Monday, August 29, 2011

Rhythm In Our Home : Crafting



Time for our weekly rhythm post, again! This time I'll dive into our crafting rhythm. The girls and I have Tuesday set aside as our craft day. Just like the other weekly rhythm activities - this is special Mama/Girlies time.
It's no lie that the girls craft every free moment of every day, but even so our weekly craft day is special. The rest of the week their crafting activities are mostly things they do on their own from their imaginations. We have craft stations set up throughout our home so that whenever they are feeling inspired they can instantly create without having to wait on us to get out all of their supplies. They usually only include me if they need help or want something made to help out with their endeavors.



Our crafting time together is about the process and the whole experience of creating - not so much the end result. Some craft day projects will be a bit more elaborate while others will be something as simple as cutting and gluing paper. Some examples would be gluing and adding finishing touches to caterpillars, sprouting grass, or making beeswax candles or ornaments. When C used to nap K and I would work on window stars together. We stopped when she stopped napping as she is too young to do that project. I think we may try to do that again this year and maybe give C some colorful kite paper to cut and glue into her own stars.





Most recently we made sun prints. My friend Joy reminded me of this project. I picked up the sunprint kit back in college on an oceanography trip and forgot all about them. I am very thankful for Joy's reminder as the girls had a blast making them. They reminded me of my days living in the dark room back before photography went digital. I miss those days...anyways- back to rhythm! Craft day plans need not be extensive or grand by any means. All that truly matters to me is that it is something we are all doing together. I submerge myself fully into our projects making sure to be 100% attentive, very present and in the moment. Crafting is one of K's favorite times to 'chat' about everything and anything going on in her life, which is a nice reminder to me as to why we need this time together.







A couple of the things we do on our craft days are interchangeable with our handwork days. Making play dough, or gak, for example. Those projects are good for those days when the girls are having a hard time staying in control of their bodies.



Please remember - this is just our family rhythm and what works for us at the moment. This isn't meant to be hard and fast rules on how rhythm should go in every one or any one's homes. I just thought to share it because I receive quite a few e-mails asking about our home rhythm, and I also just wanted it documented for me to remember when they are older and on to another rhythm.

Thank you, again, for joining me in the rhythm fun! Here is the linky list. If you have a (new or old) link you would like to share about your family rhythm, please enter it below so that we all may see. Then please link back here in your post. I look forward to seeing your inspiration!
Thanks friends!

Share/Bookmark

Comments (19)

Loading... Logging you in...
  • Logged in as
Rachel Karr's avatar

Rachel Karr · 708 weeks ago

Can you pretty please post pics of your craft stations? Or any tips you have on organizing supplies? My 2.5 year old has already amassed quite a bit of crafty stuff and its just thrown in a drawer, so unorganized and overwhelming for both of us. I think I would feel more inspired ( and so would she!) if it was accessible and organized better. Thanks!!
1 reply · active 708 weeks ago
Of course! I will try to get pics next week. We organize most of our supplies in baskets and jars right now.
It is much the same here, really the girls are crafting and creating many many hours of every single day. We will also have one day during the school week that we work on a specific handwork project, probably seasonal or related to our lessons. And Chloe has requested that every Sunday be "Handwork Sunday". I think Handwork Sunday may have to include a tea party as well. Would you like to come?
XO
1 reply · active 708 weeks ago
Yes, please! We'd love to come.
I really enjoy these posts, Nicole! I thrive on making routines for myself, even if the follow-through is lacklustre. But it helps me organize my mind to accomplish what I deem important in the day. We have such a solid rhythmic sense here and I remember I did this post just after returning home from the hospital when my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It might seem a little inflexible, but truly it helps me be more fluid with ideas. Thanks again for the posts...you and I have such similarities, it's uncanny!
xo Jules
1 reply · active 708 weeks ago
Thank you Jules. We do have such similarities, don't we? Gotta love finding people like yourself via the blog world <3
I need to review the nightly rhythm again...the kids were....difficult. I miss the darkroom too. The magic seemed deeper when the images emerged than they do now with digital. I actually have a darkroom set up but have never set it up, I keep thinking I should sell it. I fell like it goes against my desire to have no harsh chemicals in the house. Anyway... remembering to be fully present during these times and listening is such an important reminder for the special gathering, but that it does not have to be that way every time they sit down to create. Thanks again, great post.
1 reply · active 708 weeks ago
The darkroom is such a magical place, isn't it? I miss seeing my images suddenly appear before me.
I am really loving this series of posts. It inspired me to try out a weekly rhythm in our home and Wednesday has become our craft day! I have to admit though last Wednesday I spent more time setting up all our supplies than my son actually spent painting hah. He's only two though so I'd be interested to hear more of what C does for craft time.
1 reply · active 708 weeks ago
Ha,ha oh do I hear you!! Set up and clean up take just as much time, if not more, as the project itself.
C, for the most part, does what K does, just not quite as detailed,I guess. She needs more guidance and help from me, being younger and all.For example when we made our caterpillars C painted hers but I cut out the legs for her to glue on while K cut out her own. Our projects generally work for various ages. We model them after projects in the Waldorf kindergarten which is mixed-age ranging from 3-7.
Did that make any sense? It seems to be hard to put it into words right now for some reason.
I just added a new rhythm to our week inspired by the 'I WILL' campaign for 9-11!
It looks like your crafting days are truly enjoyed by your girls. I posted a link to my post on soup days last week (in which I actually linked back to your baking day post). Thanks again for doing these rhythm posts. They are truly inspiring. xoxo
My girls are big time crafters, but the toddler in house makes this so difficult sometimes. Thankfully she still has at lest one nap a day, and we try to get our crafting done then.
I suppose we best get busy with our sunprint kit before the rainy season settles in ;-) We got a huge role of kite paper back in June. We made a kite (that never flew successfully), but really I wanted it for the stars! Can't wait to make time for the folding :-)
Love all these crafts. We've tried all of them at one time or another. I'd really like to roll our beeswax candles again and I looked at your lovely egg/beeswax tutorial. Where do you get the beeswax sheets, beeswax and the pot that you mentioned?
1 reply · active 708 weeks ago
Thanks Ellen. The beeswax sheets were gifts from my Mom but you can get them from Magiccabin.com and Novanatural.com. We bought the block of beeswax at our local farmer's market and the pot we use for beeswax exclusively waas just an old used pot at the thrift store. I hope that helps!
Such a beautiful post. I linked to my post about changing my daughter's room to match the summer--the rhythm of the season. I too can't wait to roll some beeswax candles, and the sun photos look like so much fun!
we made this gnome wooden plaything for our waldorf school basar last year. Hope you enjoy! Thank you for your wonderful and inspirational blog .
Sanne from Germany, wife to Thomas and mother to two dd and 4 ds
liebchenhut's avatar

liebchenhut · 708 weeks ago

Thanks for such neat ideas and inspiration!

Post a new comment

Comments by

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...