I’ve done this with my daughters for the last two years.

Although it’s recommended for Grade 1 or 2, my four year old managed with just a little help:-)

The first time, they were so surprised to see the pumpkin appear in their painting! We hung the paintings on our front door for Halloween and had so many nice comments…

Begin by painting a large golden yellow ball- this will be your pumpkin, but don’t tell them you’re painting a pumpkin.

Next, surround with

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Here are the tricks:

• purchase masonite that is about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick – the thin stuff will warp, guaranteed
• buy the kind that has a nice smooth surface on both sides
• *before* you use the boards at all, finish them with a beeswax polish.

You can use commercial beeswax wooden polish (Clapham’s is one, I think) or you can make your own by heating some beeswax in a baby food jar set in hot water over low heat. Add approximately the same amount of olive oil and heat until the beeswax melts – stir it together well with a popsicle stick or something and let it cool. When it cools it should be soft enough that you can break off a bit and squish it in your fingers, re melt and adjust the proportions if necessary.

Rub the beeswax mixture generously on the board (both sides and edges) and rub it in well (my kids loved to help with this – it’s messy but smells wonderful). Let the board sit in a sunny place for a few hours for the oils to really soak into the wood, then rub off any excess with a lint-free rag.

The heavy boards that I prepared this way have lasted through dozens of very wet! painting sessions so far and show no sign of warping, and I have never had a problem with the paint not cleaning off them. If they seemed to lose their finish I could reapply it but I haven’t needed to yet.

Hope this helps someone. I was glad to finally figure out how to do this, and it was so easy and inexpensive that I can have lots of nice large painting boards so we are able to paint when friends are over, too.

Copyright 2002 Doreen Hyndman, Used with permission.

Q: We are preparing to paint, do you have any painting or color verses or stories?

A: Oh yes indeed! Here are some that we have used and please also feel free to use the comment feature to share YOUR favorites!

There’s a bridge of wondrous light
Filled with colors shining bright
Red and orange, yellow, green,
The fairest colors ever seen,
Blue and violet, magic rose;
Down from heaven to earth it goes

* * * * * * * * * *

Now I take the brush so gently
In my hand with loving care
Watch the color flow so softly
On the paper clean and clear.

* * * * * * * * * *

Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Gathering light from sun and star,
gathering light from heaven afar,
Down to earth all things to greet,
sharing the light with all we meet.
Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

* * * * * * * * * *

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Q: How do I introduce the Letters of the Alphabet, Waldorf style?

A: “I have come up with images, stories and activities for only about half of the alphabet. Is there an established Waldorf curriculum for this?”

Letter writing is presented in a lively pictorial way with the help of fairy stories. “S” may be a fairytale snake sinuously slithering through the grass on some secret errand. The teacher draws on the chalkboard, showing how the letter is embedded in the picture, how perhaps the W is hiding in the drawing of the waves. The children draw the letter in the air with their hands and on the floor with their feet; their whole being participates in the writing experience. Then the children make their own pictures of waves, and then W’s, creating an illustrated book as each letter is presented and experienced.

In Waldorf education, the letters are presented as pictures which appeal to the child’s imagination. In reality the letter is clothes in the picture…the picture is the key. All letters of the alphabet were once pictures themselves. Are pictures ever drawn on rigid lined paper? (And coloring books are NOT pictures!) Additionally, lower case letters came much later – so we ALWAYS begin with capital letters ONLY.

“Letters can also be introduced through gestures that express their sound. A W can be derived from the undulating movement of a wave, or an S from the rushing movement of the wind.” (quote from Rhythms of Learning)

Note on forcing the letters: “It is thoroughly unnatural to require a child during the sixth or seventh year to merely copy the signs that we, in this advanced stage of civilization, now use for reading and writing. If you consider the letters we now use for reading and writing, you will realize that there is no connection between these letters and what a child of seven is naturally disposed to do. Remember, that when human beings first began to write they used painted or drawn signs that reproduced things or occurrences in the surrounding world. Or they wrote from will impulses, so that forms of writing expressed processes of the will – cuneiform characters, for example. Today’s entirely abstract form of letters, which the eye must gaze at or the hand form, arose from picture writing. When we confront a young child with such letters, we are bringing something alien, something that in no way conforms to the child’s nature. Let us be clear about what it means to “push” a foreign body into a child’s organism. It is just as though a child, from the very earliest years, were being habituated to wearing very small clothes that do not fit, and therefore damage the child’s organism. Today observation tends to be superficial, and people are even unaware of the damage done to a child’s organism by simply introducing reading and writing in a wrong way.”

