event sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronism. We were invited by Bjo Trimble, the owner of Griffin Dyeworks & Fiber Arts, who is also a member of SCA. We displayed some of our spinning products, and had fun dressing up in medieval garments.




Sir Ricky and Sir Wilson were dressed as knights and Lady Joey, a princess of the Royal Court. Ricky's and Wilson's costumes were easy to create, using very basic materials and a simple design that allowed for speedy assembly.





The event was held in southern CA, where SCA's Kingdom of Caid presided. The men donned armor, and with padded swords, lances, and maces, they fought bravely in mock battles. Not to be left out, the young knights also were given the opportunity to try their skills in combat, wearing helmets, and knee pads, and using foam weapons and shields. Should we encounter any orcs from Middle-Earth, we're covered! Huzzah!

Danish Gnomes in our Home!

Today, we are posting about our gnome swap through Ravelry! Ravelry is a wonderful place for fiber artists to come together, learn, inspire, share and connect. There is a gnome group who hosts regular swaps. We were fortunate to be paired up with lovely Jette from Denmark for our gnome swap!

Well, take a look at the beautiful, knitted gnome family she sent to us. Carrots, too! The kids have had fun playing with them, including them in our circle time, and moving them around on the nature table. We have been studying the different types of roots this past month, so the carrots were appropriate!

While learning about hyperbole this week, we wrote a hyperbole poem about our Danish gnomes.

Joey lead us in a form drawing during circle time that looked like a carrot! She loves to lead form drawings.

Jette also sent us Danish chocolate, beautiful handmade ornaments, gnome stickers, magnets, a Hans Christian Anderssen book, and some beautiful Danish yarn. Wilson is crocheting bookmarkers for Daddy's and Lola's birthdays from the yarn.

We love our gnomes and everything that came from Jette in Denmark!