An Overview

of the
Waldorf Kindergarten

Articles from the

Waldorf Kindergarten Newsletter
1981 to 1992
VOLUME 1

Edited by Joan Almon

 With special thanks to Elisabeth Grunelius
and the other pioneering kindergarten teachers who helped to found
the Waldorf kindergarten movement in North America

Copyright © 1993 by the Waldorf Kindergarten Association

of North America, Inc.

Third Edition

For permission to reprint or to order, contact:

The Waldorf Kindergarten Association
1359 Alderton Lane
Silver Spring, MD 20906

Reformatted with permission for posting in PDF on the

Online Waldorf Library
of the Research Institute for Waldorf Education
June 2014
 Table of Contents
Section One: History of the Waldorf Kindergarten Movement
The Waldorf Kindergarten Movement in North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The International Waldorf Kindergarten Association . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Rudolf Steiner Asks for Kindergartens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Section Two: The Developing Child

The Birth of the Etheric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Movement, Gesture and Language in the Life of the Young Child . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Dolls and Animals in the Child’s Room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Section Three: Activities of the Kindergarten

A Day in the Life of the Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Handwork in the Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
About Painting and Human Development through Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Music in the Waldorf Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Circle in the Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Marionette Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
The Pedagogical Value of Marionette and Table Puppet Shows for the Young Child . . . . . 43

Section Four: Fairy Tales and Verses

Fairy Tale Language and the Image of Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
What to Do about Witches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Choosing Fairy Tales for Different Ages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Stories and Verses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Section Five: Festivals and the Year

The Seasons and Their Festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Celebrating the Festivals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Experiencing the Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
The Saints of Autumn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
 THE AUTUMN SEASON
Michaelmas Story of the Star Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
St. Michael on the Crescent of the Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Michael and the Dragon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
A Children’s Halloween . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Pumpkin Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Martinmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
George’s Lantern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

THE WINTER SEASON

The Advent Garden and the Lyre: Something of the History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
A Story for the Advent Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Another Story for the Advent Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Music for the Advent Garden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
St. Nicholas Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Preparing for St. Nicholas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
St. Nicholas Speaks to the Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Three Kings Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

THE SPRING SEASON

Tu Bi’Shevat: New Year of Trees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Passover in the Home and in the Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Carnivale and Lent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Easter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
A Circle Game for Easter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
A Maypole in the Kindergarten . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

THE SUMMER SEASON

Summer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
A Midsummer Tale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Summer Birthdays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
 History of the Waldorf Kindergarten Movement

The Waldorf Kindergarten Movement in North America

Joan Almon
Waldorf Kindergarten Association of North America

By the 1980s a new situation was developing thus became part of the worldwide Waldorf
in the North American Waldorf kindergarten kindergarten movement.
movement. Many of the original teachers were
Since that time the Kindergarten Association
retiring, and they were a group of wonderful
has organized a North American kindergarten
women who had drawn heavily on their own
conference, participated actively in the 1991
rich childhoods along with their studies of
International Kindergarten Conference in
anthroposophy and Waldorf education to
Dornach, organized many regional conferences,
create unique kindergartens. Many of the next
and has helped organize introductory and
generation of teachers had had fine childhoods
advanced courses. It has edited the Kindergarten
but found themselves without the background
Newsletter and worked with publishers on other
in gardening, housekeeping, arts and crafts that
publications.
had come so naturally to the earlier teachers.
This next group needed courses and books to In the past five years it has grown even
develop the missing skills and the soul qualities more active as a rapidly growing number
that they awaken. of communities begin founding Waldorf
kindergartens. Public school districts are also
Fortunately, in the mid 1970s Werner Glas
taking an active interest in Waldorf education,
had already recognized this need and had begun
and university professors are interested in
a kindergarten training program at the Waldorf
including Waldorf education in courses and
Institute, bringing experienced teachers from
research projects. To meet these challenges the
Europe to offer courses. The North American
Kindergarten Association works closely with
teachers were grateful for this impulse and
the Waldorf Schools Association. It also works
took it a step further in 1983 by forming an
actively with the International Kindergarten
Association that would focus on publications,
Association in an effort to help build Waldorf
courses, and conferences for Waldorf
kindergartens and training seminars in eastern
kindergarten teachers. The first challenge was
Europe, in the black townships of South
to help 50 teachers from North America attend
Africa, in South America and other countries.
the 1984 International Kindergarten Conference
Wherever the new freedom of the ’90s is born,
in Dornach. We took an active role in that
a strong interest in Waldorf education awakens,
conference and were invited to participate on the
and the starting point is nearly always with the
Board of the International Waldorf Kindergarten
kindergarten.
Association. The North American Association

5
History of the Waldorf Kindergarten Movement
At the same time that the kindergarten
movement is expanding outwardly, it is also
striving to grow deeper in its anthroposophic
understanding of the young child. Courses
and conferences for deepening the work are
now taking place, and the Association works
The International Waldorf Kindergarten Association
Dr. Helmut von Kügelgen
International Waldorf Kindergarten Association
Rudolf Steiner saw the educational question
as a part of the moral responsibility of mankind
and therefore central to all social problems. The
forming of the social life could, in turn, only
be a part of an encompassing cultural renewal,
which begins from the foundation of human
self-knowledge. What is the task and what is the
meaning of human existence on the earth and in
the cosmos? How do the destinies of individuals,
of nations, and indeed of all mankind weave in
and out of one another? With an eye to what
lay ahead in the 20th century—the unparalleled
development of technological civilization
and the huge abysses of human and inhuman
relationships—his work had to bind together
the widest perspectives of worldly and human
development with the deepest questions of
incarnation, of the education and self-education
of humanity.
Each of Rudolf Steiner’s statements about
education is drawn from a knowledge of the
human being and the world which awakens a
love for self-determined action and an awareness
of the meaning of existence and, indeed, of
difficult destinies. Thereby they lead from
these into a daily practice of education dealing
with details on such matters as age differences,
nutrition, toys, etc. In addition, the science of
the physical world, the amazing science with
6
closely with the Anthroposophical Society and
its Pedagogical Section on many issues. With
this growth of activity that reaches both inward
and outwards, the 1990s are proving to be a
challenging but richly rewarding decade for the
kindergarten movement and its teachers. v
its child technology, must be supplemented
by a science of the soul and spiritual reality of
man and of the divine spiritual being of the
ensouled and spirit-filled cosmos. In this way,
anthroposophical spiritual science, which looks
at humanity in its totality of body, soul and
spirit, brings together and reconciles the spheres
of cultural life—science, art, and religion. They
should interpenetrate one another and unite
themselves in humanity. “Science should become
alive, art should become alive, and religion
should become alive—that is, in the final
analysis, true education and instruction.” Rudolf
Steiner spoke these words at the birth of the first
Waldorf school, on the opening day of the Free
Waldorf School in Stuttgart.
In his lectures, “The Study of Man as the
Foundation of the Pedagogy,” a study which
paints a picture of humanity from the spiritual,
soul and physical points of view, he laid the
foundation for Waldorf education. Already
in the introduction of the first lecture, Rudolf
Steiner commiserated that at first only children
could be admitted to the school who were
already beyond the age of imitation, who had
already lived through the first seven years
which make such a decisive impression on one.
“We will only completely achieve what we are
undertaking when we are so far advanced as
Helmut von Kügelgen
human beings that even the parents understand
that the first years of education present a special
task for modern man.” A broad cultural work
with the parents and the pressing desire to
absorb, even in the earliest phases of life, the
healing effects of an education appropriate to
our times, are the first and enduring impulses
for the founding of the kindergartens and for the
development of an early childhood education
which does justice to the worth of man and
supports development through a gradual
incarnation.
In the last years of his life, Rudolf
Steiner called Elisabeth von Grunelius to the
kindergarten work. He was able to add to the
indication he has given in 1907 when he gave
a lecture entitled “The Education of the Child
from the Viewpoint of Spiritual Science” (now
available in essay form as “The Education of
the Child”). He added to these indications in
many more lectures, not only on pedagogical
subjects, but also when he addressed matters
of pure spiritual science. But he did not live to
see the actual foundation of the first Waldorf
kindergarten. This took place in 1926, just
one year after his death, when Elisabeth von
Grunelius began the first kindergarten. A few
additional Waldorf kindergartens followed this
example in the years before World War II.
The War broke out over humanity in
1939, just 20 years after the founding of the
first Waldorf school. We must look at it as a
sign of the decline of human culture, given
its destruction of the spirit and cultural life of
middle Europe through the deeds of National
Socialism. It has changed the world, which
since then has not come to peace but to further
cultural disintegration—the tensions between
East and West, between industrial states and
developing countries, the social polarization
which has weakened the middle, and the
exploitation of the ecological life systems of the
7
International Waldorf Kindergarten Association
earth. Because of the disintegration itself, there
has arisen a demand for Waldorf education more
and more often in Western countries.
By the end of the 1960s, a slogan rang
forth around the world that the education of
the young child makes a lifelong impression
on the human being’s destiny, and educational
issues became the headlines of the newspapers.
Among parents, one could see an unprecedented
uncertainty because of the prevailing opinion of
educational theorists who could only envision
a cognitive education for the future supported
by audio-visual media. The opposite extreme,
an antiauthoritarian education, in which
the children did not work on the necessary
conditionals for life and development, soon
showed its destructive effects. This challenged
Waldorf education to work for a healthy
education, for a sheltered and guided childhood,
and also against early cognitive education in the
first seven years. Waldorf preschool educators
discussed in the press and at meetings of
representatives of the new pedagogy what they
had been practicing in Waldorf kindergartens
for many years. In many lectures, meetings
and conferences, kindergarten teachers, school
teachers, doctors, and scientists worked together
to set forth the conditions of childhood.
Brochures and leaflets were printed in which the
developmental stages of the child were presented
and learning through imitation was described.
Such imitation assumes that the kindergarten
teacher is doing sensible, practical life activities
in the kindergarten. Themes were discussed such
as free play, simple toys, speech development
through the example of the educators, story
telling and puppet plays, and artistic activities
in music, movement, and handwork. There were
also discussions about the social and moral
qualities in the group life of children and in the
work with parents.
History of the Waldorf Kindergarten Movement
Out of this work there came together
in 1969, twenty-four German institutions
which formed an Association of Waldorf
Kindergartens. Already with the effort to create
the legal papers for this Association, whose
greatest concern is to struggle responsibly for
the rights of children to a human education,
there arose the necessity to work together with
Waldorf kindergartens in other countries.
So the Association soon expanded with
the agreement of the Waldorf and Steiner
kindergartens of many lands. From its very
founding, one of its purposes was to intervene
on an international scale against educational
theories which still today seriously threaten the
healthy development of the young child through
one-sided, cognitive pedagogy. This union
named itself the lnternationale Vereinigung
der Waldorfkindergärten (the International
Association of Waldorf Kindergartens). Its
board of directors consists of members of many
countries, and it provides a continuing exchange
of experiences across the borders. It is concerned
with establishing and developing a kindergarten
education and the corresponding work with
the parents which suit the human being’s
development, preserve the creative forces found
in the growing child, and allow them to ripen.
Today there are 66 member kindergartens
in the United States, Canada and South
America; there are 8 in Australia and New
Zealand, and 320 in Western Europe, of which
180 are in Germany where the headquarters
of the Association are located. Each year new
kindergartens spring up in each land, for the
initiatives and parent groups in many places are
directed towards Waldorf kindergartens.
The most important task of the Association
is to look after the development of Waldorf
kindergarten teachers and watch over the
founding of new kindergartens. The Association
works with the parents and initiative groups to
8
set forth the pedagogy of Rudolf Steiner and
to encourage patience so that they will prepare
a foundation and wait until a teacher is found
who wishes to work out of an understanding of
Rudolf Steiner, and who is, above all, capable
of doing so. For this reason, conversations take
place between the instructors in the existing
kindergarten seminars and the specialty
schools, and experienced kindergarten teachers
travel to the United States and other lands all
over the world to support the good training
programs with their advice and example. In
countries where there are a number of Waldorf
kindergartens and where distances permit, the
teachers come together in regional meetings
during the year to work with one another on
basic questions of education. The Association
supports this regional cooperation, for it does
not attempt to lead the kindergarten movement
from the center, but is rather concerned with the
exchange of the fruits of the work.
In order to contribute to the substance
of the kindergarten work, study materials
are published by the Association and further
writings are made available by a wide variety of
publishers. An annual conference takes place
in Hannover with a rich offering of educational
courses. This conference began in 1955 as
a small circle. In recent years 700 or more
kindergarten teachers have attended from all
countries in which Waldorf kindergartens exist.
At the conference more courses are being offered
in a variety of languages so that the conference
can also be fruitful for those who do not speak—
or do not yet speak—the language of Rudolf
Steiner. The impulse for this conference arose
from Klara Halterman, who had the opportunity
to work together with Elisabeth von Grunelius,
and who built up the large Waldorf kindergarten
in Hannover after World War II.
It is precisely in the education of the
young child, with which the understanding
Helmut von Kügelgen
and cooperation of the family is so important,
that the work out of the folk awareness, the
social, religious, and cultural bonds, receives its
unique character. This makes the exchange of
experiences on an international level infinitely
fruitful. On the other hand there also lives in the
young child the purely human experience. Thus
a foundation can be laid in the kindergarten
Rudolf Steiner Asks for Kindergartens
Elisabeth Grunelius
In Waldorf circles one frequently hears
that Rudolf Steiner never really wanted young
children to attend kindergartens, and that our
kindergartens have grown up only because of the
needs of our present times. This thought can be
quite demoralizing to the kindergarten teacher,
for it implies that no matter how hard we work,
it is really better for the child to be at home. In
addition, the fact that there was no kindergarten
in the original Waldorf school during Rudolf
Steiner’s lifetime often leaves one with the
impression that the kindergarten is a less “real”
part of the Waldorf school than are the grades
or the high school. The following article helps to
clarify the strength of Rudolf Steiner’s wish for
a kindergarten. The first Waldorf kindergarten
was opened briefly in 1920 but had to close due
to lack of space and money. It was reopened
by Elisabeth von Grunelius shortly after
Rudolf Steiner’s death in 1925 and made use of
indications he had given her during his lifetime.
The Free Waldorf School was spiritually
founded by Rudolf Steiner in his lectures, Study
of Man. He indicates right away in his first
lecture that each epoch necessarily demands
its own pedagogy. He also says that the gift of
the art of education in the Waldorf school will
be able to fulfill its task to the “present and
9
International Waldorf Kindergarten Association
for a human culture which can tie together
human beings beyond the limits of boundaries.
Through our children and their education,
there can arise on our time an impulse for peace
and humanitarianism embracing all human
relationships. To work for this is one of the
deepest concerns of the International Waldorf
Kindergarten Association. v
near future” only when the parents, as the most
important educators of the first seven years
before school, understand fully and incorporate
this pedagogy at home:
The teachers will take on children to educate
who are already at a certain age; and they must
consider thereby that they are taking on these
children after they have already experienced the
education—perhaps after the miseducation—
of their parents in the very first stage of their
lives. We will have accomplished fully what
we want, when one day we have progressed so
far as human beings that even the parents will
understand that particular lessons are necessary
for today’s people even in the first stages of
education. However, we will still be able to
restore much that was missing in the first stages
of life when we receive the children in school.
From a report by Nora von Baditz, we
learn how very much even at that time Steiner
observed the loss of both healthy instincts of
the educator and healthy conditions in the
child’s environment—so much so that after a
classroom visit, he was heard to say, “We need
kindergartens! We need kindergartens!” He also
discussed the same at the teachers’ conference:
It is true that it would be better if you could
have the children in kindergarten. The longer
History of the Waldorf Kindergarten Movement
you have them, the better. Thus you could
admit children who are not yet old enough
to come to school. Until now, we have been
essentially admitting children at the same age
that they normally go into the public elementary
school. We begin with them only after the age
of imitation is over. It would be very nice if we
could bring in some children in the first seven
years of early childhood education. In the end,
we must have them somewhat younger; it is
much less important when they are older.
Not long afterward, Rudolf Steiner reported
on the establishing of his school and presented,
in the so-called “Christmas Course” (published
recently in English as Soul Economy and Waldorf
Education), the Waldorf pedagogy based
upon the experiences of its first two years. On
December 29, 1921, he said:
Whenever one approaches the very young
child in the role of an educational leader
through parenthood or another relationship,
one feels to an extraordinarily strong degree the
duty to be able to enter into the entire course
of human life with understanding. For that
reason, it has always been particularly painful
10
for me that we have been able to receive in the
Stuttgart Waldorf School only children who have
already reached the necessary age, as designated
in Middle Europe, when one enters school. It
would gratify me deeply if the younger child
could also be accepted into the Free Waldorf
School. But irrespective of other difficulties, the
establishment of some type of school for young
children is principally obstructed by the fact that
we suffer from an extraordinary lack of money
in all areas of our anthroposophical movement.
Due to this great lack of money, the most we
can hope for is that, if the Waldorf School isn’t
regarded in too hostile a manner in the future,
the younger child will be accepted into it.
Soon after Rudolf Steiner’s death, Elisabeth
von Grunelius began at Easter 1926 to
incorporate the first Waldorf kindergarten into
the whole school. Out of this has grown the
worldwide Waldorf kindergarten movement
of today. This is due to Rudolf Steiner’s great
educational impulse. From kindergartens and
parent initiative groups arise Waldorf schools—
and Waldorf schools “need kindergartens” today
still far more than in 1919 and 1921. v
 Little children grow and flourish
By the loving care we give;
Our smiles and gentle kindness
In their very hearts can live.

Guardian angel takes the treasure,

Carries it to heights above;
Tending like a little seedling,
Sweet remembrance of our love.

In the star-lit realms of heaven,

Keeping it in God’s own light,
’Til again He, earthward bending,
Back to us does wing His flight.

Bearing in His hands of silver

Blessing to the earth below
Lo, behold the change and wonder,
Roses in our garden grow.

– Bronja Zahlingen

11
 The Developing Child
The Birth of the Etheric
As We Learn to Understand It through the Work of Rudolf Steiner
Bronja Zahlingen, Vienna, Austria
What a privilege to be concerned with
children during the first years of their lives!—
to witness the gradual shaping of their
features and expressions; to perceive how their
movements and gestures begin to individualize
that universal gift bestowed upon us all: the
Human Form Divine, as William Blake called
it. Innocence still weaves a transparent shining
quality around the heads of these little ones,
their very presence awakens reverence in the
soul, and a feeling of wonder at the incarnation
process of the individual.
Little children seem to be as if in the lap of
the gods for their first 2½ years, during which
they achieve those essential human faculties: the
upright walk, the power of articulate speech, and
the first shaping of thought. Only then does the
feeling of being an ego arise. These are gifts of
a creative world higher than ours: They well up
from the inmost core of the child, revealing will
activity from within. In this entire process we
can only be helpers. While the physical organs
and their functions are being thus structured,
we can glimpse how the individuality struggles
between the two contributions of the physical
world: between heredity on the one hand
and environment on the other. Yet it is that
unique entity’s task at this early age to shape
and transform these two influences to the best
possible degree in order to create a more or less
suitable instrument to serve the personality’s
12
own free way of dealing with life and destiny
later on.
Human beings can change and develop
beyond their natural genetic and biological
dispositions, on which their spiritual, soul and
moral qualities never entirely depend. Here we
begin to understand the great responsibility that
rests upon us adults, as parents and educators, in
fact, upon the whole attitude and environment
which a particular place, culture or civilization
has to offer.
In the presence of young children this
responsibility is especially great because in
their earliest years, children are endowed with
an immense power of imitation which can
also reveal the great trust and confidence they
have in us and in the world around them. They
cannot yet distinguish values, and seem to
assume that everything around them is good.
During this period of life, body, soul and spirit
still exist as a unity. (It is only the detachment
of the adult that enables us to read the most
horrendous reports in the newspaper while at
the same time enjoying our lunch; the young
child, on the contrary, will even eat up food he
does not like as he, so to speak, opens himself
heart and soul to something nice you are telling
him—his open mouth follows! Children’s
pleasure and displeasure are visible right down
to the tips of their toes; they can seem to be
twice their normal weight if they do not wish
Bronja Zahlingen The Birth of the Etheric

to be moved.) While thus engaged in building unfolding spirit at play, with which the
and developing their bodies, children form unspoiled child is naturally blessed. Here again
tendencies toward good or ill health, depending I would like to quote William Blake with the
on their physical and soul experiences. The very following lines from his Auguries of Innocence:
functions of their organs are influenced by the
To see a World in a Grain of Sand
warmth and friendliness we offer, even by our
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
inner striving and moral intentions. Somehow,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
little children seem to see right through us.
And Eternity in an hour.
If we take seriously the fact that efficiently-
Here lies one of the essential roots of the
functioning sense organs are established at
creativity which everyone craves today. This
this period of life, the need will be obvious to
free imaginative play undergoes many stages
give full play to finer differentiations of the
of varied development in the preschool years,
eye, the ear, the sense of touch and all of the
which through the knowledge of the human
other channels through which we perceive the
being given by Rudolf Steiner we learn ever
world around us. If we overstrain the senses too
better to understand.
early through mechanical and technological
experiences, they will of necessity harden and With the advent of the second dentition,
deteriorate prematurely, and will then be unfit the living formative forces are released to some
for more intimate and varied perception. This extent from their shaping, molding activities
can even have serious social consequences. within the physical body, and appear also as
artistic abilities, so necessary for true learning.
Therefore, we must surround young
They lead into a much wider field of fantasy with
children with the genuine quality of natural
the help of the soul forces that are more strongly
materials, such as cotton, silk, wood or stone;
at work during the grade school years, and can
we must have clear, beautiful colors around
eventually become living, constructive thought.
them, spoken language, music directly through
song or suitable instruments, and good honest Our world will depend more and more on
playthings. the creative spirit of the individual, who must
emerge as an adaptable and open-minded
The play of children from the age of three is
person with social and moral initiative. This can
a most wonderful thing to watch. They will build
never be achieved by demands or admonitions,
up a little world of their own and be sovereigns
it must grow and develop through all the
in it. They can put a piece of wood in an upright
stages of education and self-education. The
position—thereby giving it the semblance of a
foundations are laid and nurtured in the early
person—or use a cooking spoon, which then
years of childhood if the children experience
must be wrapped up in pieces of cloth, for a doll.
love and joy and goodness in their environment.
Even a knotted handkerchief will come alive
If their power of imitation is given plenty of
and take on all kinds of shapes and forms in
scope through meeting mature and active people
this gradually arising ability of imaginative play.
doing constructive work and service, then their
But the child’s mind and intelligence can also be
experiences can be freely taken over into the
confined in narrow one-track channels by too
individual creative activity of play and artistic
early intellectual information and explanation,
expression. By preserving something of the
and by most of the so-called teaching toys,
childlike qualities and forces for later life, as well
which disregard the universal scope of the

13
The Developing Child

as by experiencing all that we must undergo So we will close with another excerpt from
in life in order to become free and responsible William Blake’s Songs of Innocence to bring home
men and women, we may well be helped to find to ourselves the quality of early childhood:
answers to the urgent needs of our time.

Little Lamb, who made thee?

Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, & bid thee feed
By the stream & o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice,
Making all the vales rejoice?
Little Lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?

Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee

Little Lamb, I’ll tell thee:
He is called by thy name,
For he calls himself a Lamb.
He is meek, & he is mild;
He became a little child.
I a child, & thou a lamb,
We are called by his name.
Little Lamb, God bless thee!
Little Lamb, God bless thee!

