Rudolph Steiner believed it was vital that children learned through the three aspects of themselves, head, heart, and hands. Waldorf education was created with the idea that children contain these three fundamental forces in them physical, emotional, and mental. In Waldorf education, handcrafts are very important to the child’s development. I have found in our Waldorf-inspired homeschool that doing handcrafts during winter helps bring down cabin fever. We do crafts all year but these particular are perfect Waldorf winter handcrafts. They are cozy and warm, and help others during the time of cold. Today I will share 5 different Waldorf winter handcrafts you can easily do with your child!
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Finger Knitting
One of my favorite Waldorf winter handcrafts to do with my children is finger knitting. It is so simple and easy. Sundays with Sarah shares an easy tutorial on how to finger knit. We do this when we are doing read-aloud or we find we are just bored or need something calmer to do. My little one loves to make headbands for her friends from finger-knit crafts.
Candle Making
To go with the cozy theme of winter and handcrafts, one of our absolute favorite things to do that we even do in autumn is candle making. For my kids, I purchase ready-made beeswax candle kits. They are easy to use and you can make endless designs. My kids love to also make candles for their loved ones as gifts for the holidays. These are just fun to burn with dinner or in the evening since it gets dark so early.
Sewing and Mending
Winter is the time for sewing projects and mending clothes that we already have that still have life in them. We try to use what we have before purchasing other things. With that being said I love to allow my children to learn how to hand sew and eventually move to the sewing machine. To teach my children the concept of sewing I use sewing cards, and then we move on to little felt animals and eventually scrap fabric. This teaches patience along with showing how far they have come. I feel like sewing is a lost art that I had to teach myself and want my children to learn.
Bread Making
Bread making is something we do all year but during winter we try all sorts of recipes for bread. We eat a lot of bread in the winter to go with our soups. I will leave some of our favorites listed below. It’s fun for children to get their hands dirty and bread is a great way. I have found children love to beat it down, make fun shapes, and even play with dough as if it’s play dough.
Favorite Soups
- https://thecozycook.com/baked-potato-soup/
- https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/cozy-autumn-wild-rice-soup/comment-page-3/
- https://www.thedaleyplate.com/blog/sausage-potato-and-kale-soup
Birdfeeders
Where we live it gets really cold. We like to gather pinecones on our nature walks throughout the autumn and winter seasons. With these, we add them to our nature table. We like to save some to dip in peanut butter and add seeds to it. We then hang them outside our window where there’s a tree facing our dining room window. It’s so much fun to watch all the different birds especially when they come out after a big snow or long freeze. Not only does this help us see more nature during winter when we have to stay in but it also teaches compassion to children. As we make them I always like to tell a story about a little bird preparing for winter. You can print the story here.
What are some of your favorite Waldorf winter handcrafts you enjoy doing with your children?