It was with such joy that the Early Childhood children celebrated their Harvest Festival last week. Festivals such as these are of special pedagogical significance for the development of the child as they allow the child to find their orientation in time, they work together toward a common goal, they celebrate what the season is offering and a sense of community is enhanced. Festivals in Waldorf schools originated out of Rudolf Steiner’s lecture in 1923 ‘The Year as a Breathing Process of the Earth’. Some of the ideas presented were the processes that are taking place in nature during the distinct four seasons with Steiner delving deeper into the breathing cycle of the earth in both the northern and southern hemisphere.
As the children made their harvest crowns with foraged foliage a deeper understanding of the changing season was enhanced. The children sang ‘Bring the harvest to the table, bring the best that you are able, bring the bounty fresh and fair and freely give so all may share’ as they added their contribution to the beautifully adorned Harvest Table. A sense of awe could be seen on the children’s faces as they placed their contribution.
The teachers put on Puppet Show called ‘The Apple Cake’ where the children participated as audience members. This story is a beautiful story of an old woman who wanted to make an apple cake so she set off to find some apples with only a basket of plums to trade, along the way there was swapping of plums for feathers, feathers for flowers, flowers for a gold chain, a gold chain for a dog and a dog for apples and all along the way everyone was happy with the old woman returning home to make a beautiful apple cake for her supper.
With Love, The Early Childhood Team.