14
Bronja Zahlingen
Movement, Gesture and Language in the Life of the Young Child
Bronja Zahlingen, Vienna, Austria
We are filled with respect and wonder
when we consider how each and every human
individual, after coming from the spiritual
world, is able to feel so at home with life on
earth in the very earliest years. It is through
the three important stages of becoming—
walking, speaking and learning to think—that
each child opens herself up to the conditions
of her physical, soul and objective spiritual
environment. It is like waves breaking on the
shore, the constant interplay of the ebb and flow
at the ocean’s edge. The entire development of
the earth is experienced again with the changing
phases of metamorphosis.
After accomplishing these steps, the
approximately three-year-old child can sense
and name herself as “I.” The human child,
crown of creation, who raises herself above the
realms of nature by means of these abilities does
so, in order to work with and to feel a loving
attachment towards these realms. The child
learns to entrust herself to the earth’s gravity
and its substances, and she learns to overcome
it actively through her own higher strengths
if we kindly help out by offering our example
and protection. Her stirring will wants to go
in all directions. She wants to stand upright,
to keep her balance between above and below,
and to walk. She wants to become one with the
elements by running, jumping, hopping and
sliding. She wants to turn and spin and dance
around only to come to rest again and again on
good Mother Earth. Children have just such
an experience in the old dance meant for the
youngest ones:
Ring around the roses
A pocket full of posies.
A tissue A tissue
We all fall down.
15
Movement, Gesture and Language
Right away they will do it again and again and
again …
Children also love to run away, far away;
then finally, tired out, they turn around and
joyfully rush back into a mother’s protective
arms. Or the child falls down. She would like to
cry, but she stretches upwards again, like the little
daisies in the meadow. After a heavy rain, the
daisies are flattened, but with the first ray of sun,
they raise their heads toward the light. Hence the
custom for English mothers to say, “Up a daisy”
if their children trip or fall, and upon hearing it,
each child stands gladly up again.
And then there is rocking—first gently in the
cradle, half dreaming with soft songs, like being
carried along the waves of life’s water. Then this
motion becomes stronger when they are riding
on a knee:
This is the way the ladies ride,
Nimble, nimble, nimble, nimble.
This is the way the gentlemen ride,
A-gallop, a-trot, a-gallop, a-trot.
This is the way the farmers ride,
Jiggety-jog, jiggety-jog.
And when they come to a hedge—they jump
over!
And when they come to a slippery place—
They scramble, scramble, scramble,
Tumble-down Dick!
When children are a bit older, the rocking
motion is there in their swinging which grows
ever more courageous—up and down between
heaven and earth. There are truly splendid, lively
movements natural to children’s games in which
the ability to be upright and move rhythmically
helps to overcome the burden of gravity. “I am
so heavy when I sit,” said a young schoolboy,
joining in an adult conversation about body
The Developing Child
weight. Children certainly can word thoughts in
such a precise and wonderful way.
The way each child moves—the solidity or
inconsistency, the hesitancy or surety of her
steps—reveals much about the nature of her will.
Recognizing this, we can help to balance and
harmonize the child. Once the child has attained
the upright position and can keep her balance,
her arms and hands become freer and can better
grasp the world about her in various ways. This
is truly unique to the human being, for the
animal, still bound to its physical organization,
must utilize its front limbs entirely to serve
its body—they must carry and nourish it. We
human beings can perform many different kinds
of work. We can work with our hands as artists,
we can wave and threaten, give and take, pray
and bless.
With her arms and hands, the child thus
gains a new area of expression—that of the self,
an inner, more soul-like quality of expression
can be revealed in the “gesture.” Archetypal
gestures like expansion and contraction, opening
and closing into width and narrowness, and
tightening and loosening are fundamental
gestures in life which are carried out either
quickly or slowly, gently or powerfully. The true
human gestures of work and all visible activities
have been found in children’s games as well as
the gestures of things in their surroundings,
which have taken on a permanent form.
These are imitated as well in the soul and
growth forces, thus having a strengthening or
destructive effect.
Gesture precedes the development of
language. Indeed, it goes hand in hand with
the formation of the speech center in the brain.
This also develops in correspondence with
the use of the right or left hand. Such gestures
as pushing, stooping, touching, grasping and
letting go help to develop and form speech
sounds. A fluctuation between opening and
16
closing, tightening and loosening develops in
conjunction with the rhythm of breathing, and
this works on the shaping of the vocal chords
and other speech organs. The teeth, lips, tongue,
palate and larynx also have a part in this. The
outer perception and the inner disposition
delicately begin to be formed as soul gesture.
Now, in addition to crying, a child can tell
us how she feels ever more clearly by the use of
words and speech. When we deepen our study
of Rudolf Steiner’s rich and varied statements
about human speech, its origin and effect, we
also become more clearly aware that we unite
ourselves with the spiritual in the world through
our speech. When speech grows beyond the
individual, physical-soul realm, it leads us into
a greater more far-reaching realm, that of the
formative creative word. Here we look with
deepest gratitude to the essence of eurythmy and
its inherent formative and healing power.
The mother tongue is as necessary and
nourishing to a child’s soul as mother’s milk
is to her body. The child gradually becomes
accustomed to the sound and gesture of the
language, its revelations in the rhythm and
significance of the word. The meaning of a word
is readily experienced by the child chiefly in a
pictorial manner and not as abstract meaning or
concept. For the child it is the diverse, colorful
and changing nature of life itself. She takes joy
and refreshment in the language when it is
abundantly and rhythmically expressed.
There are countless, songs, verses and
rhymes for children, both merry and serious,
in everyday language and in more poetic form.
These is a veritable horn of plenty at the disposal
of parents and educators for moderate usage.
Here are some examples:
Bronja Zahlingen
Pick, pack, pull - will the pail soon be full?
Rumple Pumple butter churn,
Stir it quickly, give a whirl.
My Ma, my Ma, my Mama sent me on the
run,
To fi, to fi, to find out if it’s done.
If no, if no, if not yet all done
I sha, I sha, I shall come soon again.
Hinka, hanka, hat,
Where is the dog, where is the cat?
The dog is lying near the hearth
Giving himself a nice, clean bath.
The cat is sitting by the window
Licking her fur and each little toe.
Hinkety, pinkety, heckety, hairs,
The lady is coming up the stairs.
What is she bringing to the kitty?
A ball, a ball, a ball so pretty!
A woolly, white ball in the big house
That looks just like a little mouse.
And to her doggy what does she bring?
A handsome collar with a golden ring,
A handsome collar of a special kind
With doggy’s name in front and behind.
Hinkety, pinkety, heckety, hout,
Now my tale is all told out.
– Christian Morgenstern
A fingerplay:
Ten little men, see, sitting under the tree.
The short and the fat are nodding like that.
The nimble and quick, they dance and they
lick.
The long and the strong come running along.
The pretty ones sing for a golden ring.
The babies are tripping and laughing and
skipping.
Be quiet you little ones, lie down and rest,
Tucked up in your cradle like birds in a nest.
– H. Diestel
17
Movement, Gesture and Language
Or more reflective:
Song of the Sun
I am the Mother Sun and I carry the earth,
Through all the night and through the
morning’s birth.
I hold her safely and upon her do shine,
So that all that is living can grow up fine.
Human and animal, flower and stone
All share the light from me alone.
Open your heart like a little cup,
With my bright light I shall fill it up!
Open your heart, child so dear,
That we may become one light here.
– Christian Morgenstern
Nowadays we slip easily and quickly into
the banal and even into the fantastic which is
devoid of any inner truth. An example of this
are the comic strips which offer children sheer
absurdity. They even display what people say as
mere air bubbles coming out of their mouths,
and these often contain primitive noises (ugh,
oof, etc.).
Of course, the Word must at times descend
from poetry to the level of prose, but it should at
least be meaningful and serve Life. If it remains
as mere information, the soul comes out empty-
handed, without sympathy for others, in such a
way that the social feeling and interest are not
aroused. One poet has already warned us:
When the soul speaks so,
Then it is the soul no more.
– Schiller
Moreover, we print many words these days
which only serve artificially as empty housing
for advertising and profits. At the same time, the
words and images of the best poets and painters
are becoming distorted and strange, and they
stare passersby in the eye from every billboard
and kiosk. Fortunately, sometimes a child is still
naïve and full enough of fantasy to come to his
The Developing Child
own conclusions, like the first grader who could
already read a bit and then asked at home, “Say,
Mother, what is a naked wave anyway?” The
mother was clearly in a big dilemma about how
to answer him when her son solved the whole
thing himself by saying, “Ah, I know—it is a
wave without foam!”
Our thought life gradually grows into its
various forms through the use of language
and the formation of words and sentences.
It leads step by step to abstraction and
conceptualization. But this process is reserved
for a later developmental stage (similar to
how the whole development of language is
accomplished.) But language need not become
stiff or hardened—rather it will have to struggle
through to new imaginations and higher levels.
A conscious, creative and artistic beginning
will have to be found, as naïveté is found in the
creative, formative language of a child. The child
whose natural inclination is to have his own
soul nature conform to that of the adult needs
gestures full of caring affection and helpfulness
and a language full of truth. In the tone of the
language there also lies a gesture—one can
caress with words, as well as explain and point
out things. We can loosen what has become
hardened and give it new, living form.
The immense impoverishment in the
diminishing life forces of nature and especially
in the intellectualization of our whole cultural
Dolls and Animals in the Child’s Room
Johanna-Veronika Picht, Stuttgart
Everything that a child experiences in her
environment leaves deeper impressions upon
her than just memories. The child not only
imitates people but also the colors, shapes and
qualities of the objects which surround her.
These imitative experiences take hold of the
18
life threatens today’s children. Our technical
and automated civilization is far removed from
the living nature of the young child. The media
ruins her senses which need to develop firstly
through active use and experience. Direct access
to real life, to human gestures, to language and
immediate experience of another individuality is
falsified and destroyed by the media.
There are many children today who have
been damaged in their entire ability to move,
for they spend too much time sitting in the car,
and they observe and imitate the mechanical
running around that takes place on all sides.
Thus they walk with stiff, automatic gestures, or
they speed about imitating engine noises. There
is no time or opportunity to pause, to catch
sight of or overhear something more delicate,
more subtle. Today we find so many basically
intelligent, lovable, good-natured children who
suddenly, without apparent cause, are seized
by fidgeting, jerking and pushing, and who, at
times, also seem to explode with strange noises.
Curative attention in movement, gesture and
language will become ever more needed as we
are able to gain a deeper, greater insight into the
true nature of the human individuality in body,
soul and spirit. New creative capabilities will
grow in us to replace our lost instincts as well.
It is only in this way that we can help to build
a suitably human future for and through the
children. v
organs and form them: The impressions made
by images are absorbed into the formative forces
and work to develop the body in whose more
delicate structure is stamped the “memory”
of these experiences. Thus the body preserves
childhood experiences as a basis for the spirit-
Johanna-Veronika Picht
soul development of the human being. In this
respect, what meaning do the dolls and animals
have in a child’s life, since they are the objects
with which she is most often met and at the
earliest age?
Let us turn first to the doll. There is an
unending variety: large and small, hard and
soft, some with fine clothes or wrapped in
simple cloths, others with clattering eyes or
mechanical voices; they are manufactured
industrially, hand-sewn, wrapped, knotted, tied
off or carved. Yet none of these can surpass what
the child can allow the doll to become with his
creative imagination. He is the real creator of
the dolls. For example, it is said of the childhood
of Carmen Sylva, the late poet and Queen of
Rumania, that the footstool of her mother was
her favorite doll. One day, when Elizabeth of
Prussia put her feet on this footstool, Carmen
tore it away blurting out angrily, “You should not
have put your feet on my child.”
We can experience this same thing
everywhere when our awareness of it has been
awakened. Often, just a small piece of wood
or several straw stalks which have been tied
together become dolls—or even a rubber hot
water bottle wrapped in a towel will be warmly
loved and carried around. Private chats can take
place in bed with an old baby’s diaper, and a
cloth ball is taken for a walk in the doll carriage.
It is a primordial need for the child to have
a doll to love, care for and carry around. With
it, the child can not only carry out through
imitation what he himself has experienced from
the mother, but he can also entrust it with all
his joys and anxieties; yes, it is like a piece of
himself, often even having the same name.
What can be understood by this? The child
in the process of incarnating is still totally
affected by his environment. The inner and the
outer are still scarcely separated. In his play,
the child is in an element of creative freedom
19
Dolls and Animals
which contains many possibilities. He does
not experience the outer beauty of the doll but
instead what he himself brings from his own
being to the doll.
If this doll is old and tattered, there must
be much sympathetic understanding on
the mother’s part in order that at the right
moment—if necessary even by steps—she can
manage to replace it without hurting the child.
One should leave it up to the child to say good-
bye to a doll.
This doll which was so real for the child
will often be saved for a long time—dressed
as the child liked it to be during the play of
earlier years. The living butterfly has not quite
yet slipped out of this doll or chrysalis. (Note:
In German the word “Puppe” means both
doll and chrysalis. In English there is a similar
relationship between puppet and pupa.) Maria
Melchers describes a violently premature
separation which is recorded on page 87 in Heidi
Britz-Crecelius’ book, Children at Play.
“Where is my Tulia?” Father ignores the
question. “Didn’t you bring Tulia?”
Now father has to admit: “I couldn’t.
Mummy burnt her.”
“Burnt—? Tulia! Burnt?” The stare of
the child expresses disbelief, horror and
a nameless grief. “No, Daddy, say you’re
joking. Quickly, say you’re joking and give
her to me.”
The father finds it extremely difficult to
extinguish the last ray of hope. “Maria,
child,” he says as gently and affectionately
as only Father can express it, “You must be
reasonable and understand Mummy. You are
a big girl now, and Tulia was meant to be a
little girl’s toy, and it was time it was burnt.”
Maria stands thunderstruck. She does not
cry or complain. Silently she looks down in
The Developing Child
front of her. After a while she says in a quiet
voice: “Tulia,—that was part of me.—Tulia,
that is—”
She is silent; she wanted to say: “My
childhood,” but she does not say it out loud;
she only thinks it, and has the feeling that
a gate has closed, a golden gate, which can
never, never again open.
Yes, there can be deeply incisive and painful
experiences when the grown-up does not believe
in the extensive relationship between child
and doll. At a parents’ evening, one mother
told how, as a child one morning in bed, she
discovered a hole in her doll. So she began to
pull out the stuffing which soon spread out over
the entire bedspread. Her mother came in, took
all of it and put it in the rubbish can. The child
couldn’t understand and said nothing. But the
pain has branded deeply the memory of that
moment. At the expense of her life forces, she
had experienced for the first time that there can
be disappointments with the people one loves
best and that one’s confidence in the order of the
world can be shaken.
The doll is a companion, a helper and a
comforter along the path to becoming a person;
the doll is a help to find oneself. As the image of
a person, the doll, in general, gives direction for
becoming a person. It is a model for the strength
of comfort and, at the same time, the child can
practice basic social capabilities with the doll.
How is the doll supposed to look then in
order to fulfill all that has been mentioned? It
must allow the child’s enlivened fantasy to see
it as sometimes laughing, sometimes crying,
sometimes sleeping or waking. Perhaps it ought
to be able also to become at times a prince or
a princess, a boy or a girl. But not only is it
supposed to be possible that the imaginative
powers are nourished, but the creative forces are
supposed to be challenged and activated as well.
20
However, this does not happen when the facial
expression is hardened into a smile and when
the doll is so detailed there is no room left for
the child’s imagination to shape or complete the
details.
Rudolf Steiner spoke again and again about
the simple doll as a good model for every toy
in the first seven years: at first a small wooden
doll, at six months a little cloth doll out of
linen tied and knotted with an embroidered
face; then later a doll wrapped, knitted or sewn
out of toweling, wool, velvet or silk, always
simply and harmoniously formed, pleasant in
its proportions and principally wrapped and
bedecked with cloths and ribbons—preferably
with blue-green colors for the quieter children
and red-yellow colors for the easily excitable
children. When the child is in the age of fantasy,
he will, as in a dream, place his own soul about
the doll baby so that it does not always even have
to have painted or embroidered eyes. (Here also
no dogma should rule.) Then the child removes
himself more and more from his surroundings
and looks at the doll now with inner eyes. At six
to seven years old, the sewn doll with arms and
legs. underwear, clothing, shoes and stockings
becomes appropriate.
A doll should never become a caricature,
that is, there should be no exaggeration in form
or in expression. While the child can complete
with his imaginations that person which
the knot doll appears to be, an exaggerated
caricature locks the imagination, and its creative
forces remain unstimulated and become stunted.
This work with the imagination has a formative
effect on the brain’s shape—it opens it up, just
as the hand’s muscles open during work suitable
for it. Moreover, there is a marked effect of
recent toys, such as Mon Chhichi, which are an
insult to the human form as they are neither ape,
nor child, nor bear, but rather they are cuddly,
grotesque and overly “cutesy.” These toys make
Johanna-Veronika Picht
a deep impression upon the child and arrest his
healthy development. The “Rabbit Example” that
Alfred Nitschke reported upon from his medical
practice, has often been cited:
The favorite playmate of a very isolated child
other than his easily intimidated mother was a
large rabbit with a grotesque form of very long,
thin arms and legs which hung down loosely, a
head with extraordinarily large eyes and a very
pronounced mouth whose lips the child touched
again and again with his fingers. The child,
pale and miserable, lay in the same position in
his little bed. Nitschke explains, “In this case,
the image of the toy animal with its strong
expression and its debilitating, tired and dull
bearing is thus actually forming extensively the
movements and the nature of the child. When
the troublesome rabbit was removed, the child
was soon up and about, developed an appetite
and no longer bent forward as his rabbit had.
The change reached into the depths of this small
person. For us, after our long, futile efforts, it
was almost shocking. For his mother, it was
incomprehensible.
Let us now consider the animals which the
grownup brings into the close environment of
the child. Here we have a varied picture—there
are animals made of material or of wood, push
or pull animals, ones that are still or that can be
moved. They also appear to the child on carpets,
curtains, pillows and even her own clothing.
The child makes the animal’s acquaintance in
pictures on the wall and in picture books, in
verses, rhymes and stories as well as in fairy
tales. And finally the live animal must also be
mentioned. The child himself imitates animals
in play—the adult ought to oversee this carefully
also. If one wants to consider what the animal
means for the child in the right sense, one
must generally come to an understanding of
the mysterious relationship of human being
to animal. One must begin to understand that
21
Dolls and Animals
big theme for humanity known as “Man and
Animal.” Only a few suggestions are given here
so that we can concern ourselves with it more
closely.
Let us begin with everyday life. People insult
one another with animal names often to point
out character imperfections. To be sure, this is
not very polite, but it does give us a deeper look
at the relationship between human and animal.
Human characteristics are also expressed
through animals in fables—though mostly in a
negative sense (the sly fox, the greedy wolf, the
stupid cow, etc.). On the other hand, another
theme is that certain animals are revered in
some cultures or even, as in ancient Egypt,
gods are represented with the heads of animals.
Think of bul1fighting or horseback riding—
this speaks to the conquering of animals. In
Goethe’s “Novelle,” a runaway lion is brought
back by a child! In fairy tales we meet the theme
of enchantment and deliverance of people
and animals. Thus we find many relationships
between the two over the centuries. The animal
kingdom lays out before us an abundance of
capabilities of the soul in visible forms and
ways of living. But how shall we comprehend
the differences? Let us once again start with our
observations.
When the human child is born, it lies on
its back quite openly surrendered to the world.
While nursing, the infant is turned toward
the mother, that is, she holds the baby on her
arm, her face meets the child’s face and the
first smile soon appears. It is quite different, for
example, with puppies and kittens. They lie at
the mother’s belly turned toward the ground.
The animal mother cannot see her young while
suckling. When they grow up, their backbones
are horizontal or parallel to the earth’s surface
which allows for a subtle relationship between
the nose and the tail. The human child is, in
comparison, built for an upright posture, even
The Developing Child
though this must be acquired through imitation.
This vertical position between the middle of
the earth and the zenith makes it possible to
keep one’s balance, to walk, to have freedom of
the arms and hands and to have a steady head
which becomes a prerequisite for speaking and
thinking. It has also proven itself to have a moral
quality for people: to assume a posture, to show
backbone, to be physically and morally upright,
not to cringe or to crawl—the moral worth
always finds its expression in a person’s physical
posture.
The animal in the horizontal and the human in the vertical.
(By O.J. Hartmann)
A further contrast between human and
animal is the fast maturing and reproductive
capability of the latter, while the human being
develops slowly and remains adaptive for a long
time. Nature is responsible for the relatively fast
hardening of the animal body due to the high
content of calcium in the mother’s milk—there
is much less calcium in human milk. With
the early hardening and pronounced physical
shapes, the animal slips into one-sidedness
and specialization: Its limbs become tools for
particular purposes, such as swimming, flying,
digging, climbing, grasping, etc. The slower
development of the human gives him the
freedom to develop mentally and spiritually.
Whenever there is a growth spurt or physical
development of organs, as in puberty, there is
a stifling of the consciousness, and one goes
22
through a difficult and critical phase. But when
the human being has developed physically, then
he has free, individual use of his hands. His
inventive mind creates tools and machines to fly,
to swim under water, to use pliers, etc.
This way of considering things has brought
about much research into nature which views
the theory of evolution as opposite from the way
in which Darwin has represented it. “According
to Darwin, as well as according to my theory, the
animal and plant world (the latter not so clearly
with Darwin) are related to humans, but while
Darwin has humans originating from the animal
world, I must reverse it and trace the animal and
plant worlds back to the human being.” (Preuss)
The French philosopher, Henri Bergson, who
was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1929, explained
the origin of the animal world as being that
of a casualty or a waste product from the rise
of the human being. Rudolf Steiner embraced
this thought in his autobiography as his own
knowledge of the situation in the following
words:
This view brought me to the realization that
in the origins of time quite other beings were
present in spiritual reality than the simplest
organism. The human as a spiritual being is
older than all other forms of life and he, in order
to take on his present physical form, had to be
formed from a world being which contained
himself and the other organisms. The latter are
the waste products of human development,
not in that the human arose from them, but
rather in that they are what were left behind in
order that humans might take on their physical
forms as an image of their spiritual forms. That
the human as a macrocosmic being carried
in himself everything else in the world, and
that he has come to the microcosm due to the
individualization of the rest of the world, was
a knowledge for me that I first obtained in the
early years of the 1900s.
Johanna-Veronika Picht
Thus we must go far back in order to
establish the correct relationship of human
being to animal and to place the human in his
office as the “Crown of Creation.” When he
unites and harmonizes in himself all the one-
sided characteristics of the animals, then can
he experience those who were left behind in
the stages of his development as his brothers.
It is they who made the way possible for the
human being to find himself as a spiritual
being in a “bodily temple” which is shaped for
freedom. What results from this should not be
arrogance but rather a feeling of responsibility
and of grateful indebtedness toward the animal
and plant kingdoms. Gratitude as an active way
of thinking is the virtue of childhood; it is the
source of all good human qualities. In looking
back upon the creation story and the evolution
doctrine, Christian Morgenstern expressed this
feeling in the picture of the “Foot Washing” in
the most beautiful way:
I thank you, silent stone
And bow myself before you:
I owe to you my plant nature.
I thank you, earth and plants,
And stoop deep before you:
You help me rise to the animals.
I thank you stone, plant and animal,
And bend myself before you:
All three of you help me to become myself.
We thank you, O human child,
And lower ourselves devotedly before you:
For, because you exist, we exist.
In reply, there is thanks
From the all-encompassing Godhead
In its simplicity and multiplicity;
In thanks, all that is, is intertwined.
23
Dolls and Animals
If we, as educators, take care to instill such
an attitude throughout our view of nature and
godliness by permeating artistic imagination and
scientific thought one with the other, then the
right love and attention for animals, plants and
the elements of the earth will pass over to the
children. However, we must also protect them
from the animals.
Since we know how strong the force of
imitation is in the child, we ought to give her
no animal as a companion—whether it is living
or a toy—if it contends seriously for the upright
position. When considering the force of the
earth’s gravity, the goal for the child is to prevail
over the animal and to gain the human form.
What this means in its far-reaching extent will
for the most part not be recognized. If the child
can run about freely, she will legitimately enjoy
pulling the animal behind her and pushing the
doll in the doll carriage ahead of her.
Of course, the child may receive stuffed
animals later on. However, these also ought to
appear in their true form with typical animal
gestures rather than being humanized. It is
important, therefore, that our house animals
be treated especially well during the child’s first
seven years. The animal reveals its soul nature in
its visible, outer form rather than in the mimicry
of the face as the human being shows it. If I
make an animal for a child, I do not necessarily
have to provide it with eyes. I must even
take care not to work into the animal’s facial
characteristics qualities of the human soul.
What is then the situation with bears and
apes? Their ability to overcome gravity is clearly
evident. These animals are very close to humans
and yet did not become human. Isn’t the whole
tragedy of the animal world expressed most
clearly in these animals?
It is always shocking to see how human-like
is the young gorilla in its facial features and the
The Developing Child
spherical shape of the head. The young of the
apes are closer to humans, but the difference
becomes ever greater as they grow older. In
German, “You old ape” is the comparative form
of the expression “you ape” or even “my little
ape.” In the older animal the forehead is pressed
back, the mouth and jaw pushed forward,
and the nose hardly protrudes any longer. It is
exactly the human qualities which have almost
disappeared—the forehead of the thinker, the
chin which indicates the will, and the nose as
the breathing organ in conjunction with the
rhythmical element, the sphere of feeling. In the
older animal, the head and arms fall forward,
pulled by gravity, and the feet are similar to the
hands. On the contrary, the human being utilizes
his feet entirely to deal with the force of gravity,
allowing the head and arms to be free thinking
and social dealings.
The bear also has a close relationship to
humans. Karl König showed him in a splendid
way in his book Brother Animal. He has many
human-like characteristics. He walks, for
example, on the whole of his sole, can become
upright, puts berries, ants and honey into his
mouth with his paws. He has become highly
revered by some peoples and was viewed as
a representative of the gods or as a god of the
mountains. Accompanied by many ceremonies,
he would be sacrificed at the end of the Bear
Festival. He became respected and yet was
struggled against and conquered again and
again. His short, front legs, especially noticeable
in the skeleton, cause us to surmise that he
perhaps at first walked around upright and then
the forces of earth’s gravity overcame him.
Thus dolls and animals are appropriate
companions for a child, yet one ought to pay
careful attention to the toy’s style and to the time
they are given to the child. Nowadays, when
various human-like apes and bears are given to
the child, there is easily the tendency for him
24
to become uncertain about the true nature of
a human being or even for him to be hindered
in his development. In the final analysis, the
human being is a more highly developed
animal than the naked ape. All educators are
called upon to consider this and to teach their
perception of it. For one cannot teach according
to recipes, dogmas, and orders. Rather one can
teach only from insights which one has achieved
by working with oneself.
A revolution in the child’s room need not
take place overnight. But certainly several of the
dolls or animals could be removed right away
or redistributed. For example, one could place
the many stuffed animals which sometimes
stare at the child all week from the bookshelf
(often even on the bed) without being played
with into a basket on the floor. One could also
add a handmade doll to the store-bought ones
and interest the child in making one himself in
the simplest way. Above all, one can introduce
the nature of animals to the child in the most
beautiful way through children’s rhymes and
short stories played out on a table as well as
through fairy tales.
Of course, live animals can be in the home
if the adult likes. However, one should not give
them too early to the child as playmates, that is,
at an age when imitation still reigns. Also the
young child cannot be responsible for carrying
out any continuing care of the animal. The
nurturing of a comfortable relationship with
snails and earthworms in the garden, caterpillars
and worms in fruit, as well as mice and even
insects enriches the child’s soul.
Many a parent complains that her child
categorically does not like to play with dolls.
Now there are mysterious things which we
cannot always comprehend. The love for an
animal or the fear of one is often very deeply
ingrained, and it can depend upon imitation
and also on the future fate of the child. But very
Johanna-Veronika Picht
much depends upon our own ways of thinking,
our handling of the situation, that is, what
relationship we ourselves have to the child’s
animals or dolls, and whether we relate to them
lovingly in our daily life. We must not press
them onto the child; yet in a time when the child
is awakened much too early from his childhood
dreaminess, it is necessary to help him discover
meaningful play with a doll and a feeling
connection with the soul of animals.
25
Dolls and Animals
I have tried to mention basic thoughts here.
Each person who is involved with children
will try to do the right thing at the right
time. Above all, I would like to convey the
feeling for the meaningfulness of the simple
doll which corresponds to the human being
who can become in soul and in spirit a free,
universal being precisely because of his slower
development. v
 Activities of the Kindergarten
A Day in the Life of the Kindergarten
lngeborg Schöttner, Germany
“What we wish to achieve,” said Rudolf
Steiner in his Study of Man, “will only be fully
attained when someday mankind is so far
advanced that even parents will understand that
the first years of education pose a special task for
mankind today.” To perceive this special task is
our aim.
Let us look at the course of the normal day
in the kindergarten as it divides up, between
8 a.m. and noon, into free play, rhythmical
activity, snack, walk or outdoor play, and story
time.
In the course of this day, the kindergarten
teacher works as the center. What she thinks,
feels, wills streams out to her children as they
approach her. They will with all their wills!
The Center, the teacher, gives form to this will
activity, not by her demands, but by her very
being. What takes place in her being streams out
in her actions; the child sees her and wants to
do that too. And therein lies the foundation of
the education in the first seven years: example
and imitation. What the kindergarten teacher
does and how she does it work decisively in the
development of the child.
The kindergarten is a big household. Mother
cooks, bakes, washes, irons and mends, sweeps
and cleans; and the same things happen here.
Singing belongs with work. Water colors and
wax crayons are ready for painting or coloring.
Sewing baskets are in demand. For diligent
craftsman there is a workbench. Brightly colored
26
cotton beckons to finger crochet, knotting and
plaiting. The little weaving frames are gladly
brought out. Pictures are laid out with brightly
colored wool. Rakes and little hoes stand in the
garden. And before festivals there is the joyous
preparation of the room.
The day begins with free play. How is this
free play time given shape and form? During this
time, the teacher, for example, works deliberately
and consciously so as to leave the children
free. She works and she carries out the work
carefully. Let us suppose, for example, that she
sews. Children come into the room. They are
attracted by the activity. They watch a moment.
Some immediately get needle and thread. One
child runs out to a play corner, gets a cloth and
sews with his finger. Another irons a cloth with a
stick of wood, folds it in a special way, and, lo, it
is sewn!
Other children have taken up extensive
play of some kind. Some bounce around, and
one sits, finger in mouth, and seems to dream
away. One of the bouncers, when asked, brings
the teacher a cloth that was lying on the floor.
Suddenly he takes an interest in the sewing, sits
down and goes to work. The others who were
“playing” with him follow him. With no great
fuss, the group gets into purposeful occupation.
The finger-sucker may find it hard to play even
at home. It is often a long time before he can get
into any activity; the patience of the teacher can
help him.
Ingeborg Schöttner
During free play time all is in motion and an
air of “you may” pervades the room. The healthy
child naturally perceives the objects in the room
as his property; they are tools for creation. A
piece of wood becomes a doll, a disc cut from a
tree limb becomes bread, a piece of wood carved
to suggest a house serves nonetheless well as a
chimney with wool as smoke.
Cleaning up ends the free play time. It is
important that the children and teacher clean
up together. And cleaning up can also be play:
a storekeeper sells cloths for cleaning; the
trash collectors gather up what is lying around;
Mother and Father put their house in order.
Some children are already sitting in a corner
beginning to talk together. Gradually one can
come to washing hands and combing hair.
Then a particular song and a rhyme lead
over into the rhythmical part of the day. Now
the teacher, for example, works consciously
on forming the movements. Contraction,
expansion, and again contraction—therein
lies the rhythmic. As with everything in the
kindergarten, this part of the day is in tune with
the season.
It is very valuable if the rhythmic part of the
day can be built up in blocks lasting three or four
weeks. Little plays based on fairy stories can, to
the joy of the children, be carried through two or
three months. Rhythmic repetition sets the tone
for this part of the day. Conscious movements
and careful articulation invigorate both speech
and play.
A rhyme announces snack time. If the snack
can be prepared in the kindergarten, the process
27
A Day in the Life
will enrich the whole morning’s activity. If that
is not possible, then the teacher is grateful if the
snack bag of a child contains nothing special; a
roll or an apple is sufficient.
After snack, it is time to play in the yard
or go for a short walk. A stone along the way,
a stick, the sand, a tree, a waving leaf, a blade
of grass, perhaps a beetle, a snail, some insect,
the blue heaven, the clouds, the wind, the
murmuring brook, or a bird—all these are
experienced by the child in the way that the
example, the teacher, perceives and experiences
them.
Back in the room, the story concludes the
morning. The pictorial speech of the fairy stories
is language education in the highest sense. The
Word, used like gesture in an image created by
speech, loosens up a one-sided way of forming
concepts and enriches the fantasy. The folk
tales are treasures of wisdom. The child can still
directly experience the image of the tale, and its
figures take on life before him.
If we look back on the course of the day
in the kindergarten, we can say that the seed
planted by the teacher can bear fruit only with
the cooperation of the parents. So to the day
of the kindergarten teacher belong visits with
the parents, meditation and a looking back on
the children as they were during the day—the
after-work as well as the fore-work for the time
with the children—and some artistic or cultural
activity, work with herself and on herself.
To find the special task of the first years of
life requires, above all, a conscious and loving
devotion to the child. v
Activities of the Kindergarten
Handwork in the Kindergarten
Dora Dolder, Germany
Introducing unspoiled children of preschool
age to their first primitive handwork is not
difficult when one appeals to their imitative
capacities and their love of movement. For the
will to express itself in practical activities is a
fundamental element of their lives. These first,
initial works with their hands are different
from the handwork lessons of the school in
a basic way. In the school, there is a step-by-
step building up of practice, learning and
work. In the kindergarten there is a wondrous
experimentation, imitation and new creativity—
everything is still creative play. Activity and
fantasy flare forth simultaneously.
The handwork in our kindergartens begins
outdoors with the actual experiencing of nature.
The garden offers an abundance of possibilities
for activity which appears in the life and play
of the children throughout the whole year.
The children are always there, wanting to form
something with their hands out of blossoms and
leaves, with pine needles and grasses, with bits
of wood, fruit peels and seeds, with sand, stones,
and earth. Yes, even in winter they can model
wonderfully with the snow. Just a few of these
activities are briefly mentioned here. Through
all their senses, the children grasp these seasonal
activities from the world around them.
In spring, when the trees begin to bloom
and the fir in the middle of the garden throws
down its cones, there arises a game which speaks
to all of the children, the wildest and also the
most placid. We call it “decorating little trees.”
We search for a handful of fallen blossoms,
flowers, grasses, pebbles. It is easy to place these
ornaments in the somewhat opened fir cones,
and even the little hands which are impatient
and unskilled can do it; there soon blooms a
28
little tree. Around these blooming trees, worlds
arise. With further natural materials from the
garden, pretty little things are tied together,
wrapped round, placed within, braided and
built. Thanks to the power of their fantasies,
everything comes to life, going far beyond what
is physically apparent to them through their
senses.
An “art” which is especially appealing to the
girls is the fastening together of leaves. For this
the leaves may not be too delicate or the needles
of thin twigs too coarse. This work requires care
and a fine sense in the fingertips. The joy is then
great when the crown, the little hat, or the little
basket holds together! And if it tears, one must
just quickly gather anew and begin again. This
belongs to the experiences of the 5- and 6-year-
olds. One can recognize something of their
temperament through this activity. Overall, one
must stand by helpfully. One must be attentive
and yet enter in as little as possible in order not
to interrupt the stream of activity, thus helping
along all the broommakers, switchmakers,
grassbraiders, chivebundlers, wreathbraiders,
and so forth.
In the fall, the colorful environment inspires
further lovely things to do. Here are just two
examples of occupations of this season which
awaken enthusiastic activity: When “grinding
flour,” the dry, crackling leaves are rubbed in the
little fists and are added to water, bringing forth
color as if through magic. Are there children
who will not, with great enthusiasm, try to find
out which colors can be produced by mixing
water with leaves, blossoms, nutshells, or wild
cherries? They will mix them in the water, stir it
well and strain it out. They may laugh and dance
with joy if they are allowed to dip snow-white
Dora Dolder
cloths of cotton into these colored waters. Even
if their colors are pale, only a shade of brown, a
tender green or a hint of yellow or red, this can
be just the right thing, for later one can make
little dolls of the cloths and their faces will come
alive.
These diverse, loving occupations with
objects from nature stimulate the preschool
child’s imagination and delight in creating.
The child perceives, through a still dreamy
empathy, a multitude of forms, colors, and
movements which are full of life. One should
not overlook the nourishment which comes
through the flow of reverence (and which is such
a contrast to the stereotyped and unyielding
play with Legos). These first experiences of
basic human occupations such as searching,
picking, wrapping, tying, knotting, sewing,
dyeing, and also sowing, harvesting, grinding
and baking come about through the child’s
own doing of them. He grows into life through
these first combinations of play and work. These
occupations grow into real abilities in grade
school where the children master the technique
of knitting mittens or crocheting. Then a real
knowledge can shine forth.
A pure and beautiful material which
brings us to ever-new uses is the plant-dyed
sheep’s wool. One can play and model with it
in a beautiful way that is quite different from
working with sand, clay or beeswax. A basket
with colorful wool calls every child’s little hand
to reach into it and to stay for a while, playing
with these fine, gauzy, transparent tufts.
An especially beloved beginning is the
making of airy balls: Each child may take one
tuft. These can grow when little fingers carefully
pluck the wool, until they become big, round,
transparent clouds, swaying from one hand to
the next. After this “snowy evening” or “thunder
cloud” play is thoroughly enjoyed, we take the
cloud between both hands and begin to round it,
29
Handwork
to turn it, to form it all around. Everybody will
feel the warmth in the palms as slowly the cloud
becomes smaller, and it can be made firmer
until it becomes a little ball. In the hands it can
be rolled and turned, going from one child to
another, giving and taking, going back and forth.
Charming, never-tiring games accompanied
by songs and verses will capture the youngest
children, whereas the more skilled ones will
invent more dramatic games. For instance,
from the flat hand the little ball is blown off and
immediately caught by another child! If one puts
the featherlight, round thing in the cup of the
hand, with fingers well bent and blows—then
brrh!—it cannot get away any more. It rolls and
rolls, turns itself as long as the wind blows, rests
for a moment and soon tries to run again. With
joyful practice each one finds out that the little
ball, breath and hand obey each other! It is easy
to transform these little “turnovers.” With the
awakened formative force on the inside of the
hand, the round thing can be formed into an egg
shape. Through the slightest changes, the gesture
changes. Small children are especially gifted at
this.
If one now picks at the “small head”
and twists the wool between the thumb and
forefinger into a beak, a little bird will perch on
the hand as in a nest. Although it is unfinished,
or perhaps because of that, every child will be
delighted and begin to converse with it. From
fabric or tissue paper we can cut wings and sew
them on the back with a few stitches. Finally
the whole thing can be strung on a piece of yarn
and tied to a twig so that it can be guided like a
marionette from above. The child will run and
jump with the bird. A rich play will develop
from this simple wool, through the abilities of
the hands. Many more things can be created out
of this little ball by modeling it further, sewing
a few stitches to fix the form, wrapping it with
spun wool or sewing on some fabric.
Activities of the Kindergarten

