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:  Would you tell me something more about children’s toys?

A:  I wouldlove to as this is one of my most favorite subjects!

Toys that Teach: A Lesson in Reverence, Gratitude and Beauty

A toy is something your child invests precious time in and in this way it acts as a teacher. The right toy can teach your child to care, to be watchful and conscious, to be careful, to appreciate, to love. In your child’s hands are the keys to learning to be grateful, to appreciate beauty, to have a sense of peace and reverence for life in all its forms… By the same token, the wrong toys can teach your child anger, frustration, disregard, insult and mockery. How many times have you seen this at the community playground? Children mimicking the grotesque objects they have been playing with? Making grimaces and bullying the other children. They are putting out what they have taken in, from their toys.

What can a plastic contraption possibly teach your child? What lesson is hidden within the action figure? When children have a room full of such toys they are often so overwhelmed, that they choose not to play at all. Grandparents come and say they are spoiled. Oftentimes, when they do choose to play, they play in a very aggressive and destructive manner. They show no sense of love or caring for these toys. They show no gratitude for these toys. These toys which growl at you and make grimaces at you seem to be designed to instill or teach anger, frustration, and hatred. Ask yourself “what does my child get from such a toy?” If you closely observe your child you will discover that their play lasts about 5 minutes at most and they end up being frustrated and overwhelmed. They physically look ill after playing this way, with these toys.

The reason for this is that children take everything from their play and it becomes a part of who they are and who they are about to become. Children internalize everything from

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To aide in the teaching of the arts of painting, drawing, handwork, and creative play by providing instruction, materials, and resources, in harmony with Waldorf education.

To provide the best possible products and services, in the most socially conscious, economical, and personal way, to teachers and parents working out of the Waldorf School philosophy and curriculum.

To encourage the flow of capital from the economic realm to the cultural realm by donating 10% of profits to the American Waldorf School movement.

To work toward the development and implementation of associative economic principles in our business practices.

I am so ENVIOUS of the education our four children are receiving in our local Waldorf School. I am envious because I long for this education for myself. I am of course grateful that I can learn with them. I have learned to watercolor paint up to the sixth grade level and I can knit as well as the most competent 4th grader! I still can’t carry a tune (although the kinderharp is helping.) I’m even over the trepidation of writing in lesson books and using colored pencils!

The more I enter into painting and wax modeling and knitting and coloring and playing music and painting walls and playing with silk–the more I understand the value of the education of my children. When I try to bring beauty and truth and reverence into our home, I give a gift, and I also receive the gift of my own education.

It’s not always easy to take up these artistic forms…it takes courage to allow myself to learn to knit or play the harp! In the past it was often hard to find the supplies I needed…silk and felt and good colored pencils, or the knowledge of where to start! I hope my experience, the experience of hundreds of teachers and parents, and the experience of our manufacturers, will help you to find the materials you need and the courage to be a kindergartner!

Blessings on the education of your child–and you! We wish for each of you that you will grow as wise as the children through this education, and we hope that we can be of service to you along the way!

Enjoy!

Annette Park
www.waldorfsupplies.com

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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