A Child’s Eye View

A child’s eye view. 👁

I often practice getting on my hands and knees in my playroom, to try and get a child’s perspective, it’s not only great for safety reasons as sometimes we may not notice some hazards, especially with babies and younger children, it’s amazing though for allowing yourself to see and feel the space how a child may.

How does it invite them in? Is it open enough for collaboration? Does it provide space for quiet? Is it warm, nourishing and enriching? Does it inspire imaginative play?

I’ve had wonderful feedback from many people over the months - and I’ve had negative. Some thinking it’s too pink, too neutral, not enough bright colours, not enough pictures.

In this playroom, the child’s wellbeing, the child’s imagination is paramount. It quietly reflects the seasons through thoughtful and deliberate placement of natural, nourishing open ended toys. It leaves room for transformation, it’s walls a blank canvas for the child’s world, it’s soft colour a cocoon for the child to feel secure, to allow them to slowly come into themselves, to deeply engage in their own work of understanding the world, play.

This room, was our dining room, and it has become an extension of the deep reverence I have for children and their right to childhood and play, it’s walls already hold so many memories and I can’t wait for it to absorb so many more.

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Our Summer Candle and the benefits of Modelling with Beeswax.

There is something so nourishing about using coloured beeswax to decorate candles, we have a candle on our dinner table and seasonal table and its a wonderful way of keeping in touch with The changing seasons to decorate one every month.

The children had a true team effort today in creating a lovely candle for summer solstice, using Stockmar Decorating wax! Whilst decorating the candle we also got the modelling wax out to make some beautiful little insects for our seasonal table.

The benefits of decorating and modelling wax in art and craft.

Stockmar Decorating and Modelling wax, are both coloured sheets of beeswax, which become malleable under warmth. Decorating wax comes in thinner sheets to modelling wax which allows it to be spread almost like butter over candles and other objects.

If you have read through any posts on here, you probably hear me say how children absorb the world around them indiscriminately. The sensory experience of modelling and working with beeswax is sensory, to touch as it warms in the hands, as its properties change, to smell again it smells divine and as it warms the smell encompasses the child. The array of colours allow the child will into being any creatures and creations their imagination brings forth.

Modelling with beeswax helps physical and cognitive development, unlike soft doughs, the work requires perseverance, the wax must be worked to make it malleable it requires the whole will and concentration of the child, in the process of this it allows the child to slowly come into their bodies, it has a soft calming effect. The motor development strengthens finger muscles and dexterity for writing later on in childhood and other tasks such as finger knitting, sewing and mending.

I cant recommend beeswax enough!

Happy Fathers Day

A beautiful keepsake for the most wonderful father in the world.

The wet on wet paintings from yesterday dried so beautifully and the little one added some extra decoration this morning with her crayons.

If you swipe you can see her beautiful doodles, she’s been showing representation of herself for a little while now in her doodles - see the lines in the middle of the circles..these lines are representing her developing consciousness as an individual in the world. Which fits right in with her language at the moment. The other day myself and daddy had hold of her, I was giving daddy a kiss, then Arya a kiss...after a while she said ‘No, my daddy’ she has demonstrated this at the dinner table too as she now refers to family members things as ‘yours’ ‘that nice your drink’. When she looks in the mirror she says ‘it’s me’. It’s such a wonderful and beautiful thing to witness a child slowly coming into their body and beginning to understand and form their own idea of their place in this world. And I feel so happy to have captured a tiny part of this on this card for her daddy, what we no doubt will look back on with love in years to come.

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