October Enrichment Guide is Here!

Four Full Weeks of Waldorf Crafting, Verses, Songs, Stories, Recipes, Caregiver Meditations, Adult Inner Work and Seasonal Celebrations.  Syrendell is a contributor each week! HUGE E-Book! (OVER 100 pages!)

Week One, October - Birds, Showing Kindness
~Learn and Share New Songs with the Children
~Read Books of Birds and Kindness
~Sew a Bird Mobile
~Participate in Seven Days of Increasing Kindness
~Make Birdseed Pinecones
~Learn a 'Sweet Song' on the Pennywhistle or Flute and Listen to the MP3 Version Sent Along with Your Ebook
~Craft a Beautiful 'Kindness Egg'
~Meditate on Cultivating Kindness in Your Life and the Lives of Others


Week Two, October - Woodworking, Honesty
~Sing Fun Songs as you Tap, Tap,Tap during Woodworking Week
~Read Books to the Children about Woodworking and Honesty
~Create Gorgeous Wooden Trees for Play or to Adorn Your Nature Table
~Read a Sweet Sparkle Story about a Wish Crystal - Included in Your Purchase is also a Link to the MP3 Version of this story by Master Storyteller, David Sewell McCann
~Carve Wooden Snails for the Children
~Spend Time this Week Listening Honestly to the Way You Communicate
Week Three, October - Cornhusks, Humility
~Make Beautiful Cornhusk Candle Holders
~Read Books of the Season and Theme this Week
~Sing Songs of Corn, Farmers and Autumn
~Cook Delicious Tamales for Your Family or School
~Create Flowers out of Cornhusks
~Use a Scroll Saw to Make Autumn Ladies and Indian Corn as Toys or for the Nature Table
~Spend Time Meditating on Being Humble in Life and Accepting Where Others are on Their Path


Week Four, October - Pumpkins, Illumination
~Sing about Witches, Pumpkins and More!
~Fill Your Basket with Books that Light Up the Week
~Bake Pumpkin Muffins with the Children
~Create Pumpkin Globe Lanterns to Illuminate Your Home or School
~Learn 'Orange Leaf' on the Pennywhistle or Flute and Listen to the MP3 Version Sent Along with Your Ebook
~Create a Beautiful Pumpkin Path to Bring in Halloween
~Meditate on Illumination and All of the Colors of Your Life

Birth Photos and Art

Pregnancy and birth are a journey to remember.  This pregnancy, we are taking a lot of pictures and forming a baby book from 5 weeks pregnancy, on. 

5 Weeks

18 Weeks

Part of the baby book will feature artwork.  What do we think of when we say, "pregnant", "baby", "birth"?  Each person in the family has a different outlook -- a personal interpretation of what this special time means for us.


39-40 Weeks

Each of us created a piece of artwork by drawing over the past couple of months.  Once the baby is born, we will do this again.  It is fascinating to see the differences in the styles, medium choices and content. 

We look forward to including these beautiful pieces of artwork in the baby's book after she is born!

Wilson's Birth Art - Colored Pencils

Joey's Birth Art - Colored Pencils

Ricky's Birth Art - Pencil

Jennifer's Birth Art - Block Crayons

Rick's Birth Art - Oil Pastels

Handwork eBooks

Need some ideas for handwork projects at home?  Our seasonal handwork eBooks are available through Little Acorn Learning.  Each one features a variety of handwork, verses and pictures.

Autumn

Winter

Spring

Summer

Making a Silk Tepee

Tepees are great fun for outdoor and indoor play!

As we've found out, they also can be an abode for curious pets....

If you are studying Native Americans this year, you can work on creating a more authentic tepee and and incorporate this into lessons.

Learning how to do knots and lashing to create a sturdy frame is wonderful, too!  Look at scouting manuals for help.

Maybe sleep in it overnight?

Play clips, yarn, twine and clothespins are helpful if you want to reuse the silks or fabric.

Rainbow Silks in our Etsy shop.

Wood play clips from this Etsy shop, and this one.

August Enrichment Guide is Here!

Wonderful August enrichment book from Little Acorn Learning (OVER 100 pages!).

Four Full Weeks of Waldorf Crafting, Verses, Songs, Stories, Recipes, Caregiver Meditations, Adult Inner Work and Seasonal Celebrations

Some of our articles are featured this month, including yoga poses for handwork, weaving, painting, and planting a healing garden. More information and to order online: http://littleacornlearning.com/augustenrichment.html



Week One, August - Wild Herbs & Flowers, Healing
~Sing Songs of Herbs and Flowers
~Make Homemade Herbal Soaps
~Create Scented Herb Wash
~Plant a Healing Garden with Your Children
~Enjoy Homemade Lavender Bubble Bath
~Make Herbal Acrostics
~Meditate on Healing Yourself Spiritual and Physically

Week Two, August - The Ladybug, Gentleness
~Read Stories of Gentleness and Ladybugs
~Learn Sweet Fingerplays and Songs
~Sew a Felt Ladybug Bracelet
~Paint Ladybug Pet Rocks
~Enjoy the Ladybug's Tea Poem
~Learn the Let's Find a Ladybug Song on Your Pennywhistle or Flute!
~Receive the MP3 Version of the Let's Find a Ladybug Song with Your Purchase
~Teach Your Child the Gentle Art Form of Wet on Wet Watercolor Painting
~Take Time for Your Spirit and Ponder Being Gentle with Yourself in this Life

Week Three, August - Starfish & Seahorses, Movement
~Share Movement Songs with the Children
~Read Stories of Starfish and Seahorses
~Sew a Seahorse Toy
~Create Beautiful Starfish out of Felt for Your Children
~Enjoy the Movement of Yoga
~Make a Sea Stars Banner to Decorate Your Home or School
~How do you find the balance necessary between Movement and Rest in your life?
Mediate on this and more in this week's Caregiver Meditation.