It is always interesting to see what well- around the neck. Again a neighbor helps with
rounded lambs will roll from one child’s hand, tying a ribbon around it. A bunch of silk threads
while long, prowling foxes will come from or sheep’s wool is attached for hair with a few
another, and plump rabbits or lean dwarves from stitches and a knot, then eyes and mouth are
another. In the moment of the creation they will drawn on—and there stands a little doll! These
come alive, and with the joy of playing they will simplest little dolls, which only suggest the
be placed in further scenes: The lambs belong human shape, are usually loved wholeheartedly,
with a shepherd, a dog and the pasture; the foxes because such a doll can do more things than
will need their cave, the rabbits their hollow, and the most beautiful and expensive dolls one
the dwarves their realm with Snow-White. can buy. It laughs, it cries, sleeps, leaps about,
becomes ill, practically dies and then returns
Children who are getting ready for first
to school, and so forth. Why can it do all of
grade will develop a beginning story and will
this in flowing transitions? Because it is not
weave further with objects at hand: colored
perfect, only suggestive. The possibilities are
cloths, rocks, roots, and stumps will be brought
open. Yes, something is created which must
together, and a little stage built on a table or in
be continuously completed through the child’s
a corner. These little figures which are able to
soul activities which invent this or that and
come forth in the spur of the moment become
have to do it because no stiff, finished, forceful
part of an everyday scene or fantasy-filed picture
appearance of the doll puts a lock on the activity
and bring about the very best of play. Frequently
of the child. These dolls have to get yet more
the younger ones are the grateful spectators.
outfits with crown and sword, shepherd’s purse,
Open-mouthed, they live into what is in front of
hat and crook, apron, broom, umbrella, and
them, moving, speaking and revealing.
even a bed and house, etc. During all of this
It can happen that the performers (the activity one should never get into creating the
6- and 7-year-olds) are not satisfied anymore naturalistic or slipping into criticism.
with using sheep’s wool tufts for shepherds and
It is important that one use beautiful, pure,
kings. Special figures in their proper clothes are
natural materials to awaken the artistic senses
devised. This calls for making small dolls. Some
and sensibilities. Moreover, it is important that
new hand skills are to be experienced as well
an active adult inspire the creative forces of the
as helping each other. A wool ball as round as
children. Yet in the kindergarten, one should not
the full moon is placed on a rectangular cloth,
work out of adult perfectionism. To do so will
certainly a self-dyed one. Skillfully it should be
hinder a child who, out of sympathy and vigor,
put over the round head held in the small fist
will imitate and be clumsy. Only out of his own
while a neighbor ties it together with thread.
experience will the child acquire the right way
From the cloth that hangs down arms and legs
of doing things. How ingenious and meaningful
can be knotted.
they often are!
Children who have been busy all summer
Arising from life and from stories, many
long with silky, velvety, rough leaves and flowers
toys are made over the year, gifts of primitive
will now touch and examine the fabrics and
workmanship which show the hands of their
make their choices; a shepherd needs a cloak
creators. Even without being very skillful, each
different from a king’s and different not only
child of this age is gifted to do everything in
in color. One cuts an approximate rectangle
gestures and movements.
for these “doll clothes,” and makes little folds

30
Dora Dolder Handwork

The task of the kindergarten today is to
prevent the drying out of this seedlike lightness
and smoothness in the limbs through too early
an experience in useful, “unpoetical” handwork.
The educational principles of example and
imitation serve as key and path to an appropriate
kindergarten education. The secret of leading
a kindergarten class lies in letting the children
imitate as many life circumstances as possible.
Just as through imitation they learn how to walk,
talk and think, so in the kindergarten age the
form of the life around them should inspire and
shape the child’s development. Everything that
is artificial, devised, or systematically divided
into learning steps can only produce something
wretched which will later become a weakness in
the life forces. v

About Painting and Human Development through Art

Freya Jaffke
International Waldorf Kindergarten Association

Human speech surrounds the newborn a deeper effect is achieved with this age group
child from its first day. It creates an atmosphere than will be achieved through “art education”
permeated with spirit into which the child offered in a few spare hours.
“breathes himself.” The child imitates, listens,
It is clear that at this age the practical
absorbs and at the same time forms himself.
activities need some specific methods. Even
Only through this can he become human and
the young child can find his way into a variety
express his personal self through the word.
of artistic realms and work with them, but not
Similarly, and in an equally important way, art—
with the purpose of getting specialized training.
the highest expression of the soul-spirit forces
Certainly one does not want to begin preparing
of mankind—works on the developing child.
the child for a later profession such as musician,
In order for the child to develop his human
painter or sculptor. The possibilities for artistic
capacities, an “artistic environment” is needed
activities for children include modeling with
from the very earliest days of his life. First, the
beeswax or clay, painting, movement games
child takes in his environment; then he works
which carry a strong musical-rhythmic quality,
upon it himself. Here it is especially important
and playing on simple string instruments such as
that the meeting with art which the educator
children’s harps or kanteles.
offers is not only a gift but also, at the same time,
a calling forth of activity from the child. The But the most important point to consider in
cultivation of art awakens the hidden, creative, these efforts is the following: In this early stage
building activities and the soul-forces of the the child takes in everything with his total being
child. In this way each artistic activity calls forth (as an entity of body, soul and spirit). What
a different perception through the senses. appears here in its embryonic form will appear
at a later stage of development in one way or
In working with children of preschool age,
another. Along with this, one must realize that in
it is necessary to create from the beginning an
the thinking or social realms, for example, there
environment which takes into account the child’s
will appear capabilities but also deficiencies, and
sensitivity to good artistic quality (colors, forms,
their connection with the early artistic activities
wall decorations, sounds, toys, etc.) In this way