~ Rudolf Steiner, The Spiritual Ground of Education

Here are a few examples

1. Think of a picture that LOOKS like the letter you are drawing. Example F = fish, W = wave, M = mountain, S = snake
2. Build a story around that image
3. Make up a simple one or two line poem, this is called a consonant verse.

F = flirting fishes flashing freely

W = Over wind swept waves, the white seagulls wildly sweep.

M = Many mighty men mount the mighty mountain

S = Six silver snakes silently slithered over the soft sea of sliding sand.

These verses and images are acted out in story, drama, rhyme, song, verse, poem and movement as well as drawing, painting, modeling, etc… The letter forms must be “alive” for the children to fully experience them and feel them within. The children need to absorb the letter and make it their own…

A wonderful resource of how the letters “come alive” with story can be seen in these two truly WALDORF books. I highly recommend them both for ideas and inspiration!

LMNOP and All the Letters A to Z

A very special Waldorf Alphabet book full of lovely “Waldorf style” art filling each page.

The Living Alphabet

Each consonant and vowel comes alive with it’s own unique qualities in the world… a lovely book!

I also strongly recommend From Imagination to Form: The Letters A – Z

The stories used should be the fairy tales appropriate for Grade One.

Here is a list:

The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales
East of the Sun and West of the Moon
Featherlight
Seven Year Old Wonder Book
Fairy Worlds and Workers
Sam Luckless: The Unlucky Lad
Rapunzel: A Fairy Tale
The Land of the Blue Flower
The Wonderful Adventures Of Nils
Little Brother and Little Sister
Beauty and the Beast
Cinderella

Background for Lessons

The Alphabet: Rudolf Steiner’s Detailed Explanation of the Meaning of Letters

Parental Ideas & Comments

I was disappointed by LMNOP – I got some ideas from it, but didn’t use a lot of it. For memory I think I found the verses, in particular, disappointing. I found the pictures on the cover of “Putting the Heart Back into Teaching” more inspirational, and wished they had covered all the alphabet, instead of just half a dozen of so letters. We used: E eagle I incorporated it into the body of a king and used the Dorothy Harrer story “The Secret Name of the King” (which turns out to be “I”), L ladle, P Pied Piper the curve of his arm going up to meet the recorder in his mouth forms the round of the P, Q Queen with her cloak billowing out, into a round shape around her, and the tail of it to one side forming the “tail” on the Q, R the spinning wheel from Rumplestiltskin, U unicorn with the tail forming a U shape, X xylophone with the two sticks crossed, Y yabbie with the claws showing the Y shape, Z zigzags of lightning, K king with his straight body, and arm forming the top arm of the K and leg stretched out forming the bottom arm of K (almost like he’s marching). Which is probably what you’ve already got for K.

Images I have so far are: A -angel, B – butterfly, C – cave, D – dragon, F – fish, G – goose, H – house, J – juggler, K – king, M – mountain, N – needle and thread, S – snake, T – tree, V – vase or valley, W – wave.

I followed Eric Fairman’s ideas in his book A Path of Discovery book 1. (Not very original I’m afraid). Anyway here is what I used: L – ledge, p – pond, q – quoka, r-river, x – x makes the spot on a map, y – yacht, z – zig zag path through a forest. I didn’t use these for the vowels but found them in a book called Teaching Children Writing by Audrey McAllen: Long vowel sounds A – angel E – eagle, I -Idonia (princess) O – opal – U – Unicorn, For short vowels a – apple, e – elephant, I – imp, O – orange, u – umbrella.

Parental Recommendations

Several parents shared some books they have been using which may be worth checking out! Their suggestions and their comments follow:

The Flower Alphabet Book

I just love this book. I copied this prom the book description: Roses are red, violets are blue . . . and they’re only two of the flowers in this book of bright colors and delightful information. Young readers will be fascinated to find out what flowers can be used to make a doll, which flower flavors tea, and which flower farmers feed to chickens. Author Jerry Pallotta and illustrator Leslie Evans have collaborated to produce a stunning bouquet of words and pictures about the world of flowers-one of natures most beautiful gifts. ~Kati

I wanted to let everyone know that I found a really neat book at the library, The Alphabet Atlas by Arthur Yorinks.

