Thinking About Toys

Posted by Christopherus

Although most young children – and many older ones – will be attracted to flashing, noisy toys, with care and forethought, one can create a family culture whereby the values of what is true, beautiful and good are embodied in…

A Doll for Every Child

Posted by Christopherus

It is a wonderful thing for every child, boy or girl, to have a doll. As a sleeping companion, confidante and general companion, the doll should be soft and warm. Most “Waldorf dolls” are stuffed with real wool because wool…

What Are Waldorf Toys?!

Posted by Christopherus

The following was written by Sarah Baldwin, owner of Bellaluna Toys. Many of you will be thinking about holiday gifts at this time of year and Bellaluna certainly provides some of the best toys which we can recommend. Here are…

Destructive Children Come to Play

Posted by Christopherus

We had a great thread on the Waldorf at Home on line discussion group recently, started by a member who needed help managing when neighborhood children would come to play – and would trash her house! The following is an…

Sword and Gun Play

Posted by Christopherus

(The first part of this entry is a re-worked post from my old yahoo group… I then went on to discuss gun play….)  I think the key to a lot of the questions around sword play is “can my child rise…

Passive Learning

Posted by Christopherus

A concern that many people express is about children who do not seem to want to engage in play or who prefer to stand aside and to watch. As our society values a “get ahead” and assertive attitude toward life…

“Violent” Play

Posted by Christopherus

(the following comes from my stock of old posts I kept from the yahoo group I used to run…)   One thing that needs to be addressed is the issue of media violence. I think normal good guy bad guy…

Rhythmic Play

Posted by Christopherus

In many different places – on this blog, in books and articles I’ve written – I refer to rhythmic play. I often get asked about this. So I will try to explain here what I mean by this term. And…

Star Wars and Lego

Posted by Christopherus

(this originally appeared in a slightly different form on my yahoo group, Waldorf_At_Home) I have always loved Star Wars and have always been moved by what I perceive as a modern day fairy tale. I have two boys – and…

Choosing Toys

Posted by Christopherus

This piece first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, February 2005 Following on from the above, I want to talk a bit about choosing toys. Mainly this is about toys for younger children, but some will surely be used by…

Extending Play

Posted by Christopherus

This article first appeared in the Homeschool Journey newsletter, February 2004 Some of the most joyful moments I have  had as a homeschooling mom have come during our occasional ‘Boy Days’, days when my sons invite their friends over, en…