31
Activities of the Kindergarten
is not easily seen. There exists in human life
in addition to the abilities which develop in a
linear, step-by-step progression, those abilities
which appear in various developmental stages in
a whole new way through metamorphosis.
In the following paragraphs, the example
of painting is presented. For the reasons given
above, this is an experience which should not be
viewed as leading to a finished form, but rather
it should be assessed as an experience which
leads to abilities which can be transformed
throughout the child’s life.
Water Color Painting
Materials: Wooden boards, 50:35cm (about
20”x14”), painting paper, flat brushes about 24
mm (1”) wide, artists’ water color paints, small
jars for the diluted colors, water jars, sponges
and small jars for stirring the paints.
The children particularly love to help
prepare the painting table. They are always
interested in observing every job of the grown-
ups and like to be active by helping with such
activities. Now the tables must be covered with
an oil cloth; the water jars must be filled and
distributed. Next to every jar a sponge is laid
on which the wet brushes can be dabbed. The
colors will be diluted in small jars and smoothly
stirred, then poured into the color jars, and
these are then placed on the table. The painting
paper (absorbent paper, not too thin) is dipped
in a water tub and carefully smoothed (well-
fastened) onto a previously-moistened paint
board. Now the painting can begin.
Understandably such a joint preparation
with the children is possible only when the
group has no more than 20-25 children. (In
Waldorf kindergartens this is generally the rule.)
It is especially helpful if one has not separated
the children by age, but has rather combined
them in mixed age groups (from 3-6 years).
Then the different abilities of the children can
32
be well satisfied by the different activities of the
watercolor process. While the three- and four-
year-olds are fully satisfied when they can stir
the colors and pour them into the glasses, the
five- and six-year -olds take on more tasks (for
example, gathering together all the supplies
which are needed for the preparation, cleaning
the painting table, washing out and drying the
glasses, and cleaning up). The children notice
the repeated sequence of events each time the
group paints.
The Painting Experience
Without a previous call to order on the
part of the grown-ups, which results in a
consciousness of the activity, and without a
presentation to the children or the introduction
of a theme, the children each dip their brush in
the color and its flowing trace is followed along
the paper. The limits of the three primary colors,
red, yellow and blue, open to the children a color
scale filled with nuances of unbelievable riches
which they themselves can discover. Particularly
for the four- and five-year-olds, there is a joy of
discovery connected with this process. For when
the single colors flow together in various places
and mix, there appear the “between colors” such
as green, violet or brown.
Alongside the color play on the paper, which
the children frequently experience with words
of wonder or joy, there is also the changing color
of the water in which the brush is well washed
which plays a great part in the painting process.
When the whole paper is painted and the colors
glow and shine through the watery element,
there enters into the child a moment of great
satisfaction, which often flows over to the free
play following the painting. When it has been
put on the rack to dry, the picture itself is no
longer important to the child.
The five-and-a-half- and six-year-old
children come to the experience differently.
Freya Jaffke
Already before they dip the brush into the first
color, they often have an image of a definite
color which they wish to use or of an object
such as a tree, a castle or a rainbow which they
would like to paint. The combination of liquid
color and damp paper does not allow one to
paint solid outlines, which is all to the good for
the further development of the fantasy forces.
It often occurs that the children add a new
color to the already started form, calling forth
a new sense-association in their fantasy. While
they are painting or when they are finished,
these children will gladly tell the grown-ups or
another child something about their picture—
which color they especially like or what content
they discover in the painted picture.
Even for the three-year-olds painting in
this manner is a joyful experience. It is most
important that one does not expect them to
master the individual techniques such as, for
example, washing the brush before they place it
in a new color. It is also not possible for them to
guide the brush in a directed manner. Often they
move their brushes enthusiastically or timidly
back and forth on the paper, and one perceives
that for them the movement and the trace of
color is the most important aspect of painting.
Mostly the three-year-olds are satisfied with
one color such as red, and they are only finished
with painting when the glass of color is empty.
When they get another color as well, they do not
add it by placing it next to the first color on the
paper, but rather they paint over the first color. It
is the same with a third color. The result is then
a dark, undifferentiated surface, and the three
glasses of color can no longer be distinguished
one from the other regarding the color of their
contents. If one begins with a single color and
gradually increases the number of colors, then
these children learn after a short time to paint
by laying one color next to another rather than
painting over the colors.
33
Painting and Human Development
The three-year-old children are mostly very
still while painting and they are busily engaged
with it, especially when each has his own paint
jars to use. The four- and five-year-old children
happily share with one another, in a more or less
impulsive way, when something special develops
on their paper. Among the five- and six-year-
old children, the quiet, industrious mood again
prevails and indeed in a thoughtful, careful
manner. Occasionally while they are painting
they will have exchanges with other children of
their age regarding the colors or content of their
paintings.
Learning to Paint through Imitation
The preschool child best learns to paint as
he learns every other skill—through imitation
of the adult. Therefore it is most advantageous
for the child to watch the mother, kindergarten
teacher or older sibling paint. He grasps it in the
way described as appropriate for his age if no
instruction is connected with it. Either he wants
to paint right away while the adult is painting
(the three-year-old) or he wants to paint by
himself at another time (the five- and six-year-
old). All of the technical tasks closely connected
with painting, such as setting up and cleaning up
the materials, will also become familiar through
imitation of the adult. All the reservations about
the amount of work involved are dissolved
through the helpful activity of the children.
If the adult is careful that each time he dips
into a new color, he first washes the brush in the
water jar and wipes it on the sponge, then the
child will follow this sequence more and more
in the same way. For every healthy child has a
strong inclination to go along with or imitate in
fantasy play every deed or movement he sees in
his environment. Therefore certain deeds of the
adults work themselves much deeper into the
young child than do words of explanation which
call for the child’s understanding.
Activities of the Kindergarten
With the beginning of the school years, this
free fantasy-filled approach to color is replaced
by a more directed experience of painting led
by the teacher’s words. This implies that the
assignment of the teacher is presented with
fantasy-filled words and usually in connection
with what is occurring in the lessons of that
time. The development of painting will progress
through definite steps, and the results will be
viewed by everyone.
Metamorphosis in Later Stages of Life
When an adult in a conversation carefully
brings forth his arguments, experiencing the
different responses of his partner and at the
same time allowing himself to be influenced by
these responses, then he owes this capacity in
part to his experiences as a young child with
color and brush, which were his unconscious
teachers.
What the adult knows as logic is always the
inner result of a purposeful sequence of steps
which the young child was able to take in from
his environment through imitation. The inner
order in the sequence of the steps of painting
insures a “useful” result. In adult thinking, the
careful connection of individual steps leads to a
sure conclusion.
Music in the Waldorf Kindergarten
Margret Constantini
Kindergarten Seminar, Hannover, Germany
What is meant by musical education in the
kindergarten? Certainly one understands that
the musical abilities with which each child is
born, but are often resting hidden within, must
be guided and nurtured. Then the musical
element proves to be a rich source of strength for
the entire life of every single child.
34
One who at an early age has learned to pay
attention to the strength or delicacy of color
and to gradations in applying it, will later find it
easier to apply the same soul capacities in social
situations, for example in self-assertion and in
acquiescence.
Painting includes processes such as being
careful, paying attention, waiting, following
the course of the work, experiencing the laws
of color mixing, and applying color in varying
strengths. All of these activities give ever-
renewed stimulus to the gradually awakening
soul of the child, helping him to grasp his
physical body and make his sense organization
and his limbs ever more responsive.
Naturally, the child is not conscious of this.
He does not reflect on what he is doing, but
lives intensively in the activities. In this way he
has experiences at deep levels which can wait
there to be grasped by him consciously in later
stages of life and to find expression in an ability
to lead his own life. These effects reveal the true
human justification for artistic endeavors in the
preschool. Art is not an aesthetic add-on to “real
life,” but as an exercise of continual striving, it
can become the foundation of a truly human
mastery of life. v
Now one can also say that every child is
born a musician. There is no unmusical child.
This can be seen in the child’s joy of his own
movement. But when present-day children
come to kindergarten at the age of four years,
then their musical abilities are often already
buried under the noises of the environment,
Margret Constantini
the many different machines all around them,
under canned radio music, the impressions
of television, etc. It is truly hard labor for the
teacher to free the child’s musical abilities—often
it is no longer possible! That is what it is all
about: to make the ears of the children which
have been inundated by noise more receptive to
the gentle tones of music that are appropriate for
them.
In doing this, it is important above all, that
the teacher strives to permeate the kindergarten
with the musical element—not just with the
music itself. I include in this a harmonious
arrangement of the room, a use of color shades
which are alive on the walls and objects in
the room, the use of toys which are carefully
selected, made of suitable materials and
which stimulate imaginative play, and a well-
structured rhythm of each day. However, it is
especially important that the people around the
child live in harmony amongst each other. Of
course, music itself must be nurtured in living
experiences. Because the child is an imitative
being, it is the task of the teacher to find an
approach suitable for the child. To begin with,
the teacher needs to develop a clear, steady
speaking and singing voice of her own which is
worthy of being imitated.
In order to find a starting point for the
musical education of the young child, one
would have to study music history in the various
cultural periods because every child experiences
all the cultural epochs in a shortened form in his
development—precisely so in the area of music.
It is very difficult to comprehend the changes
in the cultural epochs, because music is a
question of the human being’s inner experience
and therefore cannot be grasped in physical
manifestation. In Rudolf Steiner’s lectures on
music and eurythmy, however, he refers to
many things which personalities such as Julius
Knierim and Heiner Ruland among others have
35
Music
worked out. For example, in his lecture, “The
Experiences of Tone in Man,” Rudolf Steiner
refers to the Atlantean Epoch when musical
perception was related to the Seventh (the
interval between the tonic and the leading note).
Heiner Ruland has now precisely described
in his book, A Path Towards Deepening the
Experience of Tone, how the Nature-Seventh-
Music was built up, how it sounded, and what
effect it had on man in the post-Atlantean epoch
of Ancient India. Before this time man was not
capable of hearing tones set apart because he was
a part of world activities, and the music of the
spheres was spread around him like a mantle.
It is important for us to know in the case of this
Nature-Seventh-Music that it was music that
existed outside of the human being, that moved
circling outside man. It was experienced more in
ecstasy, so to speak.
In relation to us, one could say it was music
that pushed man outside of himself. Also in the
ancient Persian epoch (from 5067 bc to 2907
bc) when the musical experience of man was
related to the sixth (the interval between the
tone and the Submedian), music still lay outside
of conscious comprehension.
The next stage in musical development lies in
the Egyptian epoch (from 2907 bc to 747 bc) in
which the interval of the fifth (interval between
tonic and dominant) could be experienced
by man. It is during this period in which man
lost his natural relationship to the spiritual
world, but thereby slowly became capable of
consciously comprehending the earthly world,
which meant that man comprehended the world
through his senses. The laws governing the
course of the sun and of the constellations with
the 12 signs of the zodiac revealed themselves
to man. Everything that was formerly infinity
and lay outside of the earthly realm now became
comprehensible, capable of being experienced in
space.
Activities of the Kindergarten
This stage in the cultural development of
man corresponds to the birth of our children
today on our earth. When they are born into
our world, they come out of the unconscious-
spiritual world and want to enter into the
conscious world, but at first, they perceive the
world unconsciously with the senses. Now this
is all reflected in the experiencing of the fifth. A
breathing in and out of what weaves musically
around man begins and grows in him as sense
impression. In experiencing the fifth, man
touches the earthly world.
In the Egyptian epoch the fifths sounded
as if they were vibrating around a central tone.
The central tone was known as the Sun tone, the
tone which lay closest to the sun, that had the
brightest sound, the tone by which man oriented
himself and from which a great force emanated.
In present times, all our music orients itself
around one single note, the “A,” which no longer
emanates the great force of former times, but
is used for tuning instruments. Listening to
the “A” one has the brightest tone perception.
Couldn’t one assume that the central Sun tone
has remained right through to the present day
as our “A” note? Whenever this Sun tone “A”
was experienced as a central tone, then one
fifth vibrated geometrically upwards and one
downwards; the central tone lay in the middle.
This is where our musical education of the
young child begins. The ninth which results
from the two fifths is the tone realm of the
young child. All songs with these two intervals
swinging around the central note are called
“pure fifth songs” (reine Quintenlieder).
Now one can again raise or lower a tone
by a fifth. Because those tones are beyond
the capacity of the human voice, they have to
be shifted by one octave into the previously
described realm of the ninth. Then we get the
tones which we need for music in the mood
of the fifth. You reach the seven tones of the
36
children’s harp if you let resound the upper and
lower tone of the two fifths again.
Now one should describe briefly the
difference between music in the mood of the fifth
and pentatonic music. The music in the fifth is
pentatonic in so far as it also does not contain
half notes. But the pentatonic music is based
on five-tone systems which even when the
base note itself is missing, suggest the feeling
of a base note by using upward or downward
scales or sequences. Almost all folk cultures
had pentatonic scales, which have this floating
sound because of the absence of half notes. The
pentatonic forms the bridge between music in
the mood of the fifth and music based on the
tonic.
Because we as adults are no longer living in
the Egyptian epoch today, it is not so easy for us
to immerse ourselves in the mood of the fifth so
that the young child can imitate our example.
We adults have difficulties with songs in the
mood of the fifth because they are still objective
and do not speak to our souls or emotions. A lot
of practice is needed. But practice is rewarded.
The fifth songs which the children can sing
right away have a healing effect. The children
become calmer and quieter and begin to play
harmoniously; their behavior becomes more
balanced.
About the Use of Instruments
in the Kindergarten
The singing voice of the teacher is certainly
the most important instrument in the
kindergarten, because the child can directly
imitate it. In practice it is important that one
always really begins on the same tone and sings
in tune, because in this way the child learns to
orient himself musically.
In regard to the use of instruments, each
kindergarten will be a little bit different. But in
almost all Waldorf kindergartens, the Choroi
Margret Constantini
children’s harp is used because it possesses a
gentle tone and works intensely on the children.
As soon as an adult strums the strings gently,
the children become quiet and listen. Because
the children’s harp has no resonating body, it is
most in keeping with the mood of the fifth. The
instrument should be played by the teacher. If
the child wants to strum over the strings once,
then of course, he/she should be allowed. On
certain occasions, the kantele or lyre is also
played in the kindergarten.
The pentatonic Choroi recorder is used by
the kindergarten teacher when, for example, the
shepherd plays his flute or when the children are
doing a little dance.
At certain times the children are also given
an “instrument” in their hands, which they are
allowed to play in an informal and free sort
of imitation. For example, in the circle time
when the birds in the forest are calling, the
woodpecker gets a finger cymbal, the nightingale
v v
Circle in the Kindergarten
Nancy Foster
Acorn Hill Children’s Center, Silver Spring, MD
Rudolf Steiner tells us that to study a plant,
it needs to be seen in relation to the earth. Circle
time is in a way the same. You cannot look at
it in isolation, but must see it in relation to the
whole. We must look at the role of rhythm in
the kindergarten as a healthy breathing in and
out. The morning in the kindergarten can be
seen as a landscape with mountains and valleys.
But one doesn’t want precipices! Nor should
the landscape be flat. It must flow through all
its transitions, and this is to take place through
imitation. We want the children to enter all
of life through imitation, allowing the dream
consciousness to continue. This doesn’t mean
37
Music
a glockenspiel, the cuckoo a cuckoo’s flute. The
children are allowed to use bells often: when
the first flower rings in the spring, the lily of the
valley blossoms in the forest, or the bell flowers
are swaying, or when during Advent the bells
call Mary to come to the Heavenly Kingdom.
The question of whether one may also sing
the “usual” diatonic songs in the kindergarten
I would like to answer simply, “Yes,” above
all because they are almost always traditional
songs, folk songs, circle games and Christmas
songs which in a certain way create a musical
connection to the activities at home and the
outside world. Also each cultural epoch is a
preparation for the following cultural epoch.
The music in the mood of the fifth, however,
is most in keeping with the young child’s
development and has a healing effect which
counteracts the copious inundation of “musical
noise” of our times.
v
dreaminess and floating but unselfconscious
participation. When you are in the dream,
you’re not analyzing it. The child is just acting
with what is there. Imitation allows this dream
consciousness without which they can’t truly
enter into what is happening.
We do not want to entertain the children
for the morning, but we try to bring alive the
activities of the home—taking care of the
environment and all the activities involved with
the life of the human being.
The circle is a microcosm of the life of the
kindergarten, which in turn is a microcosm of
Activities of the Kindergarten

life. It should be a time of joy and serenity— At Advent the material may be all new.
serenity in the sense of underlying peace and Otherwise, one circle can gradually change to
security. Let us look at the circle in this context, the next by bringing in one or two songs or
including the needs of children of different ages, verses in preparation. For older children, one
discipline, and festival circles. Firstly, content: doesn’t want to do exactly the same thing day
The ideal is that there should be a unity to after day—the same theme but not the exact
the circle—one theme with one part flowing same combinations every day.
to the next. First one selects the theme. The
Music: the mood of the fifth is what we try
most obvious is the course of the year. What
to work with. It is not just that it is the mood of
is happening in outer nature with plants and
the fifth—one should also look for the musical
animals and also what is man’s relationship to
quality. It should be dreamy and with a certain
nature through the seasons? What is the mood
purity and simple good quality—beautiful and
and what tasks are related to the different times
worthy. Folk melodies are often beautiful. Music
of the year? Nowadays children do not come in
in the mood of the fifth is not difficult for the
contact with these archetypal pictures of man
children to sing, if the teacher is comfortable
and life as much as they used to. Another aspect
with it. This takes time and patience on the part
is understanding how the Christian festivals
of the teacher, and it helps to know that this
fit in with the seasons. This is a good way of
music is truly nourishing for the young child.
bringing children into contact with life.
The role of rhythm is important. Before the
In planning your circle, you should include
grades, children are not usually able to walk or
polarities of mood—gay and sad, humorous
clap in rhythm, but we should have this rhythm.
and sober, vigorous and gentle, etc. There also
We must look at the tempo of our speaking and
need to be polarities of movement—fast and
singing. The inner tempo of the child is quicker
slow, up and down, large and small, expansion
than that of the adult so we need to choose a
and contraction, etc. These polarities bring a
tempo which is comfortable for them.
living dynamic to the circle and also provide
a possibility for variation later on as the circle Children love finger plays, but do not do too
becomes familiar to the children. many. Work with quality rather than quantity.
It is sometimes good to use nursery rhymes and
The presentation of the songs and verses can
find your own gestures. One seeks imaginative
be done in a flowing way by saying little linking
use of words and appropriate gestures.
verses of two lines or so. These are best repeated
to help the children catch up with them. This Traditional singing games are more common
repetition is not so necessary once the children in the English and American tradition than in
are familiar with them. the German, and they have a role here, especially
later on in the school year when the children are
Repetition applies also to planning the
a bit older. They can be used when not doing
circle. You may start with a given theme and
a full and unified circle. For instance, for three
add to it over several weeks. For instance during
days in the week, one can do a full, unified
the Harvest, you may do the mowing for a few
circle and then for one or two days, one can do
days and then add the binding, etc. You do not
a circle with singing games and nursery rhymes
have to start at the beginning each time—you
or, if the unified circle is not too long, a singing
may start part of the way through as the circle
game can be done afterwards. Some circle plays
becomes longer.

38
Nancy Foster
can be done with costumes, but we have found
that circle time is better without costumes.
Circle plays with costumes are done, such as the
Nativity Play, the Three Kings play or the Snow
White circle play at story time.
The form of the circle: When done with
young children, the circle often falls into the
“bunch of grapes.” This is fine for young ones.
The older ones might correct a younger one
but you don’t need to expect it. When doing a
singing game, holding hands helps to naturally
form a circle. This form can be introduced
gradually, as appropriate for the age of a group of
children.
The circle has significance with its roundness
and unity and without beginning and end. This
unity is good for the young child. It asks a lot
of a young child to walk around the outside
of the circle. Therefore it is not often done in
the kindergarten, for it can create a sense of
banishment. Also we does not put just one child
in the middle. If a circle game requires that
someone be in the middle, the teacher first puts
the assistant with one or two children in the
center. Later she puts two or three children in
the middle. If you want a farmer in the middle,
two or three children can be the farmer.
The role of the teacher is different during
circle time than at other times of the morning.
Free play moves at the child’s tempo, but at
circle time it is the teacher who sets the tempo.
She has the opportunity to bring harmony and
healing. Her voice must be clear and pure with a
light tone and not too low. Practice your singing
patiently at home. Try to start circle on the
correct tone—you can do this by playing “A” on
the lyre before you begin. Hit the notes in a clear
way, not sliding into them. Also, one should not
use a “singer’s voice” with vibrato but a natural
voice which can set the appropriate mood.
Children are very sensitive to the tone of a voice.
39
Circle
Gesture is also very important. It is difficult
for many grown-ups to form good gestures. We
must make our gestures from the heart. Taking
eurythmy classes is a real training for this. To
find the right gesture, try to enter into the inner
quality of the activity pictured in the verse.
Eurythmy gestures arise out of the sound, word
and tone. The kindergarten gesture finds its form
out of the quality of the object or the activity
of the object. For example, a eurythmist might
form a gesture for “wave” out of the formative
force sounding in the “W.” A kindergarten
teacher might form the gestures through
imitating the flowing motion of waves. The
resulting gestures may be similar though their
origin is different. It is a challenge to work with
gesture; make smooth transitions from one to
the next; don’t use too many or too complicated
gestures. The children can get silly if there are
too many. Always work out of imitation and start
the gesture slightly before speaking or singing.
This helps the children to imitate.
The teacher has to watch what mood she
brings to the circle. Be fully involved in each
gesture, absorbed in what you’re doing. Enjoy
your circle and be well prepared and don’t fly
off! Be grounded. Prepare the whole thing at
home, transitions as well. It helps to develop the
gestures at the same time as you learn the song
or verse. Keep preparing and don’t just have the
circle become a routine. Keep working with your
material.
One can vary a circle play by making small
changes or additions, such as, “Let’s go skipping
to the wood,” or “Let’s all tiptoe to the wood.”
This keeps older children interested.
For candle time set aside a special time
to acknowledge the spiritual as you do in life.
There are different times that teachers have their
candle in the kindergarten. Nancy prefers the
beginning of circle time. A small season table
with a candle is moved to the center of the circle
Activities of the Kindergarten
and a morning song is sung. The candle is lit
and the morning verse is said. The same verse
is spoken for the whole year and no gestures are
used for this verse. The verse is followed by a
seasonal song, after which the candle is snuffed,
the candle table is removed, and circle time
proceeds.
When doing the Christmas Play or the Three
Kings play at story time, circle time may be kept
a bit shorter and simpler than usual.
Discipline. Nancy’s principle is that
everybody comes to circle. We all do it. You
need to carry this inside you. There may be an
exceptional child who really can’t bear it at first.
That’s fine, they can watch quietly until they are
ready to join. (This is rare but you have to be
sensitive to it.)
We all join in joyfully. The basis for good
discipline, or no discipline, is good content. Be
v v
Marionette Theatre
Posing a Task for Socially Oriented Education
Dr. Helmut von Kügelgen
International Waldorf Kindergarten Association
The struggle for the legal security of a freely
chosen, humane education for the preschool
ages demands spiritual decisions from which
parents and teachers can no longer hold back.
Independently from the success of these efforts,
however, we must not neglect the concrete
questions of the creation of a counter-balance
against a civilization inimical to children.
Whatever can be done to offer children
enlivening soul nourishment must be begun.
In the late fall, children are more and more
withdrawn from nature—in so far as they
can reach it at all—and are brought into the
house and indoor occupations. It is also the
40
flexible and try to plan an appropriate circle.
Really work out of imitation. Don’t say, “Now
we’re going to do this.” Just start and don’t wait
until they have all stood up or whatever. If
you find discipline problems, look at yourself.
Was I prepared? Did I enjoy the material? Was
my voice too strained? Did I rush? etc. The
problem is often connected with the teaching.
It could also be a particular child. Could one do
something with that child at another time in the
morning which could help?
Circle time should not be used as a time for
“show and tell” or “discussion,” as this will be too
awakening and will disturb the children’s mood.
There are other times during the morning when
it is appropriate for children to share events from
home with their teachers and friends, and once
this is established, the children can enter fully
into the circle activities.
v
time for the first thoughts about Christmas
and Christmas presents, so the educational
experience should lead to understanding with
the heart and to action.
How incongruous it must have seemed in
the year 1917 in the tragic last phases of World
War I and in the beginning of his open political
and social activity, that Rudolf Steiner should
have been concerned with the establishment
of a marionette theater. But he devoted his
full attention to this theater. The task of this
marionette theater was to give a concrete
example of the spiritual impulse of Middle
Europe against the flood of Western ways. In
Helmut von Kügelgen
the house at Motzstrasse 17, where Rudolf
Steiner lived in Berlin, there was an apartment
used as a daycare center which was established
by the Berlin branch of the Anthroposophical
Society with financial support from the state.
The children who were cared for here were
from four to twelve years old; their mothers
were employed and their fathers were in the
military. The story of this theater has been told
by Helmut Vermehren in No. 74 of News of
Anthroposophical Work in Germany, Christmas
1965. The following paragraphs are taken from
that article:
For this center, several anthroposophical
friends now built a puppet theater. The moving
force was the painter and sculptor Leonhard
Gern. It was he and Hedwig Hauck who asked
Rudolf Steiner for advice about the realization
of their ideas. Rudolf Steiner seized immediately
upon this invitation. He explained that the
marionettes must hang on threads and be
directed from above; only such marionettes were
appropriate for the presentation of fairy tales.
In the course of time, he gave many
indications, and he was often present at the
rehearsals. The stage, which was a sliding one,
had three curtains in different colors which were
raised one at a time to lift the action on the stage
completely out of worldly, prosaic connections.
The marionettes were not controlled with the
usual crossbar but rather with strings tied
directly to the fingers. Rudolf Steiner showed
how the marionettes were to be used. His advice
was clear: “Marionettes cannot speak!” The
fairy tales must be read to the children, and the
narrator—who should look “pretty”—should sit
nearby on a chair, similar in style to the chair
of God in the “Oberufer Paradise Play.” The tale
should be read quite simply and naturally, and
the different creatures and people characterized
with the voice. He himself gave many examples
of this.
41
Marionette Theatre
Rudolf Steiner laid special emphasis on
the right style and color of the costume fabric.
Once a gold embroidered fabric was needed
for the garment of a prince. Rudolf Steiner was
shown five samples and selected a fabric with the
remark that this one was well-suited for showing
the image of the Ego. Another time, he wanted
a dark gray garment for the wicked fairy, while
for the other wise women, he selected garments
in the colors of the rainbow. In the dwarves
one should avoid any caricatures; they should,
however, have a special liveliness.
During the rehearsals for “Sleeping
Beauty,” after many experiments, there arose
the possibility that the thorn hedge should be
transformed into a rose hedge from above down.
Steiner remarked, “In fairy tales, after all, even
the roses grow down from heaven.” The scenes
in which the prince goes around the castle were
painted on veils; these pictures were then lit up
by a spotlight as they passed, one after another,
across the background. Sometimes Rudolf
Steiner took up a paint brush and corrected the
stage scenes.
He was especially interested in the stage
lighting. There should be, for example, a strong
red illuminating the stage scene each time the
wicked queen appears. He was concerned about
the smallest details with this purpose in mind:
“We must do everything in our power to help
the children to develop fantasy.” This was the
basic attitude which he instilled in the hearts of
those working with the marionettes. One has
the distinct impression that in this work Rudolf
Steiner had before him something of the future.
The hint which he gave in this connection,
that “the marionette theater was a remedy for
civilization’s damages” attained through the
events described a special importance.
On this stage, performances were given
until the end of World War I. Stories presented
were: “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow-White,” “Hansel
Activities of the Kindergarten
and Gretel” and “Rumpelstiltskin.” Steiner was
always at the rehearsals, giving advice and being
actively involved. The direction of the plays
lay in the hands of Leonhard Gern, who also
made the marionettes. Hedwig Hauck made the
costumes and selected the fabrics which were
laid before Rudolf Steiner. The music for the
plays was composed by Leopold van der Pals.
It was played before the curtain was raised and
also during transformations and other important
moments, such as “Mirror, mirror on the wall…”
Helene Gunther, and later Mrs. Hansen played
the piano. The performers were Wilhelm Selling,
Hedwig Hauck, Anna Samweber, Miss Knipsel,
and Lore Schumann. The latter, a cousin of
Kathe Kollwitz, painted the stage scenes and
helped with the development of the stage in
special ways. The narrator was Eva Groddeck,
later Mrs. Putz. Rudolf Steiner said of her to the
players: “Doesn’t she herself look like a fairy
tale?”
With the end of the war in 1918 there also
came an end to this theater. When Hedwig
Hauck went on to the first Waldorf School in
Stuttgart, Marie Steiner telegraphed to her that
she should bring the marionette theater with
her to the school. But this stage did not again
develop a new life.
It does not help much to rage against
television, whose mighty influence on the
education of children can be observed with the
greatest concern. One correctly understands
Rudolf Steiner’s efforts for a marionette theater
as a “remedy against civilization’s ills” when one
v v
42
sees in it the beginning of a genuine cultural
movement such as has arisen around the
Waldorf kindergartens. Independent stages in
establishments such as Rudolf Steiner houses,
Waldorf schools and kindergartens should reach
a growing number of children besides those
actually in the kindergartens.
This picturesque, educational medium—the
living play imbued with inner imagination and
fantasy—should be offered in many styles as a
way of activating the creative powers of children.
The joy and animation of young viewers, who
gladly turn their attention and love to the
marionettes performing the fairy tales, develop,
in the course of a child’s education into building
stones for life.
The Waldorf school movement is not
without experience in this area. In the Free
Waldorf School in Hannover, the marionette
plays were nursed along for many years in the
handwork and artistic classes of Clausen and
Riedel. The Stuttgart-Kräherwald Waldorf
School, and later Marburg, developed a
puppet stage as part of the handwork classes
(in conjunction with Schöneborn-Stocker.) A
large number of kindergartens have arranged
performances which attract more children
than just those enrolled in their own groups.
It depends on the initiative of individuals and
the readiness of their colleagues and the school
association to support these initiatives.
There is here a concrete task for all who want
not merely to discuss preschool education, but
to do something about it with full consciousness.
v
Bronja Zahlingen
The Pedagogical Value of Marionette and Table Puppet Shows
for the Young Child
Bronja Zahlingen, Vienna, Austria
The creative form-giving power of fantasy
reveals itself to the careful observer as a soul
force, which in the first seven years of life and
in many ways even up to the ninth year, appears
completely intertwined with the forces of
growth. During the development of the wisdom-
filled organization of the human body, the
flowing streams of life and the shaping, form-
giving powers work in a certain polarity. They
are unified, however, in unity through the ever-
working, breathing power of the middle sphere
of the human being.
Tender soul powers are released step-by-
step from the life forces and become visible in
the child’s play until, with the change of teeth,
they are ready to be used in the free shaping of
concepts. This allows the child to enter school
for actual learning which, however, must still
be imaginative and full of pictures. At the same
time the forces of memory can be guided and
used more consciously.
From where, however, does the living
fantasy receive its power, the tools for its use?
It is the senses which open up the world to the
individual being that wants to unfold. In the
beginning, they work in unison. The young
child appears like one great sense organ which
opens itself up to the impressions of the world
as a unity of body, soul and spirit; it does not
yet consciously decide for one or the other
impression, but must in the truest sense of the
word “embody” all the impressions which the
world makes upon it.
At the birth of a healthy child, the different
bodily organs are present with a quality which
fits a human being, but their lasting and
43
Marionette and Table Puppet Shows
individualized shape is formed on the whole
during the first seven or even nine years (apart
from those organs which begin to ripen in
puberty). After that point, soul experiences are
mostly working in the functioning rather than
the shaping of the organs; growth still continues
until the human being comes of age and is in
the position of experiencing a soul and spiritual
development which is less tied to the body and
its organs.
Now let us return to the young child and his
senses. (Rudolf Steiner introduces us to the vista
of twelve senses in Knowledge of Higher Worlds,
among other places.) These senses are gradually
differentiated as to their particular quality. They
do not, however, like to be completely isolated.
The shape of a colored surface, for example,
can be understood through inner movement.
Whatever looks beautiful to the eye is expected
to also taste good. The aroma of Christmas
cookies will at the same time bring forth in
a magical way the memory of the sound of
bells, lights on the tree, shining faces, and a
sense of true well-being. Through the unity
of several senses, the experiences of the soul
become richer and more colorful. If the senses
act in isolation, the soul is in danger of being
impoverished. If, however, through a handicap
it becomes necessary to educate the senses in a
more isolated way, one will have to give the soul
additional experiences in other ways.
Actively, the young child unites with the
outer world through his senses. Through
the quality of the impressions made on the
individual sense organs, he shapes and forms
these very organs, making them active and
strong or dull and passive.
Activities of the Kindergarten
To come to a better understanding of the
development of the senses, we can link ourselves
to Goethe’s words: “The eye is built by the light
for the light.” If we want the eye to develop the
ability of clear sight and sensible perception of
colors and forms, we have to guard it in this
formative phase of childhood from too strong
and glaring experiences of light and color. That
which moves and changes too quickly and which
the eye has to take in but cannot even follow
will possibly create a misforming of the organ of
sight.
It is even worse for the ear which we are not
able to close voluntarily. Here the consequences
work even more deeply into the inner being. We
understand the consequences brought about
by the pleasant qualities in sounds, music and
language or by their opposite, namely inorganic,
penetrating monotonous noise. A very similar
situation exists with the other senses. In our
world today very few children can grow up in
the quiet of a garden. Town and countryside
are equally flooded by an overflow of sense
impressions which change and alter incessantly,
and very many children, therefore, have to suffer
from outer and inner restlessness.
So as educators we try to create at least some
special times for inner quieting, for a deeper
breath and concentration. An example of one
such opportunity is the play with table puppets
or marionettes which children experience at
first as observers. Out of this observation, rich
impulses can grow for their own play. We build
up a scene with pieces of colored cloth, materials
taken from nature such as stones, wood, pine
cones, unspun wool and such like, and simple
homemade standing dolls or animals of wood
or soft material. We move the figures in an
appropriate way while we tell the story. Or we
can create a scene fitting to the content of the
story with colored silks or veils. Amidst great
expectation, what is mysteriously covered at
44
first is gradually unveiled, and the eye meets a
meaningful wholeness. Simple marionettes of
silk wander through the colorful world. They
walk from house to forest, over the sea and
sometimes to sun, moon, and stars, and even
sometimes up to the mountain of clear crystal
glass. As they move over the surface of the
scene using its length, breadth and depth, the
observing child can inwardly unite immediately
with the experience of space, while on the
television only deception of the eye is at work.
Here inner activity is created that works in a
refreshing and enlivening way into the very
breath and blood circulation. Color, movement,
gesture and language shape a unity, and fitting
music can envelop the soul in warmth and safety.
It can also give joy and pleasure.
A little world that is a whole, and which can
be fully realized, is given to the child. The child
is part of the events because it can share in them
through adding, out of its own fantasy, to that
which is given to the sense impression as an
impulse. For the young children we do not need
any technical tricks. The whole event is present
as in a picture. As it is happening without a
break or an interval, it brings about a pleasing
harmony of experience. The other day, after a
performance of the story “The Seven Ravens,”
a father remarked, “You know, the children
become so good.”
One finds that the adults, too, cannot resist
the magic of such a play. The child in us loves
to reenter this world of creative imagination
which releases a higher vision out of the sense
experience.
Last but not least, we would point out
something rather essential in this kind of
puppet play where the person who is leading
the dolls remains visible. Not only can we
then perceive the reactions of the children and
possibly take them into consideration, but also
our appearance does not worry them; in life,
Bronja Zahlingen
body, soul, and spirit still exist as a unity in
children. (It is only the detachment of the adult
that enables us to read the most horrendous
reports in the newspaper while at the same
time enjoying our lunch. The young child on
the contrary, will even eat up food he does not
like as he, so to speak, opens himself heart and
soul to something nice you are telling him—his
open mouth follows! Children’s pleasure and
displeasure are visible right down to the tips
45
Marionette and Table Puppet Shows
of their toes; they can seem to be twice their
normal weight if they do not wish to be moved.)
While thus engaged in building and developing
their bodies, children form tendencies toward
good or ill health, depending on their physical
and soul experiences. The very functions of
their organs are influenced by the warmth and
friendliness we offer, even by our inner striving
and moral intentions. Somehow, little children
seem to see right through us. v
 Fairy Tales and Verses
Fairy Tale Language and the Image of Man
Dr. Helmut von Kügelgen
International Waldorf Kindergarten Association
“Fairy tales are healing to the soul of a
child.” The fairy tale originated in the childhood
of humanity; it has its roots in another state
of consciousness. It opens its treasure to the
consciousness of today’s adult only when
he or she can appreciate that our manner of
thinking has undergone metamorphosis and
development, and that the history of humanity
touches us most deeply when we understand
it as a development and metamorphosis of
consciousness. A dreamlike, experiential
consciousness which radiated feeling and was
filled with images preceded our scientifically
critical, observant, awake consciousness which
is filled with ideas. Mankind’s knowledge of
the spiritual world, of creation, and of the
meaning of the earth, of fate and life’s task
were imprinted by the ancient mysteries on the
imaginations of mythology and the inspirations
of religious traditions. Thus, the truth of what
lies behind the sun, moon and stars, and in
animals, plants and stones, could still be told
through imagination and human prayers. Fairy
tales also tell of what is revealed in the twisting
paths of human life and in the struggle with all
that is downgrading, violent or tempting, and
of what, as the essence of humanity, steps from
being unborn into existence and sees again its
immortality in death.
The fairy tales are the remains of these
mystery languages—and the children are passing
through these stages of human consciousness.
46
For this reason, they live with the fairy tale
images and are warmed and fulfilled by them
again and again. In the mysteries, one learned
and practiced a direct spiritual view of the
forces and models behind the senses. Out of
this source of truth, from which the ancient
cults of the world religions were also created,
the fairy tale speaks to the unreflecting,
experiential consciousness of the children; and
the child creates the formative forces of his inner
humanity from this source. For that reason,
Rudolf Steiner, who showed to the modern,
scientific consciousness the methods of exercise
and meditation to gain anew the power of
spiritual perception, speaks of the fairy tales as
healing to the soul of a child. Cosmic forces of
structure and growth shape the child’s body into
its increasingly earthly and solid form. These
same forces operate in the outer form of spiritual
facts in the fairy tale images, and nourish the
child’s healthy life forces. “The human soul has
an inextinguishable need to have the substance
of fairy tales flow through its veins, just as the
body needs to have nourishing substances
circulate through it.” (Rudolf Steiner)
Education is inextricably linked with the
image of man. In modern times, the teaching
of education has developed pedagogy as a
science and, above all, as a methodology and
an art of teaching (didactics). In the 19th
century, the demand for a more psychological
and philosophical foundation in pedagogy
Helmut von Kügelgen
furthered the effort of dealing with the growing
uncertainty of educators. With the increasing
conflicts of the generations, the traditional ways
were not working.
Thus, Herbart’s pedagogy resulted from his
philosophy; however, from the point of view of
human soul forces, his philosophy essentially
took only imagination into consideration. For
this reason, the reform pedagogy at the turn of
the century spoke so much about “the whole
person.” Lichtwark spoke about experience and
feeling, and Kerschensteiner, and the direction
of the Worker School, spoke about the will to
form. The impulses for an artistic high school
curriculum and for the pedagogical islands
of the country boarding-schools, where the
teachers were supposed to be companions
and educators as well as lesson-givers, came
particularly from the youth movement.
The concern with the way of youth and the
wish to understand not only the rationalistic
scope of human life, challenged the teachers to
contemplate and adapt their teaching to include
the extensive life of the soul. There were also
demands from the school administration and
home that teachers take their educational task
as a turntable for the distribution of career and
social prospects.
Psychology and anthropology at the turn
of the century could not expand upon what
Herbart, for one, had accomplished concerning
the forces of the human soul. The reality of
the feeling life and the will was not accessible
to the scientific, materialistic consciousness.
It was there that Rudolf Steiner was active. He
broadened the realm of human experience
by showing “results of observation of the soul
according to scientific methods”—thus the
subtitle of his book Philosophy of Freedom, “the
basis for a modern world conception”—and
thereby he gained ground in recognizing the
reality and lawfulness of feeling and will in the
47
Fairy Tale Language
life of the human soul. Now an “anthropology
as the basis for pedagogy,” especially as
an impetus for an expanded striving for
knowledge, could be presented—this was
called by Steiner anthropological Spiritual
Science or Anthroposophy. The body, soul,
and spirit of Rudolf Steiner’s comprehensive
view of humankind became the foundation of
Waldorf pedagogy, a new way of thinking for the
educator. They also proved his power to renew
cultural development in many areas of life—
medicine, agriculture, art, curative education,
religious revival, etc. One side of this renewed
view of the world and humankind was the
development and extension of consciousness.
Another lay in his extension of the ideas of
Darwin and Haeckel to spiritual development.
Yet another side was that he made accessible
to those in the Western world the clarifying
knowledge of the laws of human fate and the
ever-growing certainty of repeated lives on earth.
We can interpret the fairy tales—to return
to these—as answers to the ultimate questions
about our outer and inner needs. Even for those
of us who do not already experience with the
sensitivity of the artistic person the full meaning
of the fairy tale, it is possible to gain a clearer
comprehension. Preparatory work for this can
be carried out. The modern person must earn
his love for the child. Because the traditions of
heartfelt relationships no longer exist, he must
earn his inner comprehension of the whole
of humankind in its childhood. Thus it is still
worthwhile to create anew the fairy tale mood
and the fairy tale reality.*
“Poetry heals the wounds which the intellect
hurts,” says Novalis. With this, he means there is
_______________
*There are lectures by Rudolf Steiner and books by Rudolf
Meyer, Friedel Lenz and others which illuminate the
meaning of fairy tales. Fortunately, several are now being
translated into English and should be available in a year or
two.
Fairy Tales and Verses

