Winter 2023
A recap of how we spent our season meaningfully.
Play - under the mindful categories
Food - recipes, menus
PLAY
Beautiful nature we experienced, plants, insects, places, mushrooms, berries,
Treasures we collected - how we used them in play, used in crafts, us exploring them at home
How we played with weather - the toys we made and improvised
Places we visited
NATURE
THEME
+ SMALL WORLD
+ SENSORY
Seasonal Fruit and Veggies - how they grow + Cooking with them together
Soil + Bugs
Insects
Animals we encounter - birds, farm, wildlife…
Plants we encounter - mushrooms, berries,
THEME - pic a theme for the week and explore ways to learn and engage in it! Be open and flexible
Research & Draw Cards together
Story & Small World
Set up Sensory / Small world for play
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RESEARCH
AT LUNCH - What kind of beetles the grubs we found at Collingwood children’s farm will grow into! We learnt that lots of the grubs look very similar and it often depends on where we find them as to what they will grow into!
SMALL WORLD
AFTER NAP - made little habitats and shelters for bugs using felts, blocks and big loose parts like boxes and tubes. Pretended the rain is coming and they all needed a little home for shelter!
SENSORY SMALL WORLD
MORNING - set up soil, leaves, containers, tongs and scoops and added the narrative that they bugs like to keep warm in winter by finding under leaves and inside the soil. he just loves scooping and transferring soil
AFTER NAP - a simple bowl of water, bowls, spoon and frogs at the kitchen counter
STORY + SMALL WORLD
AT LUNCH - I bought more little frogs so we can play out the song 5 GREEN SPECKLED FROGS! he loved it!
OPEN ENDED
Art & Craft
Sensory Set Up
Playdough
Loose Parts & Skills - including toys
PRETEND
Practicing being a thriving human
Life Wisdom
Cooking - including nourishing healing the body
Nurturing a warm and welcoming home - cleaning & mindsets & rituals practices
Gardening - growing our own food, creating food for the best with flowers, weeding, planting seeds, seasonal themes and practices from nature
Making by hand - inspired by what we actually did together - natural wellness things, practical life
Care and Love with doll / dolls house - hosting parties, sharing meals and tea party, picnics, practicing self care rituals, nursing when sick with natural medicine and love
OTHER
Books
Playlists / music
Games
Creative ways to add play into rituals and traditions
WALDORF
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Opening (Action Song)
Good morning to the sun up in the sky,
Good morning to the birds as they fly on by.
Good mrning to the tree so straight and tall,
Good morning to the nest where the possum rests
Good morning everyone.
* * * * * * *
Now Winter Begins (Fingerplay)
by Jean Warren
Into their hives the busy bees crawl.
Into the ant hills, go ants one and all.
Caterpillars too, have hidden their heads,
Safely spun in their snug little beds.
The possums have all climbed to their holes in the trees.
The bird nests are empty, no chicks can we see.
The leaves have all blown away on the wind
Announcing to all – Now winter begins!
Fires are built in the hearths of homes.
Hats are knitted and coats are sewn.
Harsh winds blow all through the night.
Lights all flicker, what a sight!
Everyone waits for the first sight of snow,
Then down it comes, soft and slow.
The world is quiet, the world is white
Winter is here, a beautiful sight!
* * * * * * *
Winter (Standing Action Rhyme)
The day is cloudy and the wind is bold.
Dress up warmly, you mustn't get cold!
Put on your coat and zip it up tight, put on your left boot, put on your right.
Put on your scarf and put on your hat, put on your mittens and clap-clap-clap!
Go outside and play and play.
Come in again, and then we'll say-
Take off your coat that was zipped up tight, take off your left boot, take off your right.
Take off your scarf, take off your hat, take off your mittens, and then take a nap!
* * * * * * *
Jack Frost (Verse)
Where did you get that little red nose?
Jack Frost kissed it I suppose.
He kissed it once.
He kissed it twice.
Poor little nose it's as cold as ice!
* * * * * * * *
Candle (Verse)
A candle's but a simple thing,
it starts with just a bit of string,
But dipped or rolled with patient hand,
it gathers wax upon the strand.
Until complete and snowy white,
it gives at last a lovely light.
Life seems so like that bit of string,
each deed we do a simple thing.
Yet day by day on life's strand,
we work with patient heart and hand.
It gathers joy, makes dark days bright,
and gives at last a lovely light.
* * * * * * *
Up The Tall White Candlestick (Fingerplay)
Up the tall white candlestick
(Make left arm into candlestick)
Crept little Mousey Brown
(Two fingers of fight hand run up the candlestick)
Right up to the top but he couldn't get down!