This book has each letter of the alphabet depicted in a beautiful way, relating to the country which begins with that letter (for instance J is for Japan and has a bamboo drawn in the middle with leaves at the end of the J and the bamboo). There is an interesting note about each country. On the opposite page there is a picture of the country and around it beautiful pictures of things related to that country, almost like a collage (very artistic). It is a lovely book and since we love geography it really is special. Highly Recommended.

Addition: Wow, I just noticed something about this cool book (read review below). The ‘collage’ type art depicting the country and related cultural things is actually pictured as a quilt! You can see the thread marks around the countries and the different pieces of ‘fabric’ which make up the cultural artifacts. Okay, that is too cool . What a great way to study geography, making small geography/cultural quilts. Oh my, I am totally inspired. ~Melissa

I love The Handmade Alphabet by Laura Rankin.

It’s a book showing the hand positions for signing the alphabet, but it also has each letter on the page, and the illustrations are gorgeous.

The Hole by the Apple Tree: An A-Z Discovery Tale

Harold and his friends embark on a fairy-tale adventure through the alphabet and encounter giants, pirates, Snow White, and other people and things that begin with the letters from A to Z.

I found a really great one at the library today, too. It’s Anno’s Alphabet . Each letter is illustrated as being built from wood, and the page opposite has old-fashioned objects starting with that letter, like A is anvil. The illustrations are really well done. The fascinating part to me was when I realized that the pencil-drawn borders around each page not only had other objects hiding in them, but that each was a different plant that started with that letter. I’m just getting into gardening, and it was fun to recognize the ones I knew, like N for narcissus. Luckily at the back there was a legend so I could look up the ones I didn’t know. It was fascinating. (Sometimes I wonder if I enjoy these picture books more than the children!) ~Rachel

Several Alphabet Presentations OTHER THAN “A is for apple”

• A Spirited Alphabet: From A to Z
• Pioneer Life from A to Z
• Prairie Primer: A to Z
• Musical Instruments from A to Z
• Everyday Structures from A to Z
• A Is for Africa
• Discover America State by State Alphabet Books
• My Spiritual Alphabet Book
• Flower Fairy Alphabet
• Flower and Fairy Alphabet Coloring Book
• A is for Appalachia
• Geography from A to Z
• The Wonders of Me from A to Z
• Arctic Alphabet: Exploring the North
• Wishing You.. Blessings from A to Z
• Christmas Long Ago from A to Z

The Vimala Alphabet was meticulously designed to support independent thinking, engaged willpower, balance, tolerance, honor, and intuition, as well as strengthening the developing soul forces of children.

This book considers personal characteristics, which can be transformed through certain letters. Soul Development through Handwriting includes:

• A summary the Waldorf method of teaching writing to young children
• Ideas for introducing the Vimala Alphabet into different grades
• Details on using the Vimala Alphabet as a transformative tool for children

Also included are descriptions of the letters and their qualities, practice pages, letter forms to avoid, and practical tools to assist in teaching handwriting. Soul Development through Handwriting is a valuable resource for all Waldorf teachers, home schoolers, and others working with children.

Soul Development Through Handwriting

“I have come up with images, stories and activities for only about half of the alphabet. Is there an established Waldorf curriculum for this?”

Letter writing is presented in a lively pictorial way with the help of fairy stories. “S” may be a fairytale snake sinuously slithering through the grass on some secret errand. The teacher draws on the chalkboard, showing how the letter is embedded in the picture, how perhaps the W is hiding in the drawing of the waves. The children draw the letter in the air with their hands and on the floor with their feet; their whole being participates in the writing experience. Then the children make their own pictures of waves, and then W’s, creating an illustrated book as each letter is presented and experienced.

In Waldorf education, the letters are presented as pictures which appeal to the child’s imagination. In reality the letter is clothes in the picture…the picture is the key. All letters of the alphabet were once pictures themselves. Are pictures ever drawn on rigid lined paper? (And coloring books are NOT pictures!) Additionally, lower case letters came much later – so we ALWAYS begin with capital letters ONLY.

