Summer Solstice Celebrations – Waldorf Inspired

As a family we’ve not really followed one path. We like to pick out the bits we enjoy from different philosophies when it comes to home life with our little one Floss, whether that be Montessori, Reggio, Waldorf or any other school of ideology. Recently, we’ve begun to attend a Waldorf parent and child group one morning a week and we’ve discovered that a lot of what we enjoy fits with a Waldorf way. So, we are dipping our toes in a little further to see what else we like and might add to our days, weeks, months, seasons and years.

Summer Solstice - Sun - Crafts - Waldorf - Inspired - Seasonal - Rhythm

Rhythm

Waldorf time passes through rhythms. We’re part way through a course with Eloise from www.fridabemighty.com looking at developing our rhythms in our lives. What we’ve realised is that we already have quite established daily and micro rhythms, our weekly rhythms are coming together, yet our seasonal rhythms are very limited. I want this to change. As a child I really enjoyed the passing of the seasons, but it happened more by luck and the fact that my sister and I spent most of our time outdoors in the garden. I love the idea of marking the passage through the year with celebrations that are repeated each year. Come with us on our journey to see where the seasons take us. First up, Summer Solstice.

Summer Solstice - Sun - Crafts - Waldorf - Inspired - Seasonal - Rhythm
Summer Solstice - Sun - Crafts - Waldorf - Inspired - Seasonal - Rhythm
Summer Solstice - Sun - Crafts - Waldorf - Inspired - Seasonal - Rhythm

Creating

In our family, one way we like to make something feel special is to create something. Floss loves balls of wool and this lovely weaving sun idea from Cathy at Nurture Store was just the craft to brighten one of our mornings as we prepared the house for the Midsummer celebration. It requires very little materials – we love to craft so wool and ribbon remnants are always available in our house. We also had a lovely time making a sun catcher. The idea came from Rainy Day Mum and was so easy to do. It looks lovely when the sun shines through. We used odd bits of left over tissue paper from deliveries and scrap paper. You would need some sticky back plastic.

Summer Solstice - Sun - Crafts - Waldorf - Inspired - Seasonal - Rhythm
Summer Solstice - Sun - Crafts - Waldorf - Inspired - Seasonal - Rhythm
Summer Solstice - Sun - Crafts - Waldorf - Inspired - Seasonal - Rhythm

I’d bought Floss the book ‘Summer’ by Gerda Muller to celebrate the solstice. I wrapped it in some yellow tissue for her ready for the celebration day. It’s a beautiful book with no words, just delicate drawings showing pictures of summer pastimes. You could find objects in the pictures, tell your own story for each image or recall a similar time you’ve had as a family. I put the parcel in the middle of the Grimms Rainbow and Grimms Semi Circle Sun I’d made (see photo above). I couldn’t not add a couple of Ocamora Gems too.

Towards the end of the week we have our Steiner group and we’ll be celebrating with a festival outside. It will be our first Summer Solstice and St John’s Eve celebration and we’re really looking forward to the bonfire.

2019 Update – I can’t believe how quickly a year has gone by and the Summer Solstice is almost upon us again. This year we’ve been making and decorating candles. Check out the post – link here. Happy Summer Solstice. How do you celebrate?

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