Handwork Series - grade 5

I've been wanting for a while to do a series of posts on my suggestions for Handwork in each grade. So I will work on that now! These are my own ideas of what to do when, partly informed by my Waldorf Handwork Teacher Training and partly by what I think works well from personal experience.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you are interested in training, I very highly recommend the Applied Arts Program. Admission to the 14th Cycle of the Applied Arts Program is now open! It will start on March 15, 2026!

This four-year program meets for two weeks each summer and one week each winter, covering two grades each year. Course sessions take place at the Fiber Craft Studio, which is located in the Threefold community in Chestnut Ridge, NY, just 30 miles from New York City.

If you're looking for a curriculum with videos and whatnot, I recommend Waldorf Handwork Educators. Currently they just have grades 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Happily, however, Fifth Grade is the topic of WHE's upcoming online international Waldorf teaching conference. It will be held in Feb 2026.

5th Grade: Beauty - Rhythm - Balance

February 14, 15, 16
9A to 3P Pacific Time

Registration is open now!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Here are all of the blog posts in my Handwork Series:

Handwork Series - K

Handwork Series - grade 1

Handwork Series - grade 2

Handwork Series - grade 3

Handwork Series - grade 4

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now on to my grade 5 notes. I'll update them if I come up with new ideas:

embroidery

Hand-Stitched Red Poppies with 3D Elements
from "Making Zen" Oct 2025 workshop with Darcy Hunter

Turmeric Anthotype Solar Printing
from Waldorf Handwork Educators

botanical bundle dyeing
Feb 2021 workshop with Anne-Marie Kavulla

wet felting

Wet Felted Flower
from Spry Whimsy Fiber Arts

Wet Felted Hat Using a Ball
from Jack Rabbit Hollow

knitting with straight needles

pure white horse - “King Sangara's Horse"
from Ancient Mythologies by Kovacs (Ancient India)

pure black horse - "Zarathustra and the Kingdom of Light"
from Ancient Mythologies by Kovacs (Ancient Persia)

beading

Ancient Persia also lends itself well to jewelry making!

knitting in the round
(circular needles as well as dpns)

socks

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

The Theremin

I had planned to spend part of my Thanksgiving holiday finishing and publishing draft blog posts, of which I have many. But I find it really difficult to catch up on explaining old ideas when new ones keep coming along!

Here are two examples of new things I found interesting today, and where I would put them in the curriculum if I introduced them to students:

Did Regency Women ACTUALLY Wear Wet Dresses??

YouTube video with Bernadette Banner and Dr. Hilary Davidson

Although at first glace, this looks like it would go in History, Regency fashion isn't something we study in Waldorf, given that U.S. History has now begun and that takes up quite a lot of time in 8th grade.

I would actually put this idea in Science, as an example of TESTING something instead of just repeating what you have been told.

The Beguiling, Misunderstood Theremin

New York Times article from Nov 29, 2025

The theremin would also go in Science, most likely in grade 8 Physics because of the complexity of the concept (an electromagnetic field produced by a radio frequency oscillating circuit). However, there's a fun little tie-in with Alexander Calder as well (MoMA's “Calder Plays Theremin”) and so you could put it in Art History if you prefer.

The world is such an interesting place!!!

Zac's Thanksgiving Salad

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all who celebrate! I shared the meal prep with a friend, which was a great relief to us both. I do always like to make new recipes, which means now making notes as to the ones we liked best!

This year's winners were

Balsamic Roasted Beets
JoyFoodSunshine

Crushed Green Bean Salad with Cranberry
NYT - gift link

Slow Cooker Apple Cider from Scratch
The Stay at Home Chef

Sticky Cranberry Gingerbread
NYT - gift link

The Crushed Green Bean Salad with Cranberry was Zac's contribution to the meal. At age 10, he did nearly the whole thing himself. If you are looking for things kids can do in the kitchen, besides shaking heavy cream in a jar to make butter, may I recommend this recipe? He particularly loved hitting the green beans with a rolling pin, but there are lots of things a kid can do. In fact, the only thing that really requires an adult is the dicing of one shallot.

Kids can

trim the green beans with a pair of scissors

put the green beans in a large ziploc bag

whack the beans with a rolling pin

season the crushed beans with salt

combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake vigorously

juice a lemon

tear leaves off a head of lettuce

wash lettuce leaves in a colander

spin leaves in a salad spinner to dry them

pour the dressing into the bag

add dried cranberries to the bag

toss the bag back and forth to combine all the ingredients

make layers of the lettuce and the bean salad in a large bowl

shower the entire thing with fried onions

And this salad was a revelation! Fresh and delicious, it uses any kind of cranberry sauce (jellied or whole berry). All the component parts are made the day before and refrigerated until the last minute. It doesn't take up a burner or any room in the oven, provides the mandatory green beans (with no added mushrooms), and complements the flavors of the meal really well.

I have a feeling this will be Zac's contribution to Thanksgiving for many years to come.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

A Modern Icelandic Menu

Norse Mythology is the topic of this year's Class Play, so I am researching reception foods! Rather than go with historical sources re. the Vikings, I have decided on a modern Icelandic menu. Iceland is the place where the Norse myths were finally written down, namely in the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. It is also the setting for December's lunchtime read aloud story, Life on Surtsey: Iceland's Upstart Island by Loree Griffin Burns.

In the past we've made Icelandic Thunder Bread (Rúgbrauð) by steaming it in the crockpot (as opposed to a geothermal spring, which I do not happen to have nearby).

Let's see what else there is to try:

Astarpungar

Baked Fish from Iceland

Bolludagur Buns

Cold Icelandic Pepper Soup

Curried Haddock with Pineapple

Hafragrautur - Oat Porridge

Icelandic Cocoa Soup

Icelandic Salmon Grill

Iceland Moss Tea (Amazon)

Kartofluflatbrauth - Potato Flatbread

Kartoflusalat - Potato Salad

Kjötsúpa - Icelandic Lamb Soup

Lummur

First Day of Summer is an annual public holiday in Iceland that is celebrated on the first Thursday after April 18th.


Mondlukaka - Icelandic Almond Cake Dessert

Plokkfiskur - Icelandic Fish Stew

Rutmus

Skyr

or Icelandic Skyr Yogurt Starter Culture (Amazon)


Universal Dipping Sauce

Vineterta - Prune Torte

And I really enjoyed this article on Seasonal Food in the Old Days!

Just a reminder that I have a Ruzuku course for this main lesson block:

---

Norse Mythology
for Class 4

5-DAY ONLINE COURSE:
Waldorf Main Lesson Block Planning: Norse Mythology

Join a community of fellow homeschoolers planning this exact same main lesson block for plenty of help and support. This course is aimed at homeschoolers who are already familiar with the Waldorf method, but would appreciate extra feedback and encouragement in planning this block.

Make friends and ask specfic questions of an experienced Waldorf homeschool teacher and consultant as you work through this helpful course.

Lifetime access! Just $30.00!

---

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Assembling a Skeleton

One of the highlights of this year's Science Club topic, Human Anatomy & Physiology, has been the assembly of a full-size model human skeleton.

Many thanks to Ms. Sarah for lending it to us!

Ms. Sarah stumbled upon this preowned and unassembled teaching skeleton at the thrift store, and snatched it up. But she had no idea whether or not the body was complete. She brought the bones to us, and the children had to inventory them all and write her a letter if there were any missing parts.

They had an absolute blast! And, because she hadn't checked over it in advance, it was an authentic task.

Happily, the ribs were numbered and labeled L and R. The vertebrae pieces were numbered as well. AND there was a wired foot and wired hand for us to look at while inventorying the loose foot and hand parts.

Both groups (Tue and Wed) concluded that the skeleton was complete. But the children found an "extra" bone as well. It wasn't on any of our human skeleton diagrams. Then Ms. Sarah explained to us that it was the hyoid!

I finally found a resource that mentions this bone, Comparative Anatomy of the Vertebrates, ninth ed., by George Kent and Robert Carr.

This was a fantastic activity that the kids won't soon forget!

Just a reminder that I have a Ruzuku course for this main lesson block:

---

Human Anatomy & Physiology
for Class 8

5-DAY ONLINE COURSE:
Waldorf Main Lesson Block Planning: Human Anatomy & Physiology

Join a community of fellow homeschoolers planning this exact same main lesson block for plenty of help and support. This course is aimed at homeschoolers who are already familiar with the Waldorf method, but would appreciate extra feedback and encouragement in planning this block.

Make friends and ask specfic questions of an experienced Waldorf homeschool teacher and consultant as you work through this helpful course.

Lifetime access! Just $30.00!

---

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Notes on Contractions

Whenever I teach about contractions, it's nice to go over some examples of how the spacing and punctuation of these words have changed over time. Of course, in the moment, I can't remember where I've seen the older words. So now I'm making a list.

It is really fun to let children write these on paper and actually get a pair of scissors and cut the letters. The apostrophe shows where the scissors cut!