“Letters can also be introduced through gestures that express their sound. A W can be derived from the undulating movement of a wave, or an S from the rushing movement of the wind.” (quote from Rhythms of Learning)

Note on forcing the letters: “It is thoroughly unnatural to require a child during the sixth or seventh year to merely copy the signs that we, in this advanced stage of civilization, now use for reading and writing. If you consider the letters we now use for reading and writing, you will realize that there is no connection between these letters and what a child of seven is naturally disposed to do. Remember, that when human beings first began to write they used painted or drawn signs that reproduced things or occurrences in the surrounding world. Or they wrote from will impulses, so that forms of writing expressed processes of the will – cuneiform characters, for example. Today’s entirely abstract form of letters, which the eye must gaze at or the hand form, arose from picture writing. When we confront a young child with such letters, we are bringing something alien, something that in no way conforms to the child’s nature. Let us be clear about what it means to “push” a foreign body into a child’s organism. It is just as though a child, from the very earliest years, were being habituated to wearing very small clothes that do not fit, and therefore damage the child’s organism. Today observation tends to be superficial, and people are even unaware of the damage done to a child’s organism by simply introducing reading and writing in a wrong way.” -Rudolf Steiner, The Spiritual Ground of Education

Here are a few examples

1. Think of a picture that LOOKS like the letter you are drawing. Example F = fish, W = wave, M = mountain, S = snake
2. Build a story around that image
3. Make up a simple one or two line poem, this is called a consonant verse.

* F = flirting fishes flashing freely
* W = Over wind swept waves, the white seagulls wildly sweep.
* M = Many mighty men mount the mighty mountain
* S = Six silver snakes silently slithered over the soft sea of sliding sand.

These verses and images are acted out in story, drama, rhyme, song, verse, poem and movement as well as drawing, painting, modeling, etc… The letter forms must be “alive” for the children to fully experience them and feel them within. The children need to absorb the letter and make it their own…

A wonderful resource of how the letters “come alive” with story can be seen in these two truly WALDORF books. I highly recommend them both for ideas and inspiration!

I also strongly recommend From Imagination to Form: The Letters A – Z, to order contact rainbow@live-education.com

The stories used should be the fairy tales appropriate for Grade One. Here is a list:

• The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales
• East of the Sun and West of the Moon
• Featherlight
• Seven Year Old Wonder Book
• Fairy Worlds and Workers
• Sam Luckless: The Unlucky Lad
• Rapunzel: A Fairy Tale
• The Land of the Blue Flower
• The Wonderful Adventures Of Nils
• The Six Swans
• Beauty and the Beast
• Cinderella

Printable Lessons

• From Moving and Speaking to Writing and Reading
• From Imagination to Form: The Letters A – Z

To order the above contact rainbow@live-education.com

• The Alphabet: Rudolf Steiner’s Detailed Explanation of the Meaning of Letters

Parental Recommendations

Several parents shared some books they have been using which may be worth checking out! Their suggestions and their comments follow:

The Flower Alphabet Book I just love this book. I copied this prom the book description: Roses are red, violets are blue . . . and they’re only two of the flowers in this book of bright colors and delightful information. Young readers will be fascinated to find out what flowers can be used to make a doll, which flower flavors tea, and which flower farmers feed to chickens. Author Jerry Pallotta and illustrator Leslie Evans have collaborated to produce a stunning bouquet of words and pictures about the world of flowers-one of natures most beautiful gifts. ~Kati

I wanted to let everyone know that I found a really neat book at the library, The Alphabet Atlas by Arthur Yorinks. This book has each letter of the alphabet depicted in a beautiful way, relating to the country which begins with that letter (for instance J is for Japan and has a bamboo drawn in the middle with leaves at the end of the J and the bamboo). There is an interesting note about each country. On the opposite page there is a picture of the country and around it beautiful pictures of things related to that country, almost like a collage (very artistic). It is a lovely book and since we love geography it really is special. Highly Recommended.~ Sandra

Wow, I just noticed something about this cool book (read review below). The ‘collage’ type art depicting the country and related cultural things is actually pictured as a quilt! You can see the thread marks around the countries and the different pieces of ‘fabric’ which make up the cultural artifacts. Okay, that is too cool . What a great way to study geography, making small geography/cultural quilts. Oh my, I am totally inspired. ~Melissa