a deeper truth than that which the unspiritual,
rational, scientific method has to offer. Every
explanation for children of the fairy tale age, and
even beyond, should be interwoven with this
poetry. The sorry statements about cell division
and chromosomes, which in their time must
also be learned, express nothing of the truth
about the preparation for human birth. Heredity,
human love, and the spirit of the Ego seeking its
fate are involved. Heaven and earth have a share
in it as well. Raphael filled the blue background,
out of which the Sistine Madonna carries her
child into his earthly life, with the faces of the
unborn.
Whoever has been present at the moment
when a small human body ventures forth,
painfully, from the mother’s body into the light
of this world, knows the worrisome question:
Will the life of the soul, with its first breath and
its first cry, move into this body not yet capable
of life? He or she also knows the wonderful joy
when, with the rhythm of breath, the soul moves
in and the birth is completed. The small lump of
earth is loved and animated by God’s breath—
the picture of the biblical creation story reveals
itself in its radiant truth: God blew the breath of
life into Adam.
The desire for truth ought not to be an
excuse to deliver explanations lacking the
spiritual, especially concerning the riddle of
humankind—which engages us with its own
fate in the most moving way when a new, small
person seriously changes the entire fate of a
family or of a number of concerned people. The
touching certainty of the child, that the human
being is led to the earth on the wings of spiritual
messengers ought not to be exchanged for the
half-truths of a materialistic biology and the
announcement of human beginnings from the
physical body! The “Fairy Tale of the Stork”
is true. Its new interpretation in the material
world, its sentimental or cynical mocking
from the point of view of the “naked ape,” has
destroyed the power of its symbol.
We are grateful to the old revealing wisdom
for the true fairy tale. It speaks figuratively of
change, of enchantment, and solution—and with
this, again and again, of the secret of humanity.
The spiritual origin of people, their tests, their
changes, their victories and solutions are
depicted. The child can sympathize prophetically
with it right away. And all the “cruelty” which
we see in the dance around the wolf drowned in
the well is for the child nothing other than the
blessed victory of good over bad. This victory
confirms in the child the trust with which he
is so wonderfully equipped for his first steps
along the path of life. The fact that the adult
depicts such pictures for him strengthens him
to deal with the disappointments which the first
encounters with the bad in this world and within
himself will cause him. Thus do fairy tales also
teach that the bad must be struggled against.
A healthy three- or four-year-old will listen
to the fairy tale of “Star Money” on a hundred
evenings with only an ever-increasing sympathy.
There is no more penetrating proof than this
that the child experiences an imagination, a
painting for the soul in the fairy tale. It is only
the intellect, not the feeling or will, that is ever
done with a matter in which it has once taken
an interest. We stand before art, imagination,
and religious truth ever stirred anew. We
are elevated, and the impulse of our will is
strengthened to its best.
Each person needs a field of activity for his
inner life, for his willing, feeling, and finally also
for his thinking soul. The child needs this field
of activity for the strength of his soul as does
each adult. If I do not present the child with
the images and the language of the fairy tales,
then the contents of his soul will be supplied by
the idle talk of the alley. Car makes and money
concerns, trivial, unimaginative bits of everyday

48
Helmut von Kügelgen
conversation will rule the field of his soul,
resulting in a field filled with weeds.
As the vocabulary of a child grows, so does
his capacity for experience. With the capacity for
experience grows the joy in creativity, the inner
kingdom. The fairy tales which are told over and
over again will be acted out by the children; they
live and deal with the vital fairy tale characters.
Thus it happens that the “fairy tale children,”
in their first year of school, have a decisive
advantage over their peers who have been
cheated of the fairy tale world. They experience
with greater differentiation; they experience
more; they can express themselves more fully
either in words or through art. They are open,
can listen better, and display greater pleasure in
creative endeavors. They form their thoughts
into well-structured sentences containing
unusual words from their vocabulary.
And what are the fairy tale films serving
up? They are turning the imagination which
blossoms from the lovingly spoken descriptive
words, from the fairy tale mood, into fixed,
industrially manufactured pictures. They are
shackling and destroying the imagination. It
is best not to send your children to any film
v v
What to Do about Witches
Ruth Pusch, Spring Valley, NY
At the word “witch” we think almost
invariably of the horrid creature in the
gingerbread house who tempted little children
into her power. To see her more plainly, we need
only to look a few pages further in the Grimms’
tales, to “Jorinda and Joringel”: “a crooked old
woman, yellow and lean, with large red eyes and
a hooked nose, the point of which reached to her
chin … she could lure wild beasts and birds to
her, and then she killed and boiled and roasted
49
Fairy Tale Language
before the age of twelve—and then only to
cultural or travel films. The fairy tale films break
into the sanctuary of the child, and with the
suggestive form of the picture’s effect, they stamp
stereotypes onto the children’s souls. The adults
themselves who have seen a Fridericus-Rex film
with Otto Gebuhr can scarcely rid themselves
of this imprinted image to create, once again, a
living, imaginative picture of the lonely, Prussian
king. A child who has had to see “Snow White
and the Seven Dwarves” by Walt Disney is
cheated of the ability to feel the real forces in
nature and to experience actively and creatively
the spiritual reality in the world of the senses.
The young child is not a small, unfinished
adult. She is a person whose state of
consciousness allows her to be nearer to the
spiritual reality than the adult is. “If you do not
become like children…” means there is no going
backward. The child who is of the “Kingdom of
Heaven” still lives unconscious and dreaming
in its guardianship. The adult who is supposed
to become like the child, and will possess the
Kingdom of Heaven in the days to come, is the
person who has achieved a knowledge of the
spiritual world. In the language of the fairy tales,
child and teacher have a language in common.
v
them. If anyone came within one hundred paces
of her castle, he was obliged to stand still and
could not stir from the place until she bade
him be free. But whenever an innocent maiden
came within the circle, she changed her into a
bird, and shut her up in a wicker-work cage, and
carried the cage into a room in the castle. She
had about seven thousand cages of rare birds in
the castle.”
Fairy Tales and Verses
Such thorough-going cruelty, malice and
inhumanity is surely not for children’s hearing or
reading? How can we allow such impressions to
strike terror into the heart of a 5- or 6-year- old?
Even if we call the figures in a folk tale—prince,
good fairy, giant—only symbols, and even if bad
fairies and witches are symbols of evil, should
children have to be confronted with it so early
and in such frightening images?
It is a problem that challenges the parents
and teachers who love to tell the old stories to
their children. It is a problem that has to do
with the fact that Rudolf Steiner in his wisdom
put fairy and folk tales at the very basis of the
Waldorf school curriculum. And he said that the
adult who tells the tales should have first made
an effort to understand the hidden meaning
of the tale. Does the “meaning” of the witch
somehow soften the impact of the figure?
Let us look more closely at her various
shapes and appearances. There are “big” stories
and lesser ones, and in all the more important
tales, there seems to be either a stepmother
(“Mother Holle,” “Cinderella”) or a witch
(“Hansel and Gretel,” “Rapunzel”). There are two
major stories in which there is a variation: in
“Little Snow-White” the stepmother is a witch;
in “Sleeping Beauty” one cannot be quite sure
that the Bad Fairy (called in Grimms one of
the Wise Women) is a witch, though she seems
to have familiar characteristics: her anger, her
opposition to the “good” in the other Wise
Women, and her accomplishing of what appears
to be a cruel deed in letting Briar Rose prick her
finger and fall asleep for one hundred years.
What witches do seems to vary considerably.
The Jorinda witch changes lovely maidens to
birds; the Rapunzel witch keeps only one maiden
shut away in a tower. Snow-White’s stepmother
tries to strangle her with bright-colored laces
and poison her with comb and apple. The
gingerbread-house witch wants to cook and eat
50
Hansel and Gretel. Foundling Bird’s witch, an
old cook, wants to put him into boiling water.
In “The Six Swans” the witch, who is a beautiful
queen, makes six silken shirts and with them
changes the six little princes into swans. “The
Old Woman in the Wood” changes travelers to
trees and seems to hold their souls shaped as
rings in her hands. This is a colorful lot of nasty
creatures, and one wonders what good they do
in the world to have acquired immortality in
these never-to-be-forgotten stories.
One step towards understanding witch-
nature is the close relationship of stepmother
to witch, especially in “Little Snow-White.” The
lovely queen, the real mother, receives her child
and blesses her with a name as she comes into
the world “as white as snow.” But a stepmother
comes to take her place.
Beneath the German Stiefmutter
(stepmother) lies the meaning: stiff-mother,
someone who is hard and rigid. The All-Mother
who created and watched over us in ancient
times has been replaced by Mater-Materialia,
matter. Mankind has had to forsake the
knowledge of divine powers and plunge into a
completely physical existence. A child, too, goes
through the same “fall”: losing his unconscious
life-forces that are woven by protective beings
and becoming awake only to the material world
around him.
Hermann Beckh, a priest of the Christian
Community, wrote the following in an article,
“On Snow-White” printed in the magazine Die
Christengemeinschaft, Erste Jahrgang, 1924/25:
The stepmother is hard, physical matter,
through which the temptation to envy and
pride can enter a pure, light-filled soul.
We know that it is the crystallization and
hardening of light that has created matter.
In this are held the forces of hate, in contrast
to the forces of cosmic love active in the
Ruth Pusch
warmth of the sun. The wonderful mirror
into which the stepmother gazes is the
moon-related mirroring power of matter
which awakens egoistic self-knowledge and
envy in the heart.
But why does Beckh say that the forces
of hardening enter a pure, light-filled soul?
Surely the stepmother exerts her power in
ever-widening spirals until Snow-White finally
succumbs?
Ah! we have come to the moment when the
fairy tale reveals its inmost meaning. Novalis,
a creator of fairy tales himself, was one who
recognized it: “All the figures in a tale are but
parts or aspects of a single, synthetic person, the
human being per se.” Carl Jung said it, too: the
“various personages of a dream or a fairy tale
can be seen as different aspects or qualities of
the protagonist.” In a lecture about The Portal
of Initiation,* Rudolf Steiner spoke of the many
soul-aspects of Johannes standing in their
allotted places on the stage in the final scene, the
Sun Temple. We can remember how closely this
first Mystery Drama corresponds to Goethe’s
fairy tale of the Green Snake.
We realize then what a fairy tale really is. It is
we ourselves; it concerns our Self; it is a picture
of our very being in its struggle to become a
true human being. The soul yearns to become
spirit and can do so only through the pain
and battle of physical existence. Why does the
Stepmother within us send us forth “in winter,
when everything is frozen as hard as stone,” in a
dress made of paper, to fetch her a basketful of
straw-berries?… Because she knows that there
is healing for us—for her—in pain, pain that can
be heightened to compassion.
_______________
*Rudolf Steiner, Three Lectures on the Mystery Dramas
(1910–1911), Anthroposophic Press; available Autumn,
1982.
51
What to Do about Witches
Indeed we carry within us many, many layers
of our past, the sequence of our “becoming.” In
various lectures Rudolf Steiner has enumerated
them all. There are the giants, the memories
of the time when we were larger, stronger, less
individualized, not yet clever; sometimes they
rise to haunt us. There are the Enchantress, the
Wise Women, Mother Holle, the Old Kings, who
seem to belong to an age of wisdom. The late-
comer is the clever little tailor who knows how
to get the better of any stupid giant and who can
be of use even to a mighty King. He became part
of us at the end of the Middle Ages, when our
modern epoch began, growing ever smaller and
cleverer: a picture of our present soul nature.
In the medieval scenes of the second
Mystery Drama, The Soul’s Probation, a tale is
told by Dame Kean about the origin of evil. It
was the time of transition from one epoch to the
coming modern age, and the teachings of occult
groups at that time—such as the Templars in
the play—wished to prepare for “future shock”
with images of the battles to come, battles
that every individual would have to wage with
ahrimanic powers of hardening, coldness,
mechanical thinking, abstractness, fear. Hence
the appearance in all parts of the world of fairy
and folk tales with very similar motifs.
Hansel and Gretel, archetypes of childhood,
are forced to leave “their father’s house,” a phrase
that reverberates. “In my Father’s house are
many mansions…” but this one has become
poverty-stricken. And the father, weakened,
has to follow the decision of “the woman” or
stepmother to leave the children—alone and
free—in the forest, a world of confusing terror.
Now they have to meet the even harder,
greedier, colder character of the witch. She is
deceptive, too, and snares them with sugar and
the promise of little white beds. In the physical
comfort they find in her house, they “think they
are in heaven,” but in a trice this turns into a
Fairy Tales and Verses
prison. The witch is a more powerful version of
the stepmother.
The battle begins; it is one all face and we
have to fight. In physical existence our spirit,
like Hansel, is shut into a small skull-cage and
it may not lose hope. It must have the initiative
to try to deceive the deceiver—hold out a little
animal bone instead of a plump finger. And like
Gretel, our soul-nature must be patient in the
service required of it, in order to help the more
helpless brother. Compassion, patience and
something greater are required. Gretel’s copious
tears, flowing from the very beginning of their
troubles, must be arrested. A decisive deed is
necessary; water must be conquered by fire.
Only a moment is allowed Gretel to awaken to
her opportunity—and she is ready. “Marvels are
many, but none more marvelous than man!”
In the Grimms’ tale the battle is short and
decisive. For most of us it is a constant and
consuming one. Simply the fact that we are
born into this modern existence places us in the
witch’s power. As soon as we are conscious of
the world, we find her in it. And we know, even
as young children, that her power imprisons
us and brings hate and coldness too close. She
sometimes lurks in an older child’s grin; she
frightens us in the angry tones of an adult; she
can suddenly stare out of our beloved mother’s
eyes (Don’t we all believe at one time or another
that this isn’t our real mother but a stepmother?).
A child cannot be sheltered in any way from the
power of the witch; this is the tragedy of our life
of knowledge today. But the love of parents and
teachers can bring living imaginations to their
children, aware that the spirit wants to fly, like
Hansel’s white bird, and the soul wants to find
its white duck to carry it across the water to its
father’s house. It is truly the Fairy Tale itself that
will bring the images of salvation to the helpless
child—the image of white bird, white duck, the
promise of return to the father’s house. And
52
more than anything, it will bring that dramatic
moment of the soul’s awakening to the joyfully
listening child, the assurance that every child
can meet and subjugate the witch.
That is the strength of fairy tales. They are
filled with promise. The weak can be strong;
evil can be turned to good; the ugly can become
beautiful; Cinderella can become a princess, the
frog a prince. Every human being can rise to his
true stature. Even the smallest child can realize
this and rejoice at future victories.
The adult who understands the underlying
meaning of a tale tells it, of course, differently
from those who have not considered its
significance. A good “teller of tales” will not
make the dramatic moments horrifying (as
Disney loves to do) but keeps to a matter-of-
fact tone of voice. It is important not to arouse
fear but to be engaged in understanding the
fear already in the child. “This tale I am telling
you,” one must seek to say, “is to show you that
everyone in the world is a poor, lonely child lost
in a deep forest. But see! Whatever it is we have
to meet there, we can be ready for, and we will
be able to deal with it!”
After all, Snow-White finds the good
dwarves and then her prince; Beauty rescues
and transforms her beast; Cinderella’s slipper
really fits only her foot; Rapunzel’s tears bring
sight back to her prince. A fairy tale is not
cruel, it is consoling. It has the power to awaken
meanings, as George MacDonald said. We must
only do our best to understand one or the other
of those meanings, and we must understand
the children we tell the tales to and the needs of
those children. The “big” tales we have talked
about here are assigned to the First Grade
curriculum and can wait for their telling until a
child is almost six. None of them should come
to a child too early. In the kindergarten certain
tales, carefully chosen and carefully told, can be
given to children one knows well. As songs or
Ruth Pusch
marionette plays, they are helpfully intertwined
with music and rhythmic movement.
Bruno Bettelheim in his Uses of Enchantment
has described the wonderfully positive effect
fairy tales have on children. It is not wholly his
fault that he understands the needs of children
better than the highest meaning of the tales. It
is actually only spiritual science and the work of
Rudolf Steiner that can provide this meaning.
Choosing Fairy Tales for Different Ages
Joan Almon
Waldorf Kindergarten Association
Deciding which fairy tales are appropriate
for which age group is a problem which faces
every kindergarten teacher as well as every
parent who wants to offer fairy tales to children.
Over the years, with the experience of actually
telling the tales to children, one develops a
“sense” for this, but in the beginning some
guidelines may be of helpful.
Among the fairy tales, there are stories
of varying degrees of complexity. At the
simplest level there is the “Porridge Pot,”
while a considerably more complicated story
is the beautiful French tale of “Perronik,”
the simpleton in quest of the grail who must
overcome seven difficult obstacles. The latter is
a tale for the elementary school child, perhaps
just as he is leaving the world of fairy tales
around age nine, while the former little tale is a
delight to three-year-olds as their first fairy tale.
They enjoy hearing of the little pot, so full of
abundance, which overflows for lack of the right
word. At this age, the children themselves have a
sense of life’s eternal abundance which one child
expressed to her mother in this way when told
she did not have enough time to take her out to
play: “But Mother, I have lots of time. I’ll give
you some.”
53
What to Do about Witches
But an effort to reach a spiritual understanding
of the world around us is like lifting a
determined sword to cut through a hedge of
sharp thorns and, finding it opening to our
entrance, like the Prince, for whom the hedge
was covered with flowers and who then found
his way through the sleeping castle and up the
steep stone steps into the place where Briar-Rose
was waiting. v
In almost every fairy tale, there is either a
problem which must be solved, such as how
to get the porridge pot to stop cooking, or a
confrontation with evil, which can take many
forms, such as the Queen in Snow-White or the
various monsters which Perronik encounters.
The milder the problem, the more appropriate
the tale for younger children, and conversely, the
greater the evil, the more appropriate the tale is
for older children.
Another aspect of fairy tales is that the hero
or heroine must undergo certain trials or go on
a complex journey before succeeding in his or
her quest. In the original version of the “Three
Little Pigs,” the pig is nearly tricked three times
before he is able to overcome the wolf. Three is a
number which frequently arises in relationship
to the challenges of the fairy tale. In this case,
the tasks are not portrayed as very ominous,
and the pig handles them with a good deal of
humor, making it a tale well-loved by four-
year-olds. In the “Seven Ravens,” the daughter
must first journey to the sun, the moon and the
stars in order to restore her brothers to human
form. This is a tale which speaks well to five-
and six-year-olds. An even more complex tale
is the beautiful Norwegian tale entitled “East of
Fairy Tales and Verses
the Sun and West of the Moon.” Here, too, the
heroine must go on a great journey to redeem
her prince, and the journey takes her first to the
homes of three wise women. She is then aided
by each of the four winds. Yet even when the
north wind blows her to the castle east of the
sun and west of the moon, her work is not yet
completed and she is further tested before she
is able to marry the prince. This is not a tale for
the kindergarten, but rather one for the first
grade or beyond, when children’s own inner
struggles grow more complex and when they are
nourished by the more complex fairy tales.
With these thoughts in mind, I would like
to divide some of the tales commonly told
in Waldorf kindergartens into categories of
complexity. This is a somewhat dangerous
business, for the fairy tales are so alive that
they do not rest comfortably in one category or
another. Even as I divide them up, I find myself
constantly switching tales from one category to
another. In the end one makes one’s decisions
very much with a particular group of children or
an individual child in mind. Please accept these
divisions lightly, as mere indications, and take
the time to develop your own judgments in this
area. You may find it helpful to read a few stories
from each category as a means of understanding
the different levels of complexity.
1. The three-year-olds in the nursery or
mixed-age kindergarten are very satisfied with
little nature stories, or with a simple tale such
as “Sweet Porridge.” The older threes are often
ready to hear the “sequential” tales such as the
tale of the turnip. The turnip has grown so large
that Grandfather cannot pull it out by himself,
so one after another come Grandmother,
grandchild, dog, cat and finally mouse. All
together are then able to pull out the turnip. One
finds many tales of this sort which have a strong
pattern of repetition and order. There are also
traditional songs which fall into this category
54
such as “I Had a Cat and the Cat Pleased Me”
or “Had Gad Ya,” a song sung during the Jewish
holiday of Passover. Such sequential stories have
the added advantage of being relatively easy for
a beginning story teller to learn. A collection of
tales for this age group includes the following:
Sweet Porridge (Grimm, 103)
Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Russian)
Little Louse and Little Flea (Spindrift)
The Turnip (Russian)
The Mitten
Little Madam (Spindrift)
The Gingerbread Man
The Johnny Cake (English)
The Hungry Cat (Norwegian, Plays for
Puppets)
(Note: Grimms’ fairy tales are numbered from 1
to 200, and their numbers are given here to help
you locate the story in a complete edition of the
Grimms’ tales. A list of sources for most of the
fairy tales mentioned here appears at the end of
the article.)
2. The next category of tales is slightly
more complex, but the overall mood is usually
cheerful and without too much sorrow or
struggle. The fours and young fives are usually
quite comfortable with these tales.
Billy Goats Gruff (Norwegian)
Three Little Pigs (English)
Wolf and Seven Kids (Grimm, 5)
Pancake Mill (Acorn Hill Anthology)
Mashenka and the Bear (Russian, Plays for
Puppets)
The Shoemaker and The Elves (Grimm, 39)
3. In the next category come many of the
tales which we normally associate with the term
“fairy tale” and which we think of in relation to
five- and six-year-olds. These tales contain more
challenge and more detail. The main character
often sets out in the world with a simple task
to perform such as in the “ Miller Boy and the
Joan Almon Choosing Fairy Tales