(Fingers wiggle at top)
So he called to his Grandma
(Call through cupped hands)
Grandma! Grandma!
But Grandma was in town
So he curled himself into a ball
(curl right hand into a fist)
And rolled himself right down
(Clench both fists and roly-poly them around each other)
* * * * * * *
Pygmy Possum (Fingerplay)
Here is a tree-hole.
(Bend fingers on one hand)
Inside is a Possum.
(Put thumb inside fingers.)
See she comes out
(Pop out thumb)
When Banksia blossoms.
She stays out all summer
In sunshine and heat.
She hunts in the bush
(Mimic picking and eating berries)
For berries to eat.
When snow starts to fall.
(fingers fluttering moving side to side)
She hurries inside
(Bend fingers of one hand)
her warm little home
And there she will hide.
(Put thumb inside fingers.)
Snow covers the ground
(Place one hand over the other.)
Like a fluffy white rug.
Inside Possum sleeps
(pretend to be sleeping)
All cozy and snug.
* * * * * * *
Who is this I hear?
Deep down in the sea.
Softly echoing, like a dream.
Is it the wind so strong and free,
Singing through branches of every tree?
No, it’s not the wind!
Who is this I hear?
Deep down in the sea.
Softly echoing, like a dream.
Is it the noisy minor bird scattering things,
and flying with flapping wings?
No, it’s not the noisy minor!
Who is this I hear?
Deep down in the sea.
Softly echoing, like a dream.
Is it the wedge- tailed eagle soaring along,
Circling around and calling his song.
No, it’s not the wedge-tailed eagle!
Then let us see- who can it be?
Behold deep down in the sea.
The whale’s dancing song,
As he swims along,
Softly echoing, like a dream (Actions- smooth and graceful, gliding animal actions to slow down).
* * * * * * *
Closing Verse
Softly, softly, through the darkness
Snow is falling.
Meekly, meekly in the meadows
Lambs are calling.
Coldly, coldly all around me
Winds are blowing.
Brightly, brightly up above me
Stars are glowing.
THRIVING LIVING TOGETHER
HANDMADE
Purposeful living together. True life wisdom
Traditional cooking skills
Explore and learn skills together - sewing, wood work, candle making, skin care
Gardening
COOKING + HOME
Creating our own seasonal menu and finding our fave meals. making a family cook book
Nurturing and maintaining our home
RECIPES + MEAL PLANS
MEMORIES • SEASONAL STORIES • RITUALS • PRACTICES
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Oh the difficulty of getting a toddler to stop playing and go to bed haha. But here’s what’s working for us, in this season of life, before baby #2 is born.
Lets start with what’s NOT working…
Ok time for bed! Lets pack up the toys and go have a shower and hop into bed :D. Charlie: No.
Forcing him and insisting because it’s night time and its time for bed = tantrum.
The hard part at the moment is stopping an activity and starting a new one. he might say no to a shower but then once he’s in the shower he refuses to get out. Definitely hates stopping playing and packing toys away. finds it so triggering poor thing.
So here is what is working!
Suggesting an activity he loves!
The rhythm
Hopping up a the kitchen counter to take our supplements together. He’ll pretty much stop doing everything for this!
Then after we’ve done that, I enthusiastically suggest going upstairs and listening to our favourite little Charlie Hope playlist and sing some songs together while we have a quick shower! Which toy would you like to bring in the shower with you?
Another day I suggested washing our farm animals because they’ve got all muddy and dirty when they got caught in the rain today!
To get out of the shower, I once again enthusiastically suggest we hop into bed and read his favourite books, The Farm and his new favourite book from his grandma Just One More Hug. We might still have to sing some songs while getting out and getting PJs on to help with the transition.
Sometimes simply chatting about our day or memories of things we love and connect over helps with the transition of putting nappy and PJs on. Certainly ‘come on we have to put PJs on’ is a guaranteed NO
Then once in bed and dressed, we snuggle up and read books. He’s loving counting at the moment so I tell him we can read 2 or 3 books then its time to turn the light off and go to sleep. He’s excited about the numbers and counting on his fingers so he agrees haha.
Once the books are read, there will be some discussion about ‘one more book’ but I stick to the plan and say no we’ve done our 3, now Charlie can turn the light off or mummy can. He nearly always jumps to turn the lamp off as he loves to play with the switch.
And lastly we snuggle together and both fall asleep! Usually me before him haha. Depending on how tired he is, he might play and chat with some kind of toy in the bed like a little car or his new fave wooden plane - my kid doesn’t do soft toys, only hard wooden, plastic or metal vehicles… then eventually fall’s asleep.