I love The Handmade Alphabet by Laura Rankin. It’s a book showing the hand positions for signing the alphabet, but it also has each letter on the page, and the illustrations are gorgeous. ~ Jennifer

The Hole by the Apple Tree: An A-Z Discovery Tale Harold and his friends embark on a fairy-tale adventure through the alphabet and encounter giants, pirates, Snow White, and other people and things that begin with the letters from A to Z. ~ Brenda

I found a really great one at the library today, too. It’s Anno’s Alphabet . Each letter is illustrated as being built from wood, and the page opposite has old-fashioned objects starting with that letter, like A is anvil. The illustrations are really well done. The fascinating part to me was when I realized that the pencil-drawn borders around each page not only had other objects hiding in them, but that each was a different plant that started with that letter. I’m just getting into gardening, and it was fun to recognize the ones I knew, like N for narcissus. Luckily at the back there was a legend so I could look up the ones I didn’t know. It was fascinating. (Sometimes I wonder if I enjoy these picture books more than the children!) ~Rachel

Several Alphabet Presentations OTHER THAN “A is for apple”…

I am happy you asked that – I have several as you can see…

There’s a bridge of wondrous light
Filled with colors shining bright
Red and orange, yellow, green,
The fairest colors ever seen,
Blue and violet, magic rose;
Down from heaven to earth it goes

Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Gathering light from sun and star,
gathering light from heaven afar,
Down to earth all things to greet,
sharing the light with all we meet.
Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.
Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

* * * * * * * * * *

Tipperty-toes, the smallest elf,
Sat on a mushroom all by himself,

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Q:  What Kind of Crayons/Pencils/Art Materials Would You All Suggest I Buy For My Toddler?

“She’s my first so I have no idea at what ages kids can do what, but she has been grabbing pens and thee awful Crayolas we have and stabling out scribbles, lately, so I wanted to get her some beautiful tools in case she would enjoy them in the coming months or years. I’ve heard that blocks or triangle shapes are easiest for toddlers?” ~ Emily

Scribbling is pretty much the extent of a toddler’s ability (with the crayons). There are also limits to the clay that can be used because children under 3 tend to put things in their mouths (but that doesn’t bother some moms). My children used block crayons and I believe for non-toxicity and ease of grip, it’s probably a good idea to start with those and then at about 2 1/2 introduce the stick crayons. I also like the wet-on-wet style of watercolor painting and I have allowed this with the hands as well as with brushes. The sensory experience is so wonderful for toddlers, and making a mess is a part of the learning process so relax and allow it.

A:  I wouldn’t expect your toddler to be able to make a triangle or square as that is more of a 3 year old skill – but all children and wonderfully different and unique. It’s probably a hidden blessing that you “have no idea what ages kids can do what” because then you would compare and dissect the results of your child and measure her against others, which in my mind is a sin as ALL CHILDREN ARE UNIIQUE and develop in their own way and on their own time schedules. Just remember that at this age the experience is definitely more process than product.  Also, keep in mind that the process is all sensory and at this level that is the key developmental strategy, so allow whatever they create to flow through them. The stabbing may be a form of communication that she has not yet found the proper words for, so she is expressing them in her art time. Be patient and trust the process.

There are also things from nature that you can use in art to enhance the sensory experience.

Take a little basket outside, choose some items, and have your daughter but glue all over a piece of paper, then you can put your found items on it. But again, what you get matters a lot less than finding the materials and being in contact with them.

Lastly, I wanted to say that this time, the toddler years, is a time of opening up the world to our children. It is these experiences that form the bases for all others. The best thing I have ever done for my children is take them outside and let them do their own thing – completely undirected, unstructured, unguided. I simply allowed them the freedom to do what they do.

As they are given this freedom, they feel, touch, smell, experience and soak up so much and intuitively I know that there are things going on within that are forming more important things in later life (the kinds of things adults would call unresolved childhood issues, wink). Sensory is KEY at this age and this is why the natural beeswax materials are more recommended. They are natural and warming in a child’s hands. They smell delicious and if they happen to take a nibble (which many children at this age do) they are non-toxic.

Allow your child to explore artistic endeavors on their terms and stop measuring, judging and otherwise stressing about the result. This is a process and it is a lifelong process and there is no one right way. Undirected art and play time is probably the greatest gift I have given my three children thus far, after, of course, my love and care.

Below are some suggestions for art materials. Enjoy!

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