Picnic & Play: I'm in Charge of Celebrations

So now I'm working on transitioning in all of the verses and songs that carry the rhythm of the day. This is a big task but a very important one!

Carrie at The Parenting Passageway just did a lovely post about this recently in terms of Emotional Health; she writes, "The view of Waldorf Education regarding tiny children and their large emotions, is to handle the children with compassion, caring, an extremely solid rhythm that incorporates wholesome foods, rest, exercise, and nature [emphasis added], distraction, pictorial imagery for the early years, and general loving authority by a kind adult in the early grades."

In a Waldorf early childhood program you'll find verses for starting circle time, lighting a candle, getting ready to tell a fairy tale, getting ready to draw, getting ready to paint, starting play time, ending play time, washing your hands, sitting down at a table, getting ready to eat a meal, finishing a meal, blowing out a candle, washing a table, and so on and so forth.

This summer I am putting my energy into transitioning Zac and my other early childhood kiddos into a Waldorf environment, so that the beginning of the school year is a nice easy time for them. I am choosing simple stories for mid-June so that I can work on learning a new batch of songs well enough that they come easily to me.

As I figure out the songs I like best, I'll be sure to share the list.

Here are the stories I've picked, which are simply tied together through a common thread of celebrating the earth and food:

Books & Music

I'm in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor


"Thunder Long-Shadow" from Suzanne Down's book of Summer Tales

"King Rooster's Ears" from Suzanne Down's book of Summer Tales

"There's a Thief in My Garden" from Suzanne Down's book of Summer Tales

"Puddles" and "Johnny Works with One Hammer" activities from The Children's Music Studio: A Reggio-Inspired Approach by Wendell Hanna


"The Muddy Farmyard" from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.126-127

"The Snake Who Didn't Want to Change" from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.137-139

"The Story of Two Stones" from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.134-135

"The Little Lemon Who Couldn't Wait" from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.128-129

Seven Times the Sun: Guiding Your Child through the Rhythms of the Day book & CD by Shea Darian


This is the Way We Wash-a-Day book and CD set by Mary Thienes-Schunemann

All Year Round: A Calendar of Celebrations


Festivals Together: A Guide to Multi-cultural Celebration


"Springtime Garden Circle" from Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures: Movement Enrichment with a Therapeutic Approach for Early Childhood, volume 1 by Nancy Blanning and Laurie Clark

"Rabbit's Adventure" from Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures: Movement Enrichment with a Therapeutic Approach for Early Childhood, volume 1 by Nancy Blanning and Laurie Clark

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Right now my thoughts are

June 13 - Art

• celebrating rainbows!
• read I'm in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor
• sing "A Painting Song" from This is the Way We Wash-a-Day, p.42, track 47
• wet-on-wet watercolor painting in rainbow colors

June 14 - Nature Walk

• celebrating shadows!
• read "Thunder Long-Shadow" from Suzanne Down's book of Summer Tales
• play with drums (piano, forte)
• trace each child's shadow on sidewalk with chalk early in the morning, go out at different times of day to compare them

June 15 - Handwork

• celebrating sheep and wool!
• read "King Rooster's Ears" from Suzanne Down's book of Summer Tales
• look at raw sheep fleece, combed and carded wool, dyed wool roving
• wet felting around a raw duck egg

June 16 - Dramatic Play

• celebrating farmers!
• start "Springtime Garden Circle" by Laurie Clark ("In Springtime," grains verse on p.83; "Little Robin Redbreast," "Little Gnomes" song on p.84)
• do "Johnny Works with One Hammer" Beat activity (minus debrief) from The Children's Music Studio: A Reggio-Inspired Approach by Wendell Hanna, p.104
• sing "The Farmer in the Dell" from This is the Way We Wash-a-Day, p.30, track 28
• pretend to be farming with wool felt play kitchen foods or use play silks to be the soil and different crops

June 17 - Father's Day

• celebrating vegetables!
• sing "Growing Song" from This is the Way We Wash-a-Day, p.27, track 24
• check on bean seeds from June 11
• continue "Springtime Garden Circle" by Laurie Clark ("we hack and we hammer" on p.84; "the worm and all his sisters and brothers" on p.85)
• plant corn in our garden
• sing "Little Watering Can" from This is the Way We Wash-a-Day, p.28, track 26

June 18 - Cooking

• celebrating cooking together!
• do complete "Springtime Garden Circle" by Laurie Clark!
• sing "Chop, Chop, Chippety Chop" from This is the Way We Wash-a-Day (p.34, track 32), make vegetable soup
• sing "Little Red Wagon" from This is the Way We Wash-a-Day (p.29, track 27), take veggie scraps out to compost heap

June 19 - Sensory Play

• celebrating mud!
• do "Puddles" Timbre activity (minus debrief) from The Children's Music Studio: A Reggio-Inspired Approach by Wendell Hanna, p.100
• read "The Muddy Farmyard" from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.126-127
• play in digging pit and with mud kitchen outdoors

June 20 - Handwork

• celebrating growing!
• read "The Snake Who Didn't Want to Change" from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.137-139
• do bubble making activities to see colors reminiscent of iridescent Mama Snake (All Year Round, pp.115-116)

June 21 - Summer Solstice

• celebrating sunshine and warmth!
• read "The Story of Two Stones"from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.134-135
• do "Sun Fire Circle Dance" from p.93 of Festivals Together
• send home Weather Trees from All Year Round, p.122

June 22 - Art

• celebrating fruits!
• read "The Little Lemon Who Couldn't Wait" from The Breathing Circle: Learning through the Movement of the Natural Breath by Nell Smyth, pp.128-129
• citrus sensory bin with lots of different kinds of citrus
• citrus printing
• make a recipe with citrus fruits from Festivals Together

June 23 - Nature Walk

• celebrating kindness!
• read "There's a Thief in My Garden" from Suzanne Down's book of Summer Tales
• take a nature walk around the garden and look for signs of animals who may be visiting it
• eat a nice fresh lettuce salad

June 24 - Puppetry

• celebrating adventuring!
• start "Rabbit's Adventure" by Nancy Blanning (Prologue, "Adventuring Song" on p.93; "Swim Little Fish," Waddling Duck Rhyme on p.94; p.95 up to "he would show his wrath")
• puppetry with needle felted wool rabbits and veggies

June 25 - Cooking

• celebrating home!
• continue "Rabbit's Adventure" by Nancy Blanning ("he came to the lettuces," Five Little Peas hand gesture game on p.95; "he hopped around the cucumber frame" on p.96; "so Bunny squeezed under," lullaby p.97)
• make "Summer Pudding" recipe (for tomorrow) on page 120 of All Year Round
• make recipe with green peas!

June 26 - Cooking

• celebrating friendship!
• do complete "Rabbit's Adventure" circle by Nancy Blanning!
• make sweetened whipped cream
• have a tea party outside with the Summer Pudding (and some chamomile tea just like Peter Rabbit)

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Green pea recipes in the Summer chapter of Pumpkin Soup and Cherry Bread: A Steiner-Waldorf Kindergarten Cookbook are:

Green pea cake, page 82
Green pea minestrone, page 83
Green pea sandwich spread, page 84

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