Making Waldorf Crafts: Step-by-Step Crafts for Children from 6 to 8 Years (Crafts and family Activities)

I was gifted this book and I am so glad! Making Waldorf Crafts isn't your normal "I'm going to knit a gnome book". You can knit a gnome with it, but there's so much more.Nina Taylor spent thirty years as Handwork Teacher in Canterbury and is a facilitator for the UK Waldorf Handwork Teacher Training course.And she knows that every piece of handwork begins with a story. There's a wonderful imagination about this book as the stories and verses are interwoven with the handwork projects. It's written in a way that children could make things on their own, with a little help from an adult here and there.But what fun it would be to make them together. With this book and a little bit of wool and felt we could make so many things. A cat, a rainbow ball, a gnome. I want to make a bunny rabbit. And there are two bunny rabbit "recipes". A pompom rabbit and a knitted rabbit.There are stories for learning to knit and really helpful drawings that guide all of us through the process, even if you've never knitted before. There's even a handwork bag project to put everything in and a flute case project to keep our flute safe and snug.Spinning, knitting, sewing and weaving are included with clear step-by-step illustrations for complete beginners. There are also tips from Nina about how to weave storytelling into your crafting and handwork sessions.These are many of the core projects for first and second grade and older. Home school families and school teachers, mothers and fathers and grandmothers alike will find everything they need to "get crafting".If I had one handwork book in my bag for the first two years of school, this would be it. I would make a gnome, a cat, a rabbit (or two!), an owl, and cap it all off with a donkey. And then I'd start again.The instructions are so clear and friendly, it's like having Nina Taylor right there to guide you through the project.

This is a delightful book and just full of wonderful ideas.It's got lots of things to make, whether it's twirling wool into thread, making a pair of knitting needles, knitting a donkey, sewing a felt case for a flute or some simple weaving, and all the help that you will need to make these. It is well supported with drawings of how to make the things and full colour pictures of the finished objects.As you read through the book, you will find little stories to entertain you, and also personal experiences of the author, Nina Taylor, such as her memory of seeing a farmer at a market in Ireland twirling some wool first into a thread and then twisting the thread into a cord, tethering the frisky lamb he'd just bought with the cord, and then leading it home with him.There is a lot of forgotten wisdom in this book that we would do well to remember. Once upon a time crafts like making thread and using a spindle would have been everyday things. It's amazing what you can make with your own hands. I remember when I was young, if you wanted something and it was too expensive, sometimes you would have a go at making it yourself. I remember once making some juggling balls, and it was so satisfying to have made them myself.I hope this book inspires you to try a new craft or teach your children how to make some of the things in the book.