Pussy Cat.” Although obstacles are encountered, A frequent problem which troubles
they do not weigh too heavily on the soul of the kindergarten teachers is how to select tales
individual. Such tales include: for a mixed-age group. If there are three-year-
olds present as well as six-year-olds, will the
Star Money (Grimm, 153)
more advanced tales harm the little ones? My
Frog Prince (Grimm, 1)
own experience and that of other teachers is
Mother Holle (Grimm, 24)
that this is not a problem provided the story
Little Red Cap (Grimm, 26)
is appropriate for some of the children in the
Bremen Town Musicians (Grimm, 27)
group. This is an interesting phenomenon
Golden Goose (Grimm, 64)
which seems to work as follows. In a mixed-age
Spindle, Shuttle and Needle (Grimm, 188)
group from with children three to six, one can
Hut in the Forest (Grimm, 169)
choose a tale for the five- and six-year-olds and
Queen Bee (Grimm, 62)
the three- and four-year-olds will be attentive.
Snow Maiden (Russian, Plays for Puppets)
They may seem less focused than they are with
The Seven Ravens (Grimm, 25)
a simpler tale, but they rarely grow restless
Snow White and Rose Red (Grimm, 161)
(though it sometimes helps to seat the youngest
Little Briar Rose (Grimm, 50)
ones near the teacher or the assistant). On the
Princess in the Flaming Castle (this
other hand, if one would tell the same complex
Newsletter)
tale to a group of only three- and four-year-olds,
The Donkey (Grimm, 144)
one would find that they do not attend to it well
Rumpelstiltskin (Grimm, 55)
and easily lose interest. It is as if there is no one
Snow-White and the Seven Dwarves
in the group who can “carry” the story for the
(Grimm, 53)
others. In a mixed-age group, one can also create
Hansel and Gretel (Grimm, 15)
a balance in the tales by telling some that are
4. The final group which I will include here appropriate for the younger children. The older
are those fairy tales which are well-suited for the children generally do not get bored with the
six-year-olds who are making the transition to simpler tales, for they are now old enough to see
first grade. This is a time of stress for children as the humor in the sequential tales or simpler fairy
they lose their baby teeth and sense a departure tales, and they will laugh at the humorous parts
from the heart of early childhood. (Fortunately while the little ones listen with full seriousness.
they still have a few more years before they
When choosing a fairy tale, another factor
make their final “fall” from Paradise.) Tales in
to take into account is whether a fairy tale is
which characters have a personal experience of
generally well known in the society, even if it is
suffering or sorrow meet this new phase of inner
known in an incorrect form. When a tale is well
development in the children. Often these tales
known, children often seem ready to hear it at a
are not told in the kindergarten at all but are left
younger age than they otherwise might be.
for first grade.
The final consideration, and probably the
Jorinda and Joringel (Grimm, 69)
most important one, is the story teller’s own
Brother and Sister (Grimm, 11)
relationship to the story. Sometimes a story teller
Cinderella (Grimm, 21)
loves a tale so much that the story may be told
Rapunzel (Grimm, 12)
to children who are generally too young for it.
It is as if the story teller’s love of the tale builds

55
Fairy Tales and Verses
a bridge to it. Thus, I knew one teacher who
loved “The Seven Ravens” so much that she told
it year after year to her class of three- and four-
year-olds, a feat which I would not undertake.
When this love of fairy tales is coupled with an
understanding of them on the part of the story
teller, doors are opened to the whole realm of
life in which fairy tales are true and live forever.
In the telling of fairy tales we too are nourished
and brought back into this realm. Rudolf Steiner
describes the fairy tales very beautifully when he
says, “Much deeper than one might imagine lie
the sources whence flow genuine, true folk tales
that speak their magic throughout all centuries
of human evolution.”*
Most of the above mentioned fairy tales can
be found in the following books:
The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Pantheon
Edition.
Plays for Puppets and Marionettes, a collection
of stories compiled by Bronja Zahlingen and
published by Acorn Hill Children’s Center,
Silver Spring, MD.
Spindrift, a volume of kindergarten stories
and songs gathered by the British Waldorf
kindergarten teachers and published by
Wynstones Press, Gloucester, England.
A Time for Trolls, a collection of Norwegian fairy
tales told by Asbjornsen and Moe.
Let Us Form a Ring, Acorn Hill Anthology,
a collection of songs, stories, and verses
published by Acorn Hill Children’s Center,
Silver Spring, MD.
_______________
*Rudolf Steiner, “Folk Tales in the Light of Spiritual
Research,” February 6, 1913. (This is presently out of print,
but the Kindergarten Association is working to bring
several lectures on fairy tales by Rudolf Steiner into print
in the near future.)
56
PIMPERNELL
Once upon a time there lived a man and a
woman. They had a little son who was born only
as big as a thumb, but he was as cheerful as a
little fish. Father and Mother loved the little one
with all their heart and called him Pimpernell.
They would carry him into the forest where
Pimpernell, with his bright eyes, would take
in every thing. When listening to the birds he
would shout with joy.
When Mother was busy with the household,
Father would play with Pimpernell, and when
Father went to work, Mother would rock and
sing the little one to sleep.
Time passed. Pimpernell was already
running around happily. Although he had
remained tiny, he was nevertheless as lively and
nimble as a grasshopper.
When Father would go into the forest, he
would take Pimpernell with him, and there he
would lift the little one and set him down on a
young tree. Pimpernell would sway up and down
on his branch and laugh and whistle a cheerful
song so that his father’s work became much
lighter. When evening came, Father would call,
“Come Pimpernell, we want to go home. Surely
Mother will already be waiting for us in the
doorway.”
Inside the house Pimpernell would hang
on his mother’s apron strings and want to be
present for everything that was going on. When
Mother was cooking a good soup, Pimpernell
would always be close to the cooking pot until
she would finally lift him up and let him peep
inside.
Once Mother had gone out, and Pimpernell
was playing with the kitten. Then a sweet smell
reached his nose. He would have loved to
look inside the pot. He stretched and reached
and finally climbed onto a stool until his nose
Joan Almon
was close to the edge of the pot. While he was
bending over, he was seized by the steam of the
food and swiftly carried up and out through the
chimney.
The little one was riding on clouds of steam
higher and higher through the air until he finally
got hold of a branch of a fir tree and hung on to
it. There he sat on top, calling out in his need,
“Father, Mother, come and fetch me down,” but
nobody heard him. “Hu, hu, I am so cold, I am
hungry. Hu, hu.”
Finally a squirrel heard his calling and
lamenting and alighted near him and said, “Sit
up and hold on,” and with a swish it ran down
the trunk. The little one was so glad to find at
last a firm ground under his feet. As a reward he
gave the squirrel a nut.
But now Pimpernell felt his own empty
tummy and called, “Is there nobody who will
give me anything to eat?” Presently the scent
of freshly baked bread reached his nostrils. He
followed the scent and came to a bakery. The
baker looked out of the window. “Have you
no work for me, mistress baker?” The woman
looked around to see where the voice might be
coming from. Finally she saw Pimpernell.
“You little flea, what on earth can you do? I
have no need for such an imp.” But Pimpernell
began a jolly song, and with it he lured the
baker’s children, who sang and danced with him
and wouldn’t let go of Pimpernell.
“Well, well,” said the mistress baker. “He may
turn out a good nurse maid and what he will eat
and drink will not amount to much.” And so she
let him stay.
But she was a stingy woman and would only
let him have hard crusts of bread. Whenever she
was baking pancakes she would carry them all
into a room and lock the door. Pimpernell was
only allowed to smell the sweet scent of them.
Then Pimpernell became angry and called out.
57
Choosing Fairy Tales
“Hee, hee, Mistress Tight-Fist here; she stuffs the
food into herself and gives nothing to anyone
else.” The mistress grew red with anger and
snatched a rag in order to slap the little one. But
he was as swift as a mouse, so she tried to catch
him with a thimble. “Hee, hee, mistress tight fist
here; she stuffs the food into herself and gives
nothing to anyone else. Hee, hee, adieu, adieu,
Cock-a-doodle-do!”
At last Pimpernell escaped through a crack
in the door, calling out again, “Hu, hu, Mistress
Miser, adieu.”
Now he was gone, and he was all alone in
the middle of the huge forest. “If only somebody
would come and take me along.” And he was
so hungry. Then he spotted a strawberry in
the grass. “Who set the table for me?” called
Pimpernell, swinging himself on a tree trunk
and beginning to munch. He whistled a little
tune.
But the tree trunk began to move, and a
mighty giant lifted himself out of the grass.
“Where is that bird who can whistle so well? I
want to catch him and take him home to my
children.” Pimpernell continued whistling,
undisturbed.
The giant discovered him and tried to snatch
him. “Stop, stop,” called the little one. “You will
squeeze me in your clumsy hands. Sit down
and I will climb up on you myself.” The giant
squatted in the grass and swiftly Pimpernell
was upon his shoulders. He enjoyed that and
whistled and trilled like a bird.
“Hmm, hmm,” said the giant. “I am hungry.”
“I can help you,” said Pimpernell. “Carry me
to the house of the baker and there you can eat
to your heart’s content. She has hundreds and
hundreds of good pancakes in her house.” This
made the giant’s mouth water. He licked his lips
and ran as fast as his long legs could carry him.
Fairy Tales and Verses

When it grew dark, they arrived at the
bakery. Pimpernell crept through the keyhole
into the storeroom. “Look out,” he called. “Heave
ho,” and threw the delicious pancakes through
the window. The giant caught them eagerly and
stuffed them into his enormous mouth. When
the storeroom was empty, Pimpernell jumped
out.
“That was well done,” said the giant. “You
can wish from me whatever you like and you
shall have it.”
“I wish to go home to Father and Mother if
only I knew the way.”
The giant laughed. “I know your house. Sit
on my shoulder and you shall soon be home.”
With huge giant steps he tramped through the
woods. Pimpernell from his high seat was on the
lookout.
There he saw his father’s house. “There it is,
there it is,” he called and jumped off the giant
and straight into his mother’s arms. Father
arrived, too, and there was no end to their joy.
The giant laughed and returned to the
mountains. Pimpernell was home again and had
a long sleep after his travels. v

PITTER PATTER
Pitter patter, pitter patter,
look at all the rain,
Knocking at the window sill
and on the windowpane.
Sounding like the pitter pat
of little fairy feet,
running down the garden path,
running down the street.
Washing everybody’s house
and everybody’s shop,
Pitter patter, pitter pat,
when is it going to stop?

– Bronja Zahlingen

58
Joan Almon
SHINGEBISS:
A Chippewa Indian Tale
In his lodge on the shores of Lake Huron
lived little brown duck, Shingebiss. When
the fierce North Wind swept down from the
glittering land of Snow, four great logs for
firewood had little brown duck, Shingebiss.
Brave and cheery was Shingebiss. No matter
how the North Wind raged, he waddled out
across the ice and found what food he needed.
Pulling up the frozen rushes that grew in his
little pond, he dived down through the holes
they left and got his fish for supper. Then away
to his lodge he went, dragging his string of fish
behind him. By his blazing fire he cooked his
fish for supper and made himself warm and
cozy. At last the North Wind shrieked: “Woo-
oo-oo! Who dares brave Big Chief North Wind?
All other creatures fear him. Only brown duck,
Shingebiss, treats Big Chief North Wind as if he
were a squaw-breeze!”
So the North Wind sent cold, icy blasts,
and he made high drifts of snow, till not a bird
or beast dared venture forth save Shingebiss.
Shingebiss still went out just as he had before
and paid no heed to the weather. He got his fish
every day, cooked his supper every night, and
warmed himself by his fire. “Ah!” raged big Chief
North Wind, “little brown duck, Shingebiss,
cares not for snow or ice! North Wind will freeze
his holes, so he can get no food. Then Big Chief
will conquer him!” So the North Wind froze
the holes where the little brown duck fished and
heaped his pond with snow.
But, when Shingebiss found his holes closed
so he could not reach the water, he did not even
murmur. He just went cheerily on till he found
another pond on which there was no snow. Then
he pulled up the rushes there and made new
holes for himself through which he could do his
fishing.
59
Choosing Fairy Tales
“Brown Duck shall know who is Chief!” the
North Wind howled in anger, and for days and
days and days, he followed the little brown duck.
He froze up his holes in the ice and covered his
ponds with snow.
But Shingebiss walked forth fearlessly, just
as he had before. He always got a few fish before
each hole was frozen, and he still went cheerily
home every night dragging his fish behind him.
“Woo-oo-oo! Woo-oo-oo!” The North Wind
now roared in fury. “Big Chief will go to the
lodge of little brown duck, Shingebiss. Big Chief
will blow in his door, sit down by his side, and
breath icy breath till he freezes.”
Now Shingebiss at that moment had just
eaten his supper, and he was sitting cozily
warming his little webbed feet by the blaze of his
bright, burning fire.
Carefully, holding his breath, so Shingebiss
should not hear him, quietly, very quietly, North
Wind crept up to the lodge. But Shingebiss felt
the icy cold come in through the cracks of the
door.
“I know who is there,” he thought. And he
began to sing sturdily:
Ka-neej, Ka-neej,
Bee-in, Bee-in,
Bon-in, Bon-in,
Ok-ee, Ok-ee,
Ka-weya, Ka-weya!
And the North Wind knew he was saying:
North Wind, North Wind, fierce in feature,
You are still my fellow creature;
Blow your worst, you can’t freeze me;
I fear you not and so I’m FREE!.”
Then North Wind was raging, but he kept
his voice to a whisper and he said: “Big Chief
will freeze him!” So North Wind crept under the
door, he slipped up behind little Shingebiss, and
Fairy Tales and Verses
sat down by the fire. Now Shingebiss knew he
was there, but he paid no heed at all. He kept on
singing louder:
Ka-neej! Ka-neej!
Bee-in, Bee-in.
“Big Chief will stay till he freezes,” whistled
the fierce North wind, and he breathed his iciest
breath. But, at that moment, Shingebiss leaned
over and stirred his fire. A shower of sparks
leaped up and the log glowed ruddy gold.
Then North Wind’s frosty hair began all
at once to drip, his icy face started to drip, the
tears ran down his cheeks, the mighty puff of his
60
breath grew fainter and fainter and fainter. But
Shingebiss still sat warming his little webbed feet
by the blaze and he still continued to sing:
North Wind, North Wind, fierce in feature,
You are still my fellow creature.
At length North Wind gave a shriek, “Big
Chief is melting!” he cried. And he rushed
headlong through the doorway and flung
himself on a snowbank. “Strange little brown
duck, Shingebiss,” he murmured weakly to
himself. “Big Chief North Wind can’t starve him,
can’t freeze him, can’t make him afraid! Ugh!
North Wind will let him alone. The Great Spirit
is with him.” v
Bronja Zahlingen Stories and Verses

Stories and Verses

Bronja Zahlingen, Vienna, Austria

BREAD BAKING
Lads and maidens, fair and strong, Keep it warm and let it rest
to the baker: come along! For to rise—that is the best.
Early in the morning hour Now you knead with might and main,
bring the meal and bring the flour, knead it over and over again—
coarse or fine—corn or wheat shape a round loaf, roll or bun,
makes delicious bread to eat. stretch a long loaf—easy done.
But whatever you may bring, Stroke them well with water dear,
don’t forget the seasoning: gentle hands are welcome here.
Put in salt and caraway, In the oven’s steady glow
anise seed or sesame, to be baked, the bread must go,
mix it well to make the dough, basking there like in the sun
yeast and water make it grow. getting brown ’til it is done.

Out it comes, all crisp indeed,

fit for any king to eat.

AROUND EASTER

Chickens: Gao gao gao nay, gao gao gao nay, fine On Palm Sunday the village children come
egg I did lay. (Repeated) with branches of the willow tree chanting a sing
song (traditional):
The chicken makes an awful din with gao gao
Pussy Pussy willow,
gao gao nag,
everyone must follow.
The farmer’s wife can understand, she comes to
Pussy Pussy willow tree,
get the egg.
have you got an egg for me?
She puts the egg into a basket, when presently
Is the farmer’s wife at home, is she in?
the white hen begins to cackle: gao gao
If you have an egg to spare,
…Then the brown hen, then the red, the
please put it in our basket here.
speckled …
Easter egg, Easter egg, an Easter egg!

v v v

61
Fairy Tales and Verses
THE MAGNIFICENT ROOSTER
AND THE LITTLE ANT
Original found in Seven-Year-Old Wonder-Book
by Isabel Wyatt (Dawne-Leigh Pub.)
There was once a magnificent rooster, a
proud and mighty hero. One sunny morning,
he swaggered along in his fine feather trousers
here and there in the barnyard, picking kernels
and worms. He came upon a little ant who was
struggling to carry a grain of seed which was
much larger than she was. The magnificent
rooster called out to her, “Well, well, little ant, I
could eat up your grain of seed and yourself as
well!”
Even though the magnificent rooster was
so proud and splendid, the little ant was not the
least bit fearful of him. She answered calmly,
“Please do not eat up my little grain of seed, for
my children need it. My children need me as
well, so please do not eat me either. It would be
much nicer if you could help me carry this grain
of seed. I am struggling to carry it for it is really
rather too large for me.”
This amused the magnificent rooster and he
asked, “Why should I, a mighty hero, carry this
grain of seed for you, a little ant?”
The little ant answered as calmly as before,
“Because one should help another.” Then the
magnificent rooster crowed and laughed, picked
the grain of seed up in his beak, and carried it to
the ant hill for the little ant. When she thanked
him, he bowed down grandly before her. Then,
in his fine feather trousers, he swaggered off
again about the barnyard.
Now, just in front of the barnyard gate, there
lay the sly fox hidden in the tall grass, and he
was observing the magnificent rooster. And
suddenly the magnificent rooster heard a voice
murmuring from somewhere, “Wouldn’t you
like to crow the time of day for us, mighty hero?
62
Perhaps from down here at the barnyard gate
where we can all admire you?”
Then the magnificent rooster felt himself to
be especially proud and mighty, and he flew up
to the barnyard gate, beat his wings, and proudly
crowed, “Cock-a-doodle-do!”
Then he heard the same voice from
somewhere saying, “Wonderful! But didn’t
you know, mighty hero, that the proudest and
mightiest heroes crow with their eyes closed?”
Then the magnificent rooster beat his wings
again, closed his eyes and crowed even more
proudly and mightily, “Cock-a-doodle-do!” And
while he had his eyes closed, the sly fox leaped
at him, grabbed onto his fine feather trousers
and ran like the wind towards his den with the
magnificent rooster between his teeth.
But the little ant had seen everything from
her ant hill. She ran as fast as she could to the
magnificent rooster’s dear hen and called, “Dear
hen, the sly fox has caught our magnificent
rooster, our proud and mighty hero. He has torn
his fine feather trousers and taken him away to
eat him!”
Then the dear hen called to the duck, “Duck,
the little ant told me that the sly fox has caught
our magnificent rooster, our proud and mighty
hero. He has torn his fine feather trousers and
taken him away to eat him!”
Then the duck called to the goose, “Goose,
the dear hen says that the little ant says that the
sly fox has caught our magnificent rooster, our
proud and mighty hero. He has torn his fine
feather trousers and taken him away to eat him.”
Then the goose called to the dog, “Dog, the
duck says that the dear hen says that the little ant
says that the sly fox has caught our magnificent
rooster, our proud and mighty hero. He has torn
his fine feather trousers and taken him away to
eat him.”
Bronja Zahlingen
Then the dog called to the sheep, “Sheep,
the goose says that the duck says that the dear
hen says that the little ant says that the sly fox
has caught our magnificent rooster, our proud
and mighty hero. He has torn his fine feather
trousers and taken him away to eat him.”
Then the sheep called to the horse, “Horse,
the dog says that the goose says that the duck
says that the dear hen says that the little ant
says that the sly fox has caught our magnificent
rooster, our proud and mighty hero. He has torn
his fine feather trousers and taken him away to
eat him.”
Then the horse called to the cow, “Cow,
sheep says that the dog says that the goose says
that the duck says that the dear hen says that
the little ant says the sly fox has caught our
magnificent rooster, our proud and mighty hero.
He has torn his fine feather trousers and taken
him away to eat him!”
Then the cow called to the milkmaid,
“Milkmaid, horse says that the sheep says that
the dog says that the goose says that the duck
says that the dear hen says that the little ant
says that the sly fox has caught our magnificent
rooster, our proud and mighty hero. He has torn
his fine feather trousers and taken him away to
eat him.”
Then the milkmaid called to the farmer,
“Farmer, the cow says that the horse says that the
sheep says that the dog says that the goose says
that the duck says that the dear hen says that
the little ant says that the sly fox has caught our
magnificent rooster, our proud and mighty hero.
He has torn his fine feather trousers and taken
him away to eat him.”
When the farmer heard this, he opened the
barnyard gate and ran after the sly fox; and the
milkmaid ran after the farmer; and the cow ran
after the milkmaid; and the horse ran after the
cow; and the sheep ran after the horse; and the
63
Stories and Verses
dog ran after the sheep; and the goose ran after
the dog; and the duck ran after the goose; and
the dear hen ran after the duck; and the little ant
ran behind all the others.
And the farmer called; and the milkmaid
shouted; and the cow mooed; and the horse
whinnied; and the sheep bleated; and the dog
barked; and the goose honked; and the duck
quacked; and the dear hen clucked; and the little
ant was quiet, for she needed her breath to run
after all the others.
And the magnificent rooster said to the sly
fox as he hung there between his teeth, “Sly fox,
you will never reach your den with me. Do you
not hear that the farmer, the milkmaid, the cow,
the horse, the sheep, the dog, the goose, the
duck, the dear hen are already quite close, and
behind them all the little ant is running as well?”
And the sly fox answered, “Oh, I can run
much faster than the farmer, the milkmaid, the
cow, the horse, the sheep, the dog, the goose,
the duck, the dear hen, and the little ant who is
running behind all the others!”
But while the sly fox had his mouth open to
talk, the magnificent rooster escaped from him,
flew up into a tree, beat his wings and raised his
voice to crow the proudest, mightiest and most
triumphant “Cock-a-doodle-do” that you have
ever heard!
Then they all arrived, the farmer, the
milkmaid, the cow, the horse, the sheep, the dog,
the goose, the duck, the dear hen, and behind
them all came running the little ant. The sly fox
hurried away to his den with empty hands.
The magnificent rooster then flew down
from the tree and thanked the farmer. But the
farmer said, “Do not thank me, magnificent
rooster. Thank the milkmaid, for she is the one
who told me.”
Fairy Tales and Verses
Then the magnificent rooster thanked the
milkmaid. But the milkmaid said, “Do not thank
me, magnificent rooster. Thank the cow, for she
is the one who told me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked
the cow. But the cow said, “Do not thank me,
magnificent rooster. Thank the horse, for he is
the one who told me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked the
horse. But the horse said, “Do not thank me.
Thank the sheep, for she is the one who told me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked the
sheep. But the sheep said, “Do not thank me.
Thank the dog, for he is the one who told me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked the
dog. But the dog said, “Do not thank me. Thank
the goose, for she is the one who told me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked the
goose. But the goose said, “Do not thank me.
Thank the duck, for she is the one who told me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked the
duck. But the duck said, “Do not thank me.
Thank the dear hen, for she is the one who told
me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked the
dear hen. But the dear hen said, “Do not thank
me. Thank the little ant, for she is the one who
told me.”
Then the magnificent rooster thanked
the little ant. And the little ant waved politely
with her front legs and said, “Don’t mention it,
magnificent rooster. One should always help
another!”
Then the dear hen said to the magnificent
rooster, “Come, my mighty hero, come back
home, my dear, and let me mend your fine
feather trousers!”
64
THE RABBIT AND THE CARROT
From China
Fields and hills were covered with deep
snow, and Rabbit had nothing to eat. She went
out to search for food and found two carrots.
Rabbit ate one carrot and then thought to
herself, “It is snowing so much and is bitterly
cold, surely Donkey has nothing to eat. I shall
bring this carrot to him.”
Rabbit went right away to Donkey’s home.
But Donkey was not there. Rabbit left the carrot
there and hopped back home. Donkey had also
gone out to look for food. He found a couple of
potatoes and went back home satisfied. When
he opened the door, he saw the carrot. “From
where could this carrot have come?” Donkey
wondered. Then he ate his potatoes and thought,
“It is snowing so much and is so bitterly cold,
surely Lamb has nothing to eat. I shall take this
carrot to her.”
He took the carrot to Lamb’s home, but
Lamb was not there. Carefully he laid the carrot
inside and went back home. Lamb had also
gone out to search for food. She found a head
of cabbage and went back home satisfied. When
she opened the door, she saw the carrot. “From
where could this carrot have come?” Lamb
wondered. Then she ate the head of cabbage and
thought, “It is snowing so much and is so bitterly
cold, surely Deer has nothing to eat. I shall take
this carrot to him.”
Lamb took the carrot and carried it to Deer’s
home, but he was not there. Lamb laid the
carrot down and ran quickly back home. Deer
had also gone out to search for food. He found
some green leaves and went back home satisfied.
When he opened the door, he saw the carrot.
“From where could this carrot have come?” Deer
wondered. Then he ate the green leaves and
thought, “It is snowing so much and is so bitterly
Bronja Zahlingen
cold, surely Rabbit has nothing to eat. I shall give
this beautiful carrot to her. “
And Deer ran quickly to Rabbit’s house. But
Rabbit had eaten until she was full, had gone to
bed and was asleep. Deer did not wish to awaken
her, so he very quietly laid the carrot inside the
door.
When Rabbit awoke, she rubbed her eyes in
wonder. The carrot was back! She thought it over
for a moment, then said, “Surely a good friend
has brought this carrot to me!” Then she ate the
carrot all up and it tasted very good!
THE LITTLE RED HEN
An Irish Tale
Once upon a time there lived somewhere
in the forest in a little hut a cat, a mouse, and a
little red hen. There the little cat had a soft little
basket, the little mouse had a deep little hole,
and the red hen had a high pole on which she
could roost.
One morning the little red hen awoke and
said, “Who will now rise and make a fire in the
oven?’’
“Not I,” said the little cat.
“Not I,” said the little mouse.
“Then I will do it myself,” said the little red
hen and she went and made a fire in the oven.
When the fire was burning, the little red hen
said, “And who will sweep the room now?”
“Not I,” said the little cat.
“Not I,” said the little mouse.
“Then I will sweep it myself,” said the little
red hen and she went and swept the room.
When the room was swept, the little red hen
said, “Now who will cook the breakfast?”
65
Stories and Verses
“Not I,” said the little cat.
“Not I,” said the little mouse.
“Then I will cook it myself,” said the little red
hen and she went and cooked the breakfast.
And when the breakfast was cooked, the
little red hen said, “Now who will eat up the
breakfast?”
“I will,” said the cat.
“I will,” said the little mouse.
“No, I am going to eat it up all by myself,”
said the little red hen. “That is, unless you both
promise me that you will always help me!”
“We will,” said the little cat.
“We will,” said the little mouse. And so the
little red hen had mercy on them and shared the
breakfast with them.
And when the breakfast was all eaten up, the
little red hen looked out the window and whom
did she see on the road? The fox. “The fox is
coming!” she cried and flew up to the top of her
roost.
“The fox is coming!” cried the little cat and
curled herself up in her basket.
“The fox is coming!” cried the little mouse
and crept into his little hole.
The fox stepped into the room. “Good
morning, little mouse! Good morning, little cat!
Good morning, little red hen! Which one of you
will scratch my back?
“Not I,” said the little cat.
“Not I,” said the little mouse.
“Then I will scratch your back,” said the little
red hen. And she scratched and scratched the
fox, all up and down his back, from his tail up to
his ears. And when the little red hen had reached
Fairy Tales and Verses
the fox’s ears, he reached out with his paw, struck
the hen to the floor, and put her in his sack.
“Now who will help me?” cried the little red
hen from the sack.
“Not I,” said the little cat and ducked into her
basket.
“Not I,” said the little mouse and ducked into
his hole. They thought that they thus could save
themselves, but it was to no avail. The fox made
a leap, took the little cat from her basket and the
little mouse from his hole and threw them into
the sack with the little red hen. He then threw
the sack over his shoulder and ran home.
It was a nice hot day, and after a while the
sack with the little cat, the little mouse, and
the little red hen was too heavy for the fox. He
threw it down onto the ground, laid down in
the shade and fell asleep. He had hardly fallen
asleep when the little red hen took a little pair of
scissors from under her wing, with a needle and
a thread, and she said, “Who will cut with the
scissors?”
“I will,” said the little cat.
“And I will,” said the little mouse. And so,
with their strength united, they cut open the
sack and jumped out.
Once they were outside, the little red hen
said, “Now who will fetch stones?”
“I will,” said the little cat.
“And I will,” said the little mouse. And so,
with their strength united, they brought three
stones and placed them in the sack.
v v
66
And when the stones were in the sack, the
little red hen said, “And who will sew up the
sack?”
“I will,” said the little cat.
“And I will,” said the little mouse. And so,
with their strength united, they sewed up the
sack and ran home. And ever since, the little cat
and the little mouse have always helped the little
red hen.
Now you will ask, what did the fox do? He
woke up after a while, grabbed the sack, threw
it over his back and ran home. “That was a good
rest,” he said, “though the sack seems heavier
and heavier to me now.” When he came to his
house, he cried from afar, “Dear Mother, set our
glass pot on the stove. I am bringing supper.”
The old mother fox placed the glass pot
on the stove, poured water into it and lit a fire.
When the water began to boil, the fox climbed
up onto the roof with his sack and tied it tight
onto the top of the chimney. “Cat, mouse, little
red hen, march into the pot!” he cried and
emptied everything he had brought into the
chimney. But, oh my! Instead of the cat, the
mouse and the little red hen, three great stones
fell down the chimney, and the glass pot flew
into a thousand pieces.
When the old mother fox saw this, she was
angry. She ran from the kitchen into the yard,
took off her wooden shoe and threw it at the
fox, who fell from the roof. And now, instead of
a meal, the fox had two bruises: one when the
wooden shoe had hit him, and the second from
falling down onto the ground.
v
Bronja Zahlingen
LITTLE GRANDMOTHER EVERGREEN
A German Fairy Tale
Once upon a time there was a mother who
had two children. One day when she did not
feel very well, she longed for some fresh berries.
So she sent her children off to the woods to
pick some berries for her. They went along and
picked a basket full.
There came along a little old lady, who was
dressed all in green and she said to the children,
“I am very hungry, but I cannot bend down
so well any more, for I am very old. Would
you please give me some of your berries?” The
children pitied the old woman, so they emptied
a whole basket full of berries into her apron,
wanting to hurry off to pick some more. But
Granny Evergreen, for that was her name, took
them by the hand and said, “I do not need so
many, just a few will do for me. Take the others
home to your mother. Because you have such
kind hearts, I will give each of you a flower, one
yellow and one blue. Look after them well, give
them fresh water every morning, and do not
quarrel with one another.”
The children thanked her and hurried home.
No sooner had their mother begun eating the
v v
67
Stories and Verses
berries than she felt quite well again. That little
Granny Evergreen had done for her. When the
children told their mother everything that had
happened, she was very grateful to little Granny
Evergreen and was happy that her children had
been so kind. Whenever the children looked
at their flowers which remained fresh and
beautiful, they remembered Granny Evergreen’s
words, “Do not quarrel.”
One evening, however, they grew very cross
with one another. “This is my toy,” cried one of
them.
“Oh no, I want it!” said the other. Thus it
went on and on and they went to bed in anger.
The next morning when they wanted to water
their flowers, they had turned all dark and
droopy. The children grew very sad and wept
many bitter tears. But when the tears fell upon
the flowers, the one became bright yellow and
the other lovely blue. So the children were very
happy and never went to bed in a quarrelsome
mood again.
v
 Festivals and the Year

The Seasons and Their Festivals

Joan Almon
Waldorf Kindergarten Association

A growing question in Waldorf as a whole and for its powerful rhythms which
kindergartens and schools is to what extent we experience inwardly as well as outwardly in
is Waldorf education bound to the Christian nature.
religion and to what extent is it more universal.
When we look outwardly, we see the ever-
The answer points towards the modern
changing face of nature as the earth breathes in
mysteries, for Waldorf education is centered
and out through the seasons. The farther away
around the Christ as a Universal Being who has
from the Equator we live, the more full are the
helped humans in their development from the
breaths so that the contrast between winter’s
beginning of time. Rudolf Steiner speaks of the
in-breath and summer’s out-breath can be very
Christ in the present time as dwelling in the
great. As one picture of these extremes, the radio
etheric world surrounding the earth through
recently reported on a spot in northern Alaska
which each incarnating soul passes. His presence
which had, in mid-November, seen a glorious
is felt more and more by sensitive souls upon the
sunrise and shortly afterwards a beautiful sunset.
earth, but it is a presence which has never been
For the next sixty-four days that part of the
limited to individuals of one religious persuasion
earth would not see the sun at all. Of course,
or another. Waldorf education strives to create a
in the summer they will have an abundance of
place in which the highest beings, including the
sunlight, and all the growth of nature, which for
Christ, can find their home, but it is not bound
most of us stretches over six or eight months, is
to one religion or another. The door is open for
compressed into two months of summer.
all to enter, and this openness can be reflected in
the celebration of the year whose rhythm marks Being used to an array of seasons, it was hard
the changing relationship between heavenly light for me to imagine life near the Equator where
and earthly darkness. the sun rises and sets at the same time each day
and where the temperatures fluctuate narrowly.
In the Waldorf kindergarten we tend to live
Visiting Ecuador twice was eye-opening. My
from season to season, from festival to festival,
Ecuadorian friends assured me they were very
but it is also wonderful to reflect on the year as a
aware of the passing seasons, for although the
whole. Rudolf Steiner’s Soul Calendar is a means
changes were subtle, they were ever-present, and
of sensitizing ourselves to the inner moods
the rhythm of the year was of great importance
of the year and our soul responses to them.
to them. When I asked a Waldorf kindergarten
Working with the current verse and relating it to
teacher how she would reflect these changes on
the verse for the opposite time of year is a step
the season table, she said, through the fruits, for
towards developing a consciousness for the year

68
Joan Almon
each month different fruits would ripen. This
was one way in which the passing of time was
marked, and I have heard a similar responses
from our colleagues in Hawaii, where seasonal
changes are also subtle. In such surroundings
one sees how strongly the human being longs to
experience time as an annual rhythm, not only
as a daily rhythm or a monthly rhythm. It is
wonderful that nature provides us with rhythmic
changes, both subtle and dramatic, to meet this
need.
There is another aspect to experiencing
the yearly rhythm. We usually think of the
similarities from one year to the next as the
seasons unfold. We take delight and even
comfort in seeing certain flowers bloom in the
same spot each year. But gradually we may also
develop a sensitivity to the differences between
nature’s work from one year to another. No
two springs are ever quite the same, in part
because some are warmer or wetter than others.
But one also senses subtler differences as we
watch the seasons progress year after year.
Evelyn Capel expresses this beautifully in the
following passage which inspires a new, subtler
relationship to the seasons and how they may
live in us and in the kindergarten.
The background to the drama of human
existence is the changing scenery of the
earth’s seasons. Winter changes to spring,
spring to summer, summer to autumn in
much the same way each year their magical
transformations can be relied upon but the
wonder of the magic never grows stale with
repetition. Spring has come before, it will
come again, but there is a particular note,
a subtle effluence, a shade of feeling in this
spring that has never been quite the same
before and which will haunt the expectation
of next spring, though it will not be realized
again. A particular season can be lost to one’s
experience if, in the midst of the pleasure in
69
The Seasons and Their Festivals
finding again its well-known, often repeated
character, the heart does not catch the
inner quality that can only be apprehended
this once. It is a joy to find in spring the
crocuses coming into blossom under the
same tree where they have been growing for
years, to catch in the height of summer the
familiar scent of new-mown hay, to catch
in the autumn the blue smoke of a bonfire
rising past the bronzed leaves still fast in the
branches and to sense in winter that tang of a
clear frosty morning. Yet there is, amidst the
familiar joys, the thrill of the unrepeatable
element that makes each season in its own
year an event of a lifetime, if only one is
awake enough not to miss it. (The Christian
Year, pg. 9)
There are many books which have grown out
of anthroposophy and Waldorf education which
speak of the festivals and which are helpful to
parents and teachers who want to deepen their
understanding or who are seeking practical
activities to share with young children. Those by
Rudolf Steiner include The Festivals and Their
Meaning, a collection of lectures on the various
festivals, The Four Seasons and the Archangels,
The Cycle of the Year, and the lecture cycles on
the Gospels and on Genesis. The Christian Year
by Evelyn Capel also gives a clear picture of the
cycle of the year in connection to the Christian
festivals. Those seeking a deeper, more esoteric
understanding will find Sergei Prokofieff ’s book
very challenging and full of insight. It is entitled
The Cycle of the Year as a Path of Initiation.
Friedel Lenz’s booklet, Celebrating Festivals with
Children gives wonderful images of the Christian
festivals in relationship to young children.
For those seeking to understand the Jewish
festivals, Michael Strasfeld’s The Jewish Holidays
(Harper and Row) gives a fine background and
commentary. The Newsletter would welcome
suggestions on similar books about other
religions and their festivals.
Festivals and the Year
There are many practical guides to the
yearly cycle and its festivals available from
anthroposophic publishers. These include
Festivals, Family and Food, Advent for Children,
and The Christmas Craft Book. Other books of
interest include Earthways by Carol Petrash,
a collection of seasonal activities (Gryphon
House) and Follow the Year by Mala Powers,
Celebrating the Festivals
Freya Jaffke
International Waldorf Kindergarten Association
The following is a summary of a talk given by
Freya Jaffke at a kindergarten course in England.
The notes were taken by Gale Ramm of Michael
Hall School and were reviewed by the lecturer.
The child is not able to look over a long
period of time as an adult can and therefore
needs an outer sign to spark off its memory. “It
was like this last year,” the child will say. The
child lives in the present, totally a sense being, a
being of will. We can observe this in the way the
child acts, always taking in some impressions
and working out these impressions in its Will,
with the gift of imitation which the child has
brought to earth.
DOING- DOING- DOING. Never
reasoning why something is done in a certain
way, although sometimes children have their
own philosophy about certain things. Our task
as kindergarten teachers is to try to transform
everything we do, to transform our knowledge
into activities: to make visible that about which
we have been thinking.
As a human being we have a strong
connection to the natural surroundings and to
the seasons. Our connection to the festivals,
however, is not so immediate, and we have to
70
a collection of holiday stories for the family
(Harper and Row).
Most of these books can be purchased from
the Anthroposophic Press, RR 4, Box 94-Al,
Hudson, NY 12534 (518-851-2054) or can be
borrowed from the Rudolf Steiner Library, RD 2
Box 215, Ghent, NY 12075 (518-672-7690). v
think about them if we want to include more
than just traditions in our celebrations. Let us
explore the festivals from summer to midwinter.
The mood of high summer is one of
devotion to the light. We go outdoors and leave
our houses; we want to be outside to experience
all the manifestations of nature occurring at this
time: the scent of flowers, the warmth of sun and
air. We go on holidays to the sea. After St. John’s
tide, the breathing-in process begins. This is the
time of ripening. The first fruits of summer, the
berries, are ripe. The grains also ripen in the
fields. Passing through the threshold of autumn,
we come to winter, at which time the soul of the
earth is taken in most deeply. How the human
soul follows these processes but in a different
way is the subject of what is to follow.
The first festival we come to is the Harvest
Festival, a time of thanksgiving. Remembering
that our thoughts have to be visible in our deeds,
how can we express thankfulness in everyday
life? The kindergarten needs caring for. This
happens all the time, of course, but now we can
harvest everything in the garden. Herbs can
be dried, stripped from their stalks, the brown
leaves sorted from the good, put into bags or jars
Freya Jaffke Celebrating the Festivals

to be used later for tea. Flowers for drying can be candles. We need to think how to celebrate
gathered and dried and stored in bags or jars. the festivals with many healthy sense
impressions with which to nourish the
How we do this is important, not in a hectic
children.
way but with an inner, thankful attitude and
with joy! To keep in one’s mind the fact that we The festival begins with the harvest
receive gifts from nature and that we know how rhythmical circle games which have been
to use these gifts. played with the children since the beginning
of the school year. These games have to do
The leaves and other treasures which the
with the processes of harvesting, threshing
children collect can be placed on the seasonal
and milling of the grain, with the baking
table. The children like to see how they change
of the bread, and with the gathering of the
as they dry. It is important that there is a place in
fruit from the orchard, etc. On this occasion
the kindergarten where these things are honored
the parents join in the circle games with the
and treasured.
children.
To speak about and name the four grains:
Afterwards, everyone, including smaller
oats, wheat, barley and rye, and to use them!
children who come to the festival as well, sit
[Editor’s note: In North America we also
in a large circle around the harvest table. The
use corm, rice and millet, grains which are
curtains are closed, the candles are lit and
associated with the Americas, Asia and Africa,
grace is said:
respectively.] Much later in their school years the
children will come to know the concepts about
Earth who gives to us this food,
the grains; in the kindergarten it is sufficient
Sun who makes it ripe and good,
to know their names. A harvest wreath can be
Dearest Earth and dearest Sun,
made with the grains and hung inside or hung
We’ll not forget what you have done.
outside for the birds. The children may help
– Christian Morgenstern
to make the wreath by handing their teacher
the small bunches of grain to be tied on. In a
The harvest bread is then shared and
parents evening it is possible to speak about this
afterwards some of the fruits from the
time of year and the details of the upcoming
children’s baskets are also shared. At a
festival. Freya Jaffke described her festival in the
suitable time, the candles are snuffed out.
following way:
Looking back at the festival, there has been
On the festival day each child is asked to
no word about being thankful but everything
bring a little basket filled with autumn fruits
has been done in an attitude of thankfulness.
and vegetables from their surroundings.
There have been many sense impressions
Their baskets are placed on a table in the
including the colors of the flowers and fruits
middle of the kindergarten room. In the
and the light of the candles. This festival
middle of this table can be placed a harvest
takes place at the end of September or the
loaf baked especially for this festival
beginning of October.
and which is surrounded by flowers and

v v v

71
Festivals and the Year
Experiencing the Fall
Rosa Huttner
Now the play in the garden is over. The
sandbox may now rest until spring comes
again. At the end we made two large castles
and adorned them with flowers and leaves.
It appeared decorative and joyous, but now
everything is withered, and of the lovely colors
only a pale gray and brown remain. Our beloved
elderberry bush has its last little black berries
way up on top, a gift to the birds. They dined
well on the bush, yet so many berries fell to
the ground that the earth around the bush was
covered with black sprinkles. This year the bush
bore richly.
A few times we cooked a delicious juice
from the berries which were especially big this
year. And then the pear tree—it had thick pears
which hung on the branches like big drops. We
needed our painter’s tallest ladder in order to
gather them all. How busy the children were
with all this work, and how happy they were at
our collective meals.
Now the garden looks very different. On the
naked branches there hang only a few tattered
leaves. One can see that they have already
been touched by the frost. A few weeks ago we
cleaned out the rock garden with the children.
Plants which formerly stood straight and tall,
were lying down next to each other. We could
cut only a few remaining flowers and blossoms.
Two little roses were also still growing.
Inside we take joy over our stove which the
children may feed with wood pieces. It makes
our cold stiff hands soft again and makes our
room cozy. An important job awaits us. The
bird house must be repaired. “Just look at that
old, rotted roof. In the winter the snow will
come right through.” The house must be newly
covered with straw. It’s good that we still have
72
the straw from our harvest festival. “Just look,
there are even some ears of grain still mixed
in.” The children discovered them right away
and we immediately had a pair of “threshers”
at work with wooden blocks, knocking free the
kernels of grain. Before I had really begun the
work on the roof, there already lay the bird feed
in the house. Ha! To make such a straw roof
is not an easy task. I need a long needle and a
strong thread, really more like a string. My arm
must grip deep under the roof, and my thimble
must push hard on the head of the needle. A few
children lay in wait on the outside until the point
of the needle begins to emerge. Then they help
to pull it through. Another must hold high the
long thread which the needle pulls behind it so
that it doesn’t become entangled in the straw. I
was happy to have such industrious helpers. We
even had music accompanying our work. Behind
us sat a pair of musicians with their kanteles who
played with enthusiasm. Now and again I could
hear the melody of our elderberry bush song or
our dwarf song emerge. At another table a few
children crayoned. Others played on the floor.
In the whole room there was a working
mood. The most active place was around the
birdhouse, however. All around there was
handwork and activity. The straw must also be
laid parallel and cut. In particular, Tobias, our
little one, worked in a serious and persevering
manner. To him the cutting was such a serious
business that it did not matter to him where he
was cutting. But he was willing to be directed
by the bigger children and was happy just to
be allowed to be present. A few children also
placed the full ears of grain on the top of the
house. There the birds could pick out the kernels
themselves.
Rosa Huttner
For days the work progressed on the
birdhouse, and there were joyous shouts when
it was placed on the stone post by our garden
steps. From our vases we took flowers and
branches and used them to decorate the roof of
the house in preparation for the birds’ coming. It
does one such good to have worked hard!
And today we can begin to play something
fine. We need a hedgehog, a mouse, insects,
flower seeds and dwarves. The red dress receives
black felt circles for the ladybug; the gray mouse
costume receives a long tail, and the hedgehog
(or porcupine) receives prickly quills made of
raffia. There are many flower seeds and dwarves,
and we begin to sing the song of Mother Earth,
who opens the door and takes all the creatures in
who want protection from the storms and cold.
Our singing leads each animal and every seed
onto the spiral (a chalk mark on the floor), a
path on which it has already snowed a bit! They
walk the spiral into the depths of the earth until
finally the dwarves with their lanterns come and
close them in with care.
v v
The Saints of Autumn
Elisabeth Pressel
When autumn announces itself with nature’s
warmly brilliant colors, and veils of mist soften
the sharp contours of the outer forms of the
world, when daylight becomes shorter and
also dimmer, it means that people, too, are to
turn away from the glaring, loud aspects of the
outer world. They are supposed to—no, they are
allowed to prepare for the things which form the
essential foundation for their life in the outer
world. It is during this time that three wonderful
saints come to meet us year after year in order
to light our way in the outer darkness: Saint
George, Saint Martin, and Saint Nicholas.
73
Experiencing the Fall
When I draw the white path on the floor, the
children may look on. Each day they watch with
excitement as the path leads from the outside
inwards. Then I draw the various animals and
seeds so that each child knows his place. Each
day the children may pick which seed is to be
drawn. For three weeks the play is repeated.
Then suddenly the children are aware. Yes, a
joyous discovery emerges that there falls from
every plant when it dies a seed, which carries
life until the following spring. Now all is at rest
in the winter, hidden and unnoticed, but it is so,
and we can anticipate it, that in the spring all
will break forth from the earth in fullness and
exuberance. And then there are certain forces
in the earth, we call them dwarves, who protect
the seeds. It is already a miracle that the seeds,
especially the very small ones, don’t rot and
disappear in the moist earth like the flesh of the
fruits and the leaves. There is much, so much,
over which one may wonder. The world around
is full of wonder, and we experience it even in
our small, sunny garden.
v
When we look at these saints in artistic
renderings, immediately something stands
out which proves to be very meaningful: Each
is always represented at a different age. Saint
George is young, Saint Martin is middle-aged
and mature, and Saint Nicholas is very, very old.
What do they wish to say to us?
Saint George
His deed is directed toward the external
world. He is to slay the dragon, the symbol of
man’s lower nature, by courageously venturing
into battle and taking him by storm. The
Festivals and the Year
Archangel Michael sends St. George on this
mission and joins him as a heavenly fighter. By
this example, Michael rouses the willpower in
the blood and shakes the conscience awake. The
meteoric iron which comes down to earth in
the form of a shooting star, shows us how this
occurrence has its correspondence even in outer
space (the iron has a frightening effect!). There
are many songs and games which tell about the
courage and great heroic deeds of this battle. But
at the end of October, nature’s fiery colors are
fading, and the spirit of battle withdraws as well
into the inner world. The time for St. Martin is
nearing.
St. Martin
The story goes that he rides from his
monastic room into the city very early in the
morning. It is already cold—the beginning of
November—and the rain is pelting into his
face. A lantern barely lights the path for him.
Suddenly his horse stands still—a beggar is
standing at the path’s edge and beseeches a gift.
But St. Martin has nothing extra with him; in
spite of his high position, he lives in poverty
and utmost simplicity serving only the poor, the
sick, and those in need of care and consolation.
But his compassionate heart is inventive! He
cuts his warm, red cloak in two pieces and
gives the beggar one half. In the night, Christ
appears to him in a dream and says, “Today you
have shared your cloak with me. From now on
you are to be called St. Martin.” And the path
continues further into the inner world. …
St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas with his servant Ruprecht are
a twosome. St. Nicholas has the golden book in
which everything that has happened throughout
the whole year is written down: the good and
the bad. He does not judge; he does not punish.
He only reminds us, in a large way, that nothing,
74
not even the smallest deed on earth, goes
unnoticed or is lost in the spiritual world. He is
a personification of the cosmic conscience—the
Akashic Record, as Rudolf Steiner calls it. And
Ruprecht? Here it would be useful to describe
how they experience him in Holland. St.
Nicholas comes from Spain! Ruprecht is a Moor.
He very likely represents the Arab intellect
which came from North Africa and “knows”
everything in detail, but which does not have the
cosmic magnitude and wisdom. Ruprecht is then
the everyday bad conscience which threatens
with a finger, makes us tremble a little, but also
releases us with humor and a laugh.
The gifts which St. Nicholas usually brings
can also be understood as a symbol when one
considers the following. When we look back
upon the year, the result is sometimes rather
sorry or even negative. But still one feels that the
achievement of a small bit of self-knowledge is
always enriching—like a gift. In Holland, there is
much gift giving during the Nicholas celebration
which allows Christmas to be much calmer and
more inward.
Meanwhile the beginning of December has
come and with it Advent. Our will is strengthened
through St. Michael’s example. Our feelings and
consciousness have been stimulated. Therefore,
we can enter into the Advent time and face the
light of Christmas almost as though purified, by
steps, in our willing, feeling and thinking.
The Mood of the Michaelmas Season
The festival of the Archangel Michael, he
who vanquishes the dragon and conquers him,
falls in late September. There are many different
legends of Michael from cultures all over the
world. He played an important part in the
ancient Hebrew culture, and legends about him
exist in the Persian and Indian cultures. He has
played an important part in Christianity from its
earliest times. Michael legends from throughout
Elizabeth Pressel
history were collected into a German volume
entitled Aus Michaels Wirken. This was printed
in English by Rudolf Steiner College, but it is
currently out of print. While the legends are not
appropriate for young children, they do help
the adult forge a relationship to Michael, out of
which new images can arise that are suitable for
the kindergarten.
Rudolf Steiner spoke of the working of seven
Archangels into the life of mankind. Each guides
humanity for about 300 years in a great 2100-
year cycle. When each has had his turn, the cycle
begins again. Steiner describes how Michael’s
regency began again in 1879 and how this great
being of light, with his sword hammered from
the light of the stars, fills us with a newfound
courage to meet the difficulties of our times.
At times it seems that these difficulties will
overwhelm us, and all around us we see a world
in pain and struggle. In some ways it has always
been this way, but now we are more conscious
of it than ever before. Every distant war and
catastrophe enters the intimacy of our home
through newspapers, radios and television
screens. We are united with the events of the
world in a way that never before existed. But
one can also say that the difficulties are more
severe. With the unleashing of atomic power, an
unparalleled capacity for destruction was placed
into our hands. Since 1945 we have stood on the
brink of releasing its power again several times.
Fortunately, each time we have stepped back
from that brink but with inward trembling at
how close we have come.
Even without atomic power, the capacity for
destruction on the earth is tremendous through
conventional warfare, through disregard of the
environment and its needs, through destruction
of self with drugs and alcohol. We see it all.
We are aware of it all, and a deep-set fear can
enter our being, a fear that we will not have
the strength to overcome these manifestations
75
The Saints of Autumn
of darkness, that we will not have the capacity
to restore the balance of light. It is here that
Michael plays such an important role in our
modern times. He is the one who fills us with
courage and encourages us in our struggles to
overcome evil and do good upon the earth.
His message and his presence are important
for us all as modern human beings. But for us
as kindergarten teachers and parents of young
children, it is especially crucial. Rudolf Steiner
spoke often of how important it is that the young
child feels the world is good, that goodness
exists in the world around us. This can be a very
difficult image to hold when all around us we see
the difficulties of life. Yet unless we consciously
work to affirm the good, we run the risk of
instilling in young children a sense that the
world is not good. Then fear enters their being,
and one sees a certain look in their eyes as if
they no longer trust the world they have entered.
One of the beautiful aspects of fairy tales is
that again and again they affirm that, in the end,
the world is good. At any given moment, the
world may look very difficult and evil may loom
impossibly large—the thorny hedge may be
impossible to cross and cause the death of many
a young prince. Snow-white may lie as if dead
in her glass coffin. Hansel stands entrapped in
his cage while the flames of the oven are roaring.
In the moment of pain and darkness, a great
sadness may fill the soul, but it must be balanced
by a recognition that after the darkness the sun
will rise again. In the end, every enchanted being
is returned to its natural form, Hansel and Gretel
return home on the back of the swan, carrying
their treasures with them. The thorny hedge is
covered with roses, and Snow-white awakens
again. The power of goodness outlasts the power
of evil. It is stronger and more enduring, and for
the sake of our own well-being and that of the
young children whom we serve, it is important
that we nurture this perspective.
Festivals and the Year

In this issue we mention some of the grave
difficulties facing Waldorf schools such as
those in the townships of South Africa and
in Yugoslavia. Last spring we were moved by
the reports from Israeli teachers who worked
with children whose neighborhoods have been
bombed during the Gulf War. In the face of
such difficulties, the kindergarten teacher must
work harder than ever to maintain the view that,
despite all, the world is good. In the moment
terrible things may be happening, but in the
end good will prevail. This was beautifully said
by a psychiatrist who spoke to a public school
kindergarten class some years ago, just after the
Challenger Space Shuttle exploded. The children
had seen the explosion on television, and now it
was up to the psychiatrist to bring them words of
comfort. What could he say? What could we say?
His words still ring in my ears: “Yesterday,” he
said, “a terrible thing happened. But nevertheless
the world is good.”
Understanding evil is difficult, and Rudolf
Steiner spoke of it often in terms of its dual
nature as represented by Ahriman and Lucifer.
The ultimate transformation of evil into good
does not happen easily or quickly, but as is
suggested in this poem, given to us by Marjorie
Spock, it happens in the fullness of time. v

IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME

On a rusty iron throne Down to him from out the sun

In the farthest bounds of space, Came his brother and his friend,
I saw Satan sit alone Saying, “Now the work is done,
Old and haggard was his face. Enmity is at an end.”
For his work was done, And he guided Satan to
and he Rested in eternity. Paradises that he knew.

Uriel without a frown

Michael without a spear,
Gabriel came winging down
Welcoming their ancient peer.
And they seated him beside
One who had been crucified.

– James Stephens

76
 The Autumn Season

The Autumn Season

Early in the school year comes the festival of Michaelmas, the festival
of the Archangel Michael on September 29. Tales of Michael’s deeds are
found in the Bible (Revelation 12) and in collections of tales from Hebraic
times, from ancient Oriental cultures, and from many European lands.
He is associated with courage and is often portrayed as a warrior Angel
who serves Heaven by vanquishing evil. He is a figure much loved by
children who sense the need for strength and courage to overcome the
forces of evil in the world.

Michaelmas Story of the Star Children

Corinne Batzell, Ann Arbor, MI

The teacher is wearing a golden yellow silk cape
every day while telling this story.
Once upon a time there were 20 [#of
children in class] beautiful children who lived in
the stars. One by one each of these children took
a long, long journey over a rainbow bridge and
down to earth. They brought with them from
the stars, seeds and bulbs and roots to plant in
the earth to make it a good and beautiful place.
They dug down into the earth and planted their
seeds and bulbs and roots. They watered them
when they were dry and watched that no one
stepped on the places where the seeds and bulbs
and roots were planted. They made sure that
the weeds didn’t push their way over, crowding
the plants and blocking out the sun’s light. As
the little shoots of green poked their noses out
of the earth, the sun warmed them and the Star
Children watched over them with loving care.
But there was a terrible dragon who roamed
about the earth, and one day he came to the
garden where the Star Children had planted
their seeds and bulbs and roots. The dragon
didn’t like to see such beautiful things coming
to the earth. He felt very angry and he began to
breathe red flickering fire all around the garden.
The little green stalks and shoots that were
growing up so carefully and beautifully began to
dry up and wither and turn yellow and brown.
The Star Children did not know what to do.
They were so very sad that these gifts which they
had brought to the earth were being destroyed
by the dragon.
Suddenly a golden light filled the garden.
It was a knight in shining armor riding on a
beautiful, white horse. In his hand was a golden
sword. It was St. Michael. The knight charged at
the dragon and fought with him until the dragon
was so worn and weary that he fell at the knight’s
feet and promised to be his servant.
St. Michael turned to the Star Children and
smiled on them and on the garden. The plants
began to grow new green leaves and shoots
and the children ran to get water for them. St.
Michael gave to each Star Child a golden cloak.
“These golden cloaks,” he said, “will protect you
always so that you may work on the earth to help
all growing things.”
And the Star Children put on their golden
cloaks and watched over their garden. The plants
grew and there were flowers, and the flowers
were just the shape of the stars.

77
Festivals and the Year

At the end of the story on the last day, each
child is presented with a bulb wrapped in red
and yellow tissue and a cape of golden yellow.
[Note: When creating autumn capes, some
teachers have dyed them in the kindergarten
using marigold flowers for the dye. Parents
have been asked to supply as many marigolds
as possible. The petals alone are used and alum
can be used as the mordant, for it is harmless.
The marigolds give a lovely yellow color and can
be used on cheesecloth or silk. If you are not
familiar with plant dyeing, it’s best to read about
it first or consult with a plant dyer.] v

St. Michael on the Crescent of the Moon

From a Polish Legend

Hast thou seen gleaming, on clear and But whoever loves his angel, and from
exalted nights, the sparkling stars in the sky? childhood on has harbored purity in his heart,
They rise like hope in a human soul; they dive sees something else. He sees the Heavenly
down in radiant force, like a human heart’s Virgin, Maria, standing on the narrow silver
resolve. Then they are called falling stars by men. crescent. And he knows that she is a Queen.
For she smiles at those who are longing and
But whoever loves his angel, and from
hungering on earth. And she bestows on them
childhood on knows no fear, recognizes their
heavenly wheat-corns which fall down from
true being. He sees in the clear autumn nights
her rosy hands and bring blessings to earth. She
amidst the stars the great warrior who is called
prays that the depths may become filled and may
St. George on earth and St. Michael in the
become good and may become penetrated with
heavens. And he sees his countenance shining
the miracle harbored in the heights. She bestows
in golden wisdom; a countenance which,
blessings with hands that are folded in prayer.
unconscious of itself, reflects the heart of the
highest Godhead. And he sees his arm with the And one day it will happen that the birch
shimmering weapon which, strong and pure, tree, when its leaves are falling in autumn, will
seems to be hardened by Divine Justice. not weep because of its bereavement. Then
the leaves will joyously fall down to earth.
And with his valiant hand, St. Michael strikes
And Maria, waving her hands in a promise of
the sword, which will destroy the crawling, the
redemption, will walk up the white steps unto
desirous, the wallowing, the corroding impurity.
the golden table spread in heaven with the
And when St. Michael strikes his sword, the stars
thanksgiving of men on whom the harvest has
tremble and diamantine sparks fly through the
been bestowed. And it seems as if her foot was
air.
treading on fluttering doves’ wings.
Hast thou seen gliding, in dark winter nights,
Henceforth the moon’s crescent will not be
the delicate moon crescent above the gossamer
forsaken. A song will resound from it, such as
white clouds? There is around them something
has never been heard in Heaven and on Earth.
like a rustling of distant grass growing on the
St. Michael will stand on the crescent. As a
wide and fair meadows of Heaven. The hearts of
heavenly smith, he has forged his sword into
men looking at the crescent in wintry nights are
the frame of a lyre whose strings are fashioned
seized by a longing to be far, far away.
from men’s valiant thoughts. The dragon slayer

78

will play and sing. He will perform his office as
heavenly lutist. Strength is alive in his song. He
will sing of consolation and fulfillment of old
promises. He will sing of the outflowing of the
highest light encompassing the smile of Maria.
And the birch tree will tremble down to its
very pith in its joyfulness, whenever this song is
Michael and the Dragon
Adapted from a Polish Tale by Nancy Foster
Acorn Hill Children’s Center
Once, long ago, in a far-off land, there lived
a King who ruled his country kindly and well.
It was a beautiful country, and a prosperous
one, for the farmers took good care of their
land. Each year on a certain day, when the
wheat stood tall and golden and was ready
for harvesting, the people put on their gayest
clothes and brought their gifts of ripe fruits
and vegetables to the King. Now the King had
one beautiful daughter, and it was her greatest
pleasure on this special day to stand out on her
balcony and watch the gay procession coming to
the palace.
One year, however, it happened that the
people came empty-handed. They looked very
sad and walked along with their heads bowed
down. The King spoke to them, saying, “My
beloved people, why do you not bring your
harvest gifts?”
“Alas,” said the people, “we have no gifts to
bring—indeed, we shall not have enough food to
eat this winter. Our families will go hungry. For
a fearful dragon, with fiery breath, has come to
our land and has burned up all our crops with
his breath.”
Then the King declared, “I will send all my
bravest knights to fight this dragon.” The knights
went out to meet the dragon, but their swords
79
The Autumn Season
sounded. And autumn will be the same to it as
spring.
Many a man will not see it, many a man
will not hear it. But whoever loves his angel and
harbors faithfulness in his heart, such a one
knows the song full well and will want to be
better. v
just melted in the fire from his breath. Then the
King sent a messenger to the dragon, to inquire
what treasure they might offer him, so that he
would leave their country.
But the dragon replied, “No, keep your
treasure! I do not need it. I have what I like.
Instead, you must give me the King’s daughter.”
When the messenger returned to the King
and told him that the dragon required his
daughter, the King wept. “No,” he said. “I would
gladly give the dragon all the royal treasure, but
let me keep my daughter.”
But the King’s daughter heard her father
speaking, and she came to him, saying, “I will
go to the dragon, Father. I am not afraid. I know
that the heavens will watch over me.”
And so the King had his daughter dressed
in the purest white, and he kissed her and gave
her his blessing and let her go. Sadly, he watched
her as she walked to the hill to meet the dragon,
holding her head high. The knights accompanied
her for a time, but when they reached the hill
where the dragon was, they stayed behind and
the King’s daughter went on alone.
As the princess began to climb the hill, the
dragon suddenly appeared, breathing his fiery
breath. At that very moment, a heavenly light
Festivals and the Year
streamed from above. The heavens opened, and
Michael stepped forth with his arm outstretched.
In his hand was a sword—not an ordinary
sword, but a heavenly sword, forged from the
stars.
Michael pointed his sword at the dragon,
and at that instant the dragon fell to the earth,
overcome. Then there was a great celebration.
v v
A Children’s Halloween
Patricia Keats, Calgary Waldorf School
A note from the author: For historical
reference, I used the books, Follow the Year by
Mala Powers and Festivals, Family and Food
by Diana Carey and Judy Large. The activities
which I did with the children were my own
creative endeavor. Although the festival was
created by me, I could never have made it
a success without the help of the parents in
my class. I should also note that the children
did dress up, but my guideline was no black
costumes and no commercial characters. I had a
parent meeting two weeks before the celebration.
During this meeting, we discussed costuming,
the contents of the festival, and why I chose to
do the celebration the way that I did.
In my struggle to understand and present the
festival of Halloween to my own children and
the children in my kindergarten, I felt that it was
important to understand the development of this
festival and how it evolved into what it is today.
Part of my struggle with this celebration, which
is so prevalent in Canada and the United States,
was that, in a historic context, the festival as it
is today has entirely lost its original meaning.
We bring this festival to young children, as a
children’s festival, when in actuality it is not
80
The knights led the princess back to the palace
in a grand procession, and the people rejoiced.
When the farmers went back to their homes,
they found their cellars full of the finest fruits
and vegetables and plenty of grain ready for the
mill. And so it was that each year, from that time
on, at harvest the people celebrated a festival of
thanksgiving to Michael, who saved their crops
from the dragon.
v
particularly relevant to children. The festival
is threefold: It includes Hallow’s Eve, All
Saints Day and All Souls Day. The days run
consecutively on October 31, November 1 and
November 2.
The roots of Halloween come from the Celtic
people. It was an opportunity to contemplate
and honor the sun in the Druidic religion. As
they were anticipating the coming darkness, they
used fire (light) to appease mischievous spirits
which, they believed, appeared at this time. We
also need to remember that these people were
more directly connected in everyday life with
the earth and stars, birth and death.
It was proclaimed as a Christian festival
within the Benedictine Order in 998 ad and
was recognized by Pope John XIX in 1006. At
this time it was still recognized as a point of
transition between autumn and winter; it was
thought to invoke the return of the departed
to the warmth and light that they remembered
from their past lives. Both birth and death
occurred at home, not hidden away in hospitals,
and people were more consciously connected
to these events. Because of this closeness with
the birth and death forces, their fear of the
supernatural remained strong.

Astrologically, the sun passes out of Libra
(awakening to the consciousness of the earth
after summer’s dreaminess) and enters Scorpio,
the sign which deals with death and the deeper
mysteries of life. This led to a sense of a needed
purification. People believed that to dress-up
in disguises as someone else would protect
themselves and their homes from any evil spirits
that would come. They wanted to fool the spirits
into thinking that they were someone else.
People anticipated ghosts, witches, hobgoblins,
and magic on this night.
In northern England, people would put
rowan sprigs above the door to ward off evil
spirits, and a bowl of oats in water or milk was
left outside the door to appease visiting spirits.
To frighten witches, people favored carving faces
on hollowed-out turnips and placing candles
inside them (Jack o’Lanterns developed later). To
ward off the evil spirits of darkness, people used
charms and magic words that were believed to
keep away bad luck. This night also became an
evening to predict the future, as it was believed
that intuitive forces were very strong.
The next day, November 1, is All Saints Day.
This day was considered to be a portal where
one could really draw inwardly into the self. All
things of Hallow’s Eve were gone—the air was
peaceful, almost an attitude of prayer existed.
People then had the opportunity to honor and
remember the saintly ones. All the saints, being
of a giving nature, were helpful to humanity.
Once again, after the Hallow’s Eve experience,
the people felt protected and nurtured. They
looked towards the upcoming festivals of saints,
such as St. Martin’s Day on November 11 and St.
Nicholas on December 6.
Finally, on November 2, All Souls Day, there
was an opportunity for remembering dead
relatives and friends. People would pray to them
and ask for their blessings. It was customary to
keep the kitchen warm and leave food on the
81
The Autumn Season
table overnight for visiting spirits. This brought
in the tradition of soul cakes (see Festivals,
Family and Food, pg. 91).
As is evident from this information, the
knocking on doors, shouting, “Halloween
apples,” and collecting candy in a sack has
little relevance to the actual meaning of this
festival. I wondered for a long time if it was even
appropriate to recognize the festival, as the age
of kindergarten demands the acknowledgment
of goodness, security and protection. To dress
up, one changes one’s identity. Young children,
who are striving towards their own identity, need
to seek the identity of those who are worthy of
imitation. To dress up in the costume and mask
of the very ones that are evil or destructive to
childhood such as Ninja Turtles and He-man
seemed contrary to our very purpose in the
kindergarten.
As the years passed, I tried various
restrictions. I tried to use the theme method of
dressing up, for example, and everyone needed
to find a character in a fairy tale or choose to be
a particular elemental being. As children and
parents began to make costumes long before
Halloween, or perhaps used hand-me-down
costumes from older brothers or sisters, this
method never seemed to work.
As I thought about it further and conferred
with many other kindergarten teachers, I arrived
at a beautiful festival, which worked successfully
for me last year. No doubt about it, it was a lot of
work, but with the help of parent volunteers, it
was a very wonderful Halloween.
My goal was to give the children a feeling
of security, an experience of community and
an opportunity for participation. As with all
festivals, I wanted to include the following:
• an experience of living in harmony with
the earth and nature;
Festivals and the Year
• an opportunity to celebrate the change
in the season and its gifts, both through
the nature out-of-doors and through the
foods of the season;
• a tradition in which families could come
together in a personal and meaningful
way;
• a sense of renewal and heightened
experience; and finally,
• a way to lift us towards a feeling of what
we can become as human beings so that
we may learn to care rightly for the earth
and for each other.
As a result I prepared the festival on
Halloween night, just before sunset. I had the
children make lanterns a few weeks before the
celebration, so that we had enough lanterns to
outline a path along which the children would
walk through the countryside (which was
actually our kindergarten yard). The children
passed through six separate stations, established
as follows:
The candle maker: A parent was dressed up
simply to portray a candlestick maker. As the
child came to her station, she said a nursery
rhyme (“Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack
jump over the candlestick.”) The child would
then jump over a lantern and receive a little
candle as a reward. The children then proceed
along the path to the …
Farmer: The farmer said a little verse, and
shook the apple tree so that a little apple would
fall down for the child to put into the sack, and
proceed to the …
Banker: The Banker would say a small verse,
and the child would put his/her hand into a
large box of leaves where some money stones
were hidden. The child would have to find three
(stone) coins and proceed to the …
82
Miller: The Miller had a small verse to say,
and the child would give the Miller the “coins”
to buy some grain. The child would then have
the opportunity to grind some of the grain with
a hand grinder to make flour for the Baker. (We
used the grain that was grown in our garden.)
Then the children went to the …
Baker: The Baker said a verse and the
children gave their flour to her, and she made
gestures of baking and produced little baked
treats for the celebration. (All baking was
supplied by the parents.) Putting their baking
into the sack, the children then proceeded to the
…
Wizard: The wizard was standing at our fire
pit with a basket of wish sacks (small pieces of
tissue paper holding about one teaspoon each of
saltpeter.) Saying a verse, the Wizard gave each
child a wish sack. The child could then make a
wish and would throw the packet of saltpeter
into the fire. It made a wonderful sizzle and a
puff of flame.
The children then proceeded into the
kindergarten, where they set their baked goods
on the table, along with the pumpkin soup and
bread that we had made that morning in the
kindergarten. They put their candles in the
apples, which had been prepared as at Advent
with a hole scooped out to hold the candle. The
parents lit the candles and placed them on small
paper pumpkins that we had distributed on the
shelves around the room. While they waited
for others to arrive, after their journey through
the countryside, they had an opportunity to
do apple-bobbing, pumpkin carving and other
traditional North American Halloween fun.
When all had arrived in the room, it was
full of candlelight and happy