Preparing in Gratitude

Blessing on this room of ours,
Blessing on the garden flowers,
Blessing on the birds and trees,
On the butterflies and bees.
Blessing on the dolls and toys,
On our quietness and noise.
Blessing on the children dear,
On the grown ups who come here.
Blessing on our work and play,
God be with us all each day.

 

 

We're preparing for Thanksgiving time in our home. As a Waldorf inspired home, we incorporate the teaching of Rudolf Steiner in much of our daily lives........

 

"An immense enrichment of the soul is achieved through the experience of feeling gratitude. One should see to it that, even in a very young child, a feeling of thankfulness is developed. If one does this, a feeling of gratitude will be transformed into love when the child is older. In every situation in life, love will be colored through, permeated with gratitude. Even a superficial observation of social life demonstrates that a valuable impulse for the social question can be fostered when we educate people towards a greater feeling of gratitude for what their fellow human beings are doing. For this feeling of gratitude is a bridge from one human soul and heart to another. Without gratitude, this bridge could never be built." ~ from Waldorf Education and Anthroposophy 1922-24 lectures by Rudolf Steiner

 

Cultivating gratitude within our children is in fact a lifestyle. It is not something that can only be acted on just one day a year. The mere  existence of gratitude in our society requires that we feel it and live it every single day. How will our world continue without it? We already can see the upsetting occurrences of what happens when gratitude fades to entitlement; our Earth's resources are being depleted, some children have grown into adults that have lost their reverence for how precious all life is, there is a lack of respect and responsibility in our ever growing populations. We are a culture of constant consumption.......if only a tear drop of gratitude could be injected into the ailments of the planet and our connection as human beings, might there be a shift in the dire situations of so many?

In the spirit of gratitude, we've been telling a particular story, a bit adapted to help capture the importance of being thankful. We discovered the story of Hugin and the Carrot (adapted from the story Hugin and the Turnip) over at Natural Kids .

The first part we adapted is where the Caterpillar asked if Hugin knew the right way to pull up the carrot.

We added "Did he first give thanks to the Root Gnome and ask if he might pull up the carrot?" Then Hugin put his mouth close to the ground and called: "Gnome, good Root Gnome. Many thanks for helping this beautiful carrot to grow so big and beautiful. May I take your carrot home so that on Thanksgiving Day we can eat a soup that tastes of carrots sweet?"

We also added at the end where everyone is helping each other up:

"Many thanks for you help. So sorry to have knocked you over."

The last line of our story is read like this:

"And nobody was hurt, and everybody laughed. All their hearts were full of thanks for the help each one did give and for that beautiful carrot that would make their bellies warm and full. "

It was very sweet to know that the message was received. Here the littles are meeting the characters and reciting the story as they remembered. I heard many "thank yous" being shared between characters and "oohs and ahhs" for how beautiful the carrot was and how thankful they were for such a lovely treat to eat. It is so beautiful to me how children really are much more readily available to give gratitude. Their wonder, their beautiful attunement to love and how each individual creature is just as important and valuable as the next. I never tire of watching this grace in action.

Another little piece that we've woven into this tapestry of thanks is the song "Johnny Appleseed". We sing an adapted version, for no particular reason, this is just how I was taught to sing it.......

Oh, the Earth's been good to me.
And so I thank the Earth
For giving me the things I need:
The sun, the rain and the apple seed;
Oh, the Earth's been good to me.

Oh, and every seed I sow
Will grow into a tree.
And someday there'll be apples there
For everyone in the world to share.
Oh, the Earth is good to me.

 

Here is a photo of a little craft we did the other day.......it's a turkey! I'm sure you guessed :) I'm not entirely into these kinds of crafty things, I much prefer something that is a bit more purposeful; but that being said, Charlotte and Kiki are very much into puppets lately. Everything is a puppet ready for a show. We happen to have many gloves that are missing their other so it seemed a perfect thing to turn them into puppets; and why not a turkey?! Gobble! Gobble!!

How do you incorporate giving thanks and living in gratitude with your littles? xo




A Bit of Magic : A Pumpkin Painting Story

We've heard many stories to support a particular painting project but none really resonated with me or my kids enough to create a well rounded experience. To honor that, I chose to write my own story to follow along with a somewhat traditional pumpkin painting experience. The painting part doesn't begin right away so if you choose to share our story with your children, read it ahead so you can get a feel for where and when you can prompt your kids to begin to create their little pumpkins.

