A friend had asked me about the play silks in the picture of my last post here and I thought I would share more about play silks and other natural toys.
Being a waldorf inspired family we lean more to the natural world to fill our lives, not only do items tend to be quality and last longer, they are better for us and the planet. We limit plastic where can, and try and buy green. Basics for natural toys are wood, fabric, and metals. The fabric tends to be from plants such as cotton, or animal wool/silk.
So of what use is a piece of colored silk? The key is imagination and open ended toys for open ended play. A blue silk could be the sea you sail your wooden boat on, the sky you fly under, a cap, a tent, a hat, a dress, wrapping paper, doll blanket, wind, wings, or simply something soft to cuddle up with. There are so many things it could be and my children are forever showing me ways to play with them. We never have enough. They end up going home with other children sometimes even as not many children have them but they fall in love with them fast. They need special care, like being hand washed and line dried. Those days are fun!
Granted not all play silks are quality! If you want to knew where we get most of ours just e-mail me. I can tell you also where to stay clear of! You might want to also look into buying your own white ones and dying them. So far I am none too good at that craft!
Other natural toys of course include wooden blocks and cars and doll beds and kitchen play sets. Wool dolls and wool food and balls.
In a congo shop my 9 year old make items to sell in we have these:
At the moment for sale in this congo shop, though not for long I am sure:
http://hyenacart.com/madebymilitarywives/
Also a great way to show your support to a military family by the way!
Wooden and 100% wool felt gnomes. Fun to play with and also to bless a nature table. We also make math gnomes who often have a special place in learning early waldorf math.
We of course are far from perfect in our waldorf ways. There are some plastic toys around the house, we do have TV though it is limited, and I can’t bring myself to dislike classic Disney. All in all though I think we are doing well finding our balance.