Coping with the NO has been hard. and at first, I handled it very badly. But I became more tolerant and calm as I knew what to expect and learnt how unsuccessful being stern and firm has been, I’m now able to stay calm, compassionate and give him the space he needs to express his frustration. I repeat back to him what he’s disliking and lately trying to tell him a story about how things come and go in our day, start and finish, even though sometimes it’s hard to stop doing something we like. I offer hugs and warmth which has worked beautifully, unlike the chaos and tantrums we experienced when I wasn’t.
The biggest takeaway is:
explain to him that he has to do something because we just HAVE to now, never works. always leads to tantrums.
focusing on connection, fun and making the transition enjoyable for him is the only way it works.
sometimes even my best creative ideas don’t work, and I simply need to give him space, compassion and understanding that he’s having a hard time.
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Some of my happiest times is when I’m slowly and mindfully cooking dinner, with beautiful soft gentle lamp light on, cooking a delicious and nutritious meal while Charlie and daddy play. Playing in the background is some funky jazz which Charlie just loves to pretend he’s playing the instruments and we all dance together! I set the table beautifully, light a candle and we sit together and continue chatting and having fun at the table together. This happens best when we chat to Charlie instead of discuss real life things that we don’t agree on… Or chat about his work.
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Saturday morning as a family.
This morning, after being sick so for long, mostly stuck inside because of the cold weather, all 3 of us walked to the cafe to buy fresh bread and coffee. Life has been so stressful lately and this morning’s walk felt like a breath of fresh air! The sun came out, it wasn’t windy and we rugged up enough to feel cosy and comfortable. Our chats were light and lovely, we felt connected and bonded as a family, something that had been missing for a long time. We sat and drank out coffee and Charlie and I bit into the fresh loaf of bread like I used to in my childhood. Good times :)
Though I’m still sick, my energy and mood feels great today :) So I got cosy in the kitchen, played Nourish Album and sang my heart our while tidying and preparing breakfast. One of my absolutely vital practices to feeling alive and in love with life! To spend wholesome time in the kitchen with my nourishing foods and soulful music. I prepared one of my favourite breakfasts - eggs, saurkrout, avocado, tomato, fresh bread and capsicum dip. No better way to start the day than with a rich wholesome breakfast! Charlie and I shared the breakfast platter and sang along. It felt SOOO good to sing the wholesome loving words and watch his sick little face beam with delight. As I was singing Hallelujah he reached his hand out to me and we held hands as I sang with love and passion, feeling the healing entering our hearts and souls!
After breakfast we went went to an auction and Charlie rode his bike, just down the road. It felt so nice to be out of the house this morning and a part of our beautiful little community, chatting to neighbours and spending simple lovely time together. The best.
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Afternoon
Today was work around the house day. my favourite kind of days! Ian’s big task today to tick off before baby is born is dusting upstairs. That was a great big task!
I tidied downstairs and lovingly brought our home back into order. Reset and reorganised the toys, folded the baby washing that had been drying for a few days and swept. Awww seeing the baby clothes all beautifully and neatly ready to go in the drawer brought me so much excitement and joy! I am so excited to dress my baby in the sweetest woollen clothes and explore ways to keep him warm, like a woollen onesie underneath another warmer oversized onsie or jumper and warm pants. SO excited to play around :)
Charlie played beautifully today as we all worked on the house. We played with all the small world toys, brought out his magnet tiles, played with duplo and finally played outside with his little sandpit and trucks in the sun! It was just perfect. He has just exploded in pretend play, playing with blocks, pulling out his felt fabrics and making little scenes! It makes me SOO unbelievably happy, and only after a couple of times of me setting things up.
For lunch, I heated up congee and fried zucchini which Charlie and I shared (plus Charlie had a few other left overs like beetroots, tomato and left over been Pattie). Best of all, I made a pot of chamomile tea and honey and I read out our winter verses and poems! He LOVES them and so do I! Such a beautiful bonding moment and ritual which I can just sense will be lovely for when baby is here to continue.
Then it’s time for a nap. The best thing to come from this marathon of sickness is being forced to nap in bed. SO to get him upstairs I say ‘After lunch it’s time for a rest. Lets take some mendarins and have a snack in bed, then we can take a nap together’. Worked beautifully. It was also the right timing, around 2:30. And to get him to stop moving around and playing I say ‘let’s pretend…’ and today’s story was ‘that we are a stick in the mud and a bird comes and rests at the top and takes a nap.’ He closed his eyes and repeated the story which I gently rocked him. within minutes he was asleep! Also the first day I DIDN’t take a nap. I’m sick of lying down lol.
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Evening
Ian cooking dinner has been the BEST. I love focusing on just lunches and breakfast, makes life feel soooo easy. Grateful!
I just loved
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How we’ve been treading our sickness naturally: