To everything, a season

Nik's joyfully 'flying' with a playsilk cape on.

 We dabble in a little Waldorf goodness here at our house.  And by 'we dabble' I mean I pin things to Pinterest like crazy, and occasionally actually follow through with something in real life.

We have a few Waldorf dolls and some lovely wooden doll furniture.  We have a really beautiful wooden rainbow stacking puzzle.  We have a set of three lovely playsilks.

But the place in our home that seems the most Waldorf inspired is the seasonal display we keep on the dresser in the kids' bedroom.  We have kept it for a year now, and have grown into it.  At first, I was the only one in our house who was interested in it, but as time went by, and as we spent more time outdoors in the summer months, Nik was often heard saying, "Oh!  I should bring this back for the nature table, Mom!"   My parents even got in on the collecting, bringing a giant leaf, and a bag full of acorns back from their fall holiday in Mississippi.

Nik's bike basket filled with pine cones for the nature table.

If you are thinking of creating a nature corner for your own home, I really encourage you to just go for it.  Make sure and find a permanent space that will not be in the way, because it takes time for the nature table to become a normal part of your family culture.  If it is in an inconvenient spot, and your kids don't really seem 'into it', it will be tempting to scrap the whole thing.  But Waldorf is different from the flashy stuff generally vying for our kids' attention.  It is quiet, and needs time to be discovered.  Provide that time.

The other main piece of advice I would give about setting up your own nature table is to not worry about it not being waldorfy enough.  This advice that I read at 'Here We Are Together' was a comfort and encouragement to me as I began, and again every time that I would venture in to change the table with the season.  Blogger Miri says, "This is a place for you and your little ones to bring a little bit of the outside world inside. There is no right or wrong way to set up a Nature Table, and as long as you enjoy building it and adding to it then it is perfect."  Sing it, sister.

We have kept our nature table for nearly one year now.  When we started, it was certainly nothing to write home about.  Just a tray, with a green playsilk representing grass, a couple pinecones (which are now a staple on our table) and various hodge podge of Easter things I had lying around the house.

The tray turned out to be a brilliant beginning, and we have kept that up.  I actually later read in 'Style At Home' magazine that items grouped on a tray automatically look more pulled together, almost like they are framed.  I had no idea I was so fashion forward.  (Hidden benefit of the tray: It keeps little bits from rolling off of the silk, onto the floor and under the dresser.  Yay!)

After Easter, I took the Easter-related items off of the tray, and added anything I could find that seemed like Spring to me.  I ended up borrowing liberally from the Little People bin, adding Maggie in her raincoat, two bunnies, and a arbor swing decked out in florals.  Again, I had to rely on Miri's words to build my confidence: "Don’t worry if it doesn’t look waldorfy enough or your only seasonal things are made of plastic." 

After we got started, each transition got easier.  Isn't that true of so many things?  I started to keep my eyes out for things made of a variety of materials, and we added driftwood, seashells (found at the thrift store), and a pottery bird in the coming weeks.

When fall arrived, it was really fun to make the dramatic change of switching out the green playsilk for our fiery orange one.  Nik added more and more pine cones, and rocks that he sifted out of our sandbox.  I also bought a lovely hand-painted wooden goose from an artisan at the farmer's market to add to our 'stream'.

And then came the seasons of Christmas and winter, and we changed up the display again.  Blue silk and fibrefill 'snow' made for a fun base to build on.   Lots of underloved Christmas decorations found their way on the to nature table, and into the supply box for seasons to come.

 

The nature corner changes have been a quiet little reminder to us of the rhythms of the natural world.  Nik took an interest in the summer, and now even Alexa, at nearly age 2, has started to play with some of the items in this touchable display.  But both are very respectful of this space.  Even when Nik has a meltdown and throws things around his room in anger, the nature table is spared.  Children seem to have an understanding of what is sacred.