Tuesday, September 25, 2007

A Season's Table and 3 Books for You

I've been wanting to do a "season's table" with the children for awhile now, and finally the time was right this weekend. The basic concept is to have an area set aside for a seasonal display of little nature items the children collect from outdoors. It's supposed to be fluid and more or less child led. Items get cleared out, or eaten (in the case of seasonal fruits and vegetables) periodically and replaced with new things.
When we went on our Saturday hike we found acorns and some scrubby brush and later added fall leaves from the yard and seeds from our sunflower harvest. Dieter likes it and I hope he enjoys adding to it as the season goes on.


And now for the three book recommendations. These are all books I had and loved when Jacob and Faith were little. The fact that I have held onto them should tell you how much I love them--(I'm normally a chronic tosser/giver away of things). All three books are kind of Waldorf-y in their aesthetic and philosophy, which means they emphasize nature, festivals large and small, rhythms of the day and year, domestic life, and natural living. The Children's Year has lots of craft projects divided into seasons. I made Faith a sleep sack from that book years before sleep sacks were standard baby gear. I also made her a very cute rucksack she still has. All Year Round is more crafts but with recipes and poems thrown in and more emphasis on holidays. Both books have lots of gnomes and fairies and the magical quality they lend. Earthways is a book meant more for preschools but also to be used in the home. Its craft projects are for the children to make (with adult help), also with an emphasis on the seasons and natural living. I love these books and often turn to them for inspiration and the mood as much as for the actual craft projects, although I'm wanting to do more as Dieter gets older (if only there were more time!). Definitely check these out if you love the seasons and handmade
objects.

3 comments:

Gift of Green said...

Nice, nice, and double nice! I doing a season's shelf AND I'm buying a couple of those book! You should work for Amazon, missy!

mom go green said...

a beautiful post. the season table caught my eye but the books made me wonder if you're a waldorf family. we are, but i'm a slacker and don't have a nature table (we have nature piles all over the house, not so lovely). i also am always looking for ways to do more crafts with the kids at home. these books look great! i'll check them out. thanks.

Grace said...

Those three books are never far from my side, either! I love them, along with Mrs Sharp's Traditions and Mitten Strings for God. Everything else is just gravy. ;)