 

I felt Kiki was bit young for this project so I set up a pumpkin project similar to our

 Shamrock Window Transparency.
~ You will need some orange paper to cut into a pumpkin frame
~ some bits of tissue paper
~ a blue piece of paper to frame your pumpkin on

 

We used the wet on wet watercolor technique for the pumpkin painting. It's such a magical experience to watch and participate in. To see your littles' eyes light up when they see the colors change or the pumpkin face come shining through......it really is quite sweet.

 

~ You will need some wet watercolor paper

~ Blue, red, yellow watercolors

~ A cup of plain water

~ Brushes for the paint and water

Enjoy ~

 

Once upon a time a Little Seed lived in the earth. He was waiting and waiting until the time was just right for him to begin to grow. He waited until the soil was warm enough…….and on that day he burst open and a little green tendril began to uncurl from Little Seed’s body. With so much strength and persistence he pushed through the earth above and followed the trail to the ever glowing light.

As days came and went he kept growing his long green tendrils all along the garden floor. Leaves began to sprout along the curly vines and then little flower buds began to pop out between the leaves.  Now, our Little Seed friend knew that these flowers were very special because it was from the “Queen” flowers that a round, orange, pumpkin would grow. All day long, Little Seed would call for the bees, telling them that a feast would await them in just a short time. This would be a once in a lifetime day for everyone. It was on this one day that Little Seed would push his flowers open to welcome the bees for the afternoon feast. These blossoms would begin to unfold by early dawn and by late morning they would be in full bloom. They would be open and waiting for the bees to come and share their pollen with all the flowers along the vine but especially with the “Queen” flowers atop their globe shaped thrones.

That day had arrived and the bees were humming so loudly. They were happy and full of pollen, dropping little bits into each “Queen” as they sipped on the sweet nectar within the flower.  Little Seed could hear and see the symphony of miracles that was happening all around him. By dusk the bees had  gone off to their hives and all the flowers had begun their final bow. The flowers closed and the pollen within each “Queen” had begun to create magic within the round thrones below her. Little Seeds dream was coming true and the pumpkins he so anticipated were beginning to grow.

~ First, a golden ball began to appear. (Paint a yellow sphere on your paper)

~ Then, as the summer light began to shift these little yellow balls began to take on an orange hue. (Add some watery red to your yellow and watch as the color changes  from yellow to orange).

~ The magic and wonder was more than Little Seed could bear. He felt so much satisfaction for the birth of the pumpkins because he knew that they would bring such joy and happiness to many little children who would come one day to pick those pumpkins. The sky above them was so blue but could not match that of the bright burst of orange that shone from the pumpkins below. (Paint blue all around your pumpkin but be mindful not to mix the blue with the orange in an effort to keep the colors separate).

 

~ After the sweltering heat of summer had come and gone and the leaves started falling from their tree homes, Little Seed knew it was time. The pumpkins that had started from little green globes beneath the most beautiful flowers had finished growing. They were ready to be taken from their curly, green, vines and brought home to a loving and appreciative family that would use this pumpkin for a lovely celebration. Little Seed knew that these pumpkins would provide nourishment, fun, beauty, and then would return to the Earth and begin anew. (Combine a bit of the orange and blue to encourage a stem (greenish) somewhere along your pumpkin).

 

~ As the children danced along Little Seed’s long tendril and chose the perfect pumpkin to take home, Little Seed felt very proud. He had worked very hard for a very long time. He was sad to see his treasures go but knew their life would be so meaningful to so many. As the pumpkins were carried away Little Seed saw the smiling faces of each one glowing back at him; their eyes, their smiles, their teeth, their noses.  (Now paint faces on your pumpkins with some fresh water. The clean water will wash away any color that is there and a face will shine through. You can use a clean cloth to dab the paper with and help pull the color away. After it dries a bit paint your eyes, smile, nose with some yellow paint. This gives your pumpkin a nice glowing face).

 

It had been a busy time for Little Seed and he found he was ready to retire for the winter. He knew that he would be taken care of by the Winter Fairies and Gnomes and other woodland creatures. They would tuck him in for the long cold winter and prepare him for what lie ahead.

The winter winds began to blow, Little Seed could hear that he was being called away. He drifted gently from the cold, barren earth and danced among the snowflakes and ice to discover where it is he was to go next. Little Seed didn’t know where he would land  but trusted that it would be just as amazing as where he had been.

KiKi's finished pumpkin

 

Charlotte asked to make her painting our new Welcome sign on our front door (the screen comes through in the photo, kinda neat looking I thought!).

I think it's perfect, don't you? :)

 

 

 

* This post was shared on Frontier Dream ~ Keep Calm Craft On

and Seasons of Joy