Celebrating Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year holds a special space in our home. My two older children are of Chinese heritage. Their father being British Born Chinese. When my marriage ended with their father our celebrations never did and I have cherished and love every Chinese New Year decorating the house with red lanterns, making Chinese sweet bread and eating Hot Pot until we could eat no more.

This years celebrations are very different not seeing friends we love to share the celebrations with but we will make it special with food, board games and crafts.

The lovely thing is this year the little one is at the lovely age where she is aware of these celebrations and immersing her in the occasion is wonderful. The sights, sounds and smells will be within our four walls but we have so much to enrich her experience around the home.

I’ve always been a big fan of real objects for play and exploration rather than manufactured toys and over the years I built a basket of Chinese treasures (all kept in a large bamboo steamer) the textures, the colour and patterns so evocative of Chinese culture - of the tiny shops I visited many years ago in Hong Kong.

I have been working on a Chinese New Year pack, which I have not managed to finish in time this year - but I’ve decided to add other festivals to it and make it a year round guide which will be available sometime in the near future.

I’m slowly building up a collection of Persian items for Nowruz a celebration which I can’t wait to build on as part of the little ones own family heritage.

Do you collect items from your heritage?

#thewaywewaldorf #waldorfathome #chinesenewyear #earlychildhood #steinerwaldorf #waldorfeducation #earlychildhood #treasurebasket

Choosing natural bedding

A growing girl in her own bed.

One thing I have been so conscious of since her birth is that the little one is wrapped up in fibres which are safe and natural. She suffers from Eczema and so when choosing her bedding I wanted to be sure the fibres I were choosing were best for her.

A recent sleep study conducted by Leeds university found that you were 67% more likely to have better quality sleep with wool bedding than any other.

As we know with base layers and clothing wool thermoregulates. It insulates when you need warmth, and it wicks moisture away from the skin when you are hot.

Add to the fact it is also hypo allergenic and I was sold. I chose a few options for the little ones bedding from @lanacareworld

A 100% merino wool mattress topper - the layer the little one sleeps on is so important - we don’t get air flow between our bodies and the mattress so this will help keep her skin at the right temperature and reduce skin irritation.

Kapok duvet and pillow - Kapok is a hollow fibre, it’s a fibre which is harvested from seeds of the Kapok tree in the rainforest and is actually the most sustainable fibre in the market today, it leaves no human footprint behind and due to how Kapok trees grow no human intervention is needed to protect the fruit of the tree to harvest - no pesticides, no changing the natural habitat. It thermoregulates just like wool is hypo allergenic and anti-microbial which makes it perfect for us.

Finally for that extra layer of warmth a 100% merino wool blanket, perfect for the colder winter nights right now and so soft next to the skin.

The little one is the first one in the house to have a complete range of natural bedding - and reading the research and feeling the quality of it I will be making the switch for all of us this year. It may be slightly more expensive than your average market duvet, but you certainly get the quality and peace of mind for its properties and low environmental impact.

A big hug from Mother Nature 🌏🌱fibres worked so beautifully into bedding and clothing by @lanacareworld

The sleeping area is almost ready, just a couple of little personal touches to complete, can’t wait to share.

Starting Handwork

Simple sewing handworkYes it’s February and she has a Father Christmas Dress from her Nanna and why not! With all the snow lately you could forgive her 😅.

So I’m still waiting for all the bits and bobs for her little handwork box I’m putting together but today she was wanting to sew so I got out some things to enable her to explore sewing and handwork away from the lacing and threading boards and resources she has been playing with.

A small embroidery frame , a darning needle and an open weave fabric such as linen with some crewel wool provide a really great starting point for sewing with little ones. The darning needle is blunt enough not to cause injury whilst they are learning the fine complexities of holding fabric, the needle and keeping the wool from slipping, but it’s sharp enough to go through an open weave fabric and for there to be a little resistance there too!

She really enjoyed sitting with this having a go, I decided to put the fabric in an embroidery frame for now as it has the familiarity of holding the board she has been using, and allows her to focus on what she’s doing with the needle, once she’s got used to that I’ll leave some scraps of fabric for her to play and experiment with, who knows that will happen, will she sew them individually, will she thread them on one piece of yarn who knows!

#toddlerhandwork #finemotorskills #earlychildhood #steinerwaldorf #waldorfathome #waldorfearlychildhood #crewelwool #darning #sewingwithchildren