Week Four, August - The Unicorn, Imagination~Share Tales of Unicorns and Imagination
~Create a Unicorn Stuffed Toy
~Sing Songs and Move this Week!
~Make a Unicorn's Labyrinth
~Practice the Unicorn Song on Your Pennywhistle or Flute and Receive the MP3 Version with your August Enrichment Guide!
~Spend Time Weaving with Your Imagination with a Special Craft
~How can you create an environment which fosters Imagination in the children you care for?
What do you imagine for your life?

Syrendell on Squidoo!

Thanks to Lensmaster Sara Duggan of Mom with a Hook, we now have a beautiful Squidoo Lens!  Sara is truly amazing...she put this together for us so quickly and professionally.  We highly recommend her service for those who want to get their blogs, websites, Etsy shops or other web presence alive and connected online.  And, she's super-sweet and very creative!  Quite the fiber artist.  :)

Contact Sara through her blog or on Facebook.  You can also sign up for her e-newsletter. 

Here is our lens...come and take a peek, and please leave a comment in our guestbook!

New eCourse -- Waldorf and Anthroposophy!

 

An exciting new ecourse begins on August 15th through Little Acorn Learning! 'The Five Spheres of Waldorf Education' will be led by Dr. Rick Tan.

This ecourse encapsulates the sweeping themes of this educational movement: Self, Relationships, Balance, Rhythm, and Course. Dr. Rick Tan will discuss one sphere per week and the relevant topics in anthroposophy and Waldorf that are connected with the sphere. Join us! Click here to register.

Birthday Rings

We have always wanted a birthday ring that we could also use on our nature table for festival celebrations, including Advent.  One of our local Waldorf dads handcrafts these beautiful rings and sells them in his Etsy shop.  We asked for one unfinished so that we could paint it ourselves!

The wood is sycamore which is already so beautiful on its own.  We tested out how it would look on our kitchen table and in our nature table area.

Wilson and Mommy decided to paint rainbow colors using our Stockmar watercolors.  Then, we polished them with natural beeswax polish. 

Now, the birthday ring is ready!  It's so beautiful, we have it out in the kitchen right now.  When the new baby is born around October, we will use it to celebrate the birth with a candle.

Spring and Summer Swaps & Exchanges

We love participating in swaps and exchanges!  They are wonderful ways of meeting the nicest families, while giving and receiving beautiful handcrafted items for our home and nature table.  Much of what we give and receive is Waldorf-inspired.

Items that we created for the Gnomes, Hedgehogs, Mushroom Swap


This year, we have continued to enjoy being a part of Bits of Goodness swaps, including the "gnomes, mushrooms and hedgehogs" theme!  We send out 5 items to be swapped, and 1 item for the hostess.  Then, we receive 5 different items back.  Coming up is a "summer play" swap and we eagerly sent out our handcrafted streamer sticks.  Can't wait to see what we get back!

Items that we received in the Gnomes, Hedgehogs, Mushrooms Swap

We have also participated in the 4 Seasons Exchange which is a one-on-one exchange each season.  Here is Spring:

Items that we received in the Spring Exchange

Items that we gave in the Spring Exchange

And, here is Summer!

Items that we received in the Summer Exchange

Items that we gave in the Summer Exchange

Both groups have flickr.com groups where you can see pictures posted.  Bits of Goodness runs a yahoogroup where you can sign up for swaps and see more information.  4 Seasons Exchange is on Facebook.  What I love about the 1-1 exchanges is that we write a letter to the family, telling them what we made and why.  It is such a joy to see handcrafted items from different parts of the world come to us for our nature table.

Summer Ideas!

Looking for summer ideas for your family?  The Little Acorn Learning July Enrichment Guide is here!

Week One, July

The Mermaid, Independence
~Sing Songs of Mermaids!
~Take Time for Yourself with Our Caregiver Meditation
~Create a Beautiful Felted Mermaid
~Make a Mermaid Aquarium for Summer Play
~Read Poems to Your Children
~Make a Mermaid Costume with Wrist Ribbons!


Week Two, July
Stargazing, Reverence
~Spend Time this Week Considering What Reverence Means in Your Life
~Making a Felted Big Dipper
~Draw Down the Stars to Your Soul with Our Star Singing Activity
~Read Stories from a Summer Night Sky and Learn About Constellations
~Read Books All About the Stars and Sky


Week Three, July
The Great Outdoors, Solitude
~Celebrate The Great Outdoors with Your Children this Week!
~Read Books on the Woods, Forests, Trees, Meadows and Brooks
~Can You Find Peace in Being Alone?
Meditate on the Beauty of Solitude This Week.
~Take a Listening Walk with Your Children
~Create an Outdoor Nature Table
~Learn to Play 'The Great Smoky Mountains'
On Your Flute or Pennywhistle
~Enjoy the MP3 of the Song As Well
~Listen to the Gifts of Solitude
~Cook Up a Delicious Batch of Caldron Chicken for Your Next Outdoor Adventure

Week Four, July
The Ocean, Inner Balance
~Read Stories of Waves, Sand and Sea
~Sing to the Ocean
~Find Inner Balance in Your Life
~Learn 'The Mighty Ocean' Song on Your Pennywhistle or Flute
~Listen to the MP3 Version of the Song with Sweet Children's Voices
~Make a Labyrinth in Your Own Backyard!
~Create Beautiful Seashell Candles
~Make a Seashell Sun to Hang for Summer