Uncle Wiggily's Story Book
by Howard R. Garis

Hallowe'en
chapter 20, "Uncle Wiggily's Hallowe'en"

A Child's History of the World
by V.M. Hillyer

did n't
chapter 3, "Fire! Fire!! Fire!!!"

is n't
chapter 6, "The Puzzle-Writers"

he 'd
chapter 11, "A Fairy-Tale War"

was n't
chapter 12, "The Kings of the Jews"

what 's
chapter 12, "The Kings of the Jews"

does n't
chapter 16, "A Bad Beginning"

let 's
chapter 18, "A City of Wonders and Wickedness"

I 'm
chapter 19, "A Surprise Party"

that 's
chapter 21, "Rich Man, Poor Man"

could n't
chapter 23, "Greece vs. Persia"

has n't
chapter 24, "Fighting Mad"

had n't
chapter 26, "The Golden Age"

were n't
chapter 31, "The Boot Kicks and Stamps"

would n't
chapter 66, "James the Servant"

these old spacings have been "fixed" in the Project Gutenberg version

note: this book also contains the old spelling of Hallowe'en

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Campfire Activities

The days are getting shorter here in the Northern Hemisphere, and Autumn and Winter is the time for fires!

Between Lantern Walks (Waldorf Handwork Educators shares lovely lantern tutorials on their blog, including this new turmeric solar printing project) and Yule Logs and Advent Spirals, there are plenty of flames aglow.

Muddy Faces has also recently shared lots of activities to do over a campfire, and I thought I'll collect them here. Let me know if you try any of them out!

Pewter - casting over a fire

Making oak gall ink

Making charcoal

How to make char cloth

Here is the complete list of all the activities at muddyfaces.co.uk.

I'll also add here a link to my Foil Packet Meals post!

Forest School Activity Cards: 48 Fun Things to Do Outdoors
by Jane Worroll and Peter Houghton

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!

Applied Arts Program Online Open House

The Handwork Teacher Training that I have raved about for many years is having an online Open House on Saturday, November 15th, 11am - 12pm EST. If you are in any way interested in this program, either for the next cycle (which starts Mar 2026) or in the future, I highly recommend joining! Here are all of the details.

The Gifts for the Gods

We are up the point in Norse Mythology where the gnomes hold a competition to see who can make the best gifts for the Aesir gods! This is a very exciting part of the story... and had Loki not mischievously cut off Sif's blonde hair, the gods would never have become as powerful as they are.

I made a chart for the children to add in to their main lesson books:

For step-by-step instructions on how I made this watercolor painting at a 2019 Waldorf painting workshop, see my post Painting Norse Mythology

the gnomes at the forge!

Zac had a great time at Forge Friday at SIU. Check out this awesome event held on the first Friday of every month!

Follow soadsiu for more information on their events.

Educational Game: Jump One series

I'm adding this math game set to my posts about Educational Games!

previous posts:

Adsumudi - 4 operations

The Allowance Game - coins

Gnoming A Round - negative numbers

Poetry for Neandertals - syllables

Today I'm writing about Jump One (and series) by Melon Rind.

This is a mom-owned company... and I think we have EVERY ONE of the games she has created (Jump! Clumsy Thief! Check the Oven/Fridge!).

If you are an Instagram person you can follow her over there.

Carson Dellosa
CD-168037 Frogs

The Jump series focuses on skip counting (she has made games from Jump One to Jump Nine). You play by putting down a card from your hand that is one skip count above or below the number on top of the discard pile(s).

To scaffold this for younger players, we make wheels that show 10 skip counts of the number. (If you are at the top of the wheel, you can play the card below the biggest number, or start going around the wheel again.)

Sometimes you draw a special card which allows you to jump to any spot. That means I've spent a significant amount of time sourcing stickers!

Here are the stickers I have found, if this is helpful for someone else!

Trend Enterprises x2
T-46326 Color Monkeys





Violette Stickers x3
K17 Bow Ties




Violette Stickers x4
K197 Mini Dogs in Sweaters





Recollections x5
basketball puffy stickers





Carson Dellosa x6
CD-168034 Penguins




Stickabilities by the Paper Studio x7
astronaut foil stickers




Violette Stickers x8
K293 Space Cows




Stickabilities by the Paper Studio x9
birthday presents

Our papers are 5 1/2 x 6 inches, and I trace a 4 inch diameter wooden bowl to make the circle. I like to get center stickers that are about 1 1/4 inches.

This post contains affiliate links to materials I truly use for homeschooling. Qualifying purchases provide me with revenue. Thank you for your support!