Kids minds can be like fire. You add a little spark of inspiration and they flames of creativity can reach quite high just from that little spark. It always amazes me. I will often plan an entire lesson only to have it take a completely different direction when the creative drive kicks in!
Yesterday was one of those days. My plan was to do some knitting, tell some stories and start the kids on some projects they can work on through the winter. As the days grow colder we will be outdoors less and less so the kids will need some more "hand" work to balance their day (I always balance with head, heart and hands). That is so easy to get when they explore outside, but it becomes more challenging in the cold winter months. Some of the kids in the enrichment class know how to knit, some have learned but have not knitted for a while and some do not know. My goal was to make sure everyone got started on something.
What happened was even more magical! Everyone got started pretty quickly and they were all overjoyed to be knitting or knitting again. For some reason knitting seems to appeal to boys and girls, all ages (above 6 or 7) and all temperaments. And as knitting always encourages casual conversation (hint for parents with teens/tweens - it's a great way to get them talking) one subject led to another and another and we soon decided that the dolls needed to knit too.
Then someone had the idea to make little balls of yarn and then I remembered I had some tiny baskets I got on sale for about ten cents last year somewhere...
Soon we had an adorable little knitting basket for all the dolls. Then Sunii decided to see if the needles really worked and discovered that not only did they work but that they were very manageable and much easier to use than the large ones. So a few of the kids decided that "the dolls" were going to knit themselves some tiny toy unicorns...
So far they have finished most of the unicorn body and have been working hard at their little knitting projects whenever they have a spare moment today. So it looks like everyone got started on their knitting alright! I just didn't expect that they would be knitting on miniature doll needles for two days! I think they even knit MORE because "the dolls were knitting".
This BLOG post is a weekly sample post. For daily visual inspiration on projects/crafts/stories and lessons sign up for the "member's BLOG" and "member's channel" at The Waldorf Channel. You can sign up at www.herbnhome.com - both of these resources provide photos and video of many many Waldorf-inspired crafts and lessons each month. You can save money by making your own Waldorf supplies, have an ever-growing resource to go to whenever you need inspiration for the day or week, and even ask questions on the consulting list about any homeschooling or health issue you have questions about. Posts from previous weeks are all indexed and easily searchable on one page. Member videos are also indexed by topic on one page! This is a great supplement to ANY homeschool program you may already be doing.
Member posts this week include:
Practical woodworking for the grades
Felting beads
Mandala Lesson for balance, harmony and coordination
Paper Making - Watercolor and other paper
A Winter Fairy Home
The Non-"Tree House"
Much more from previous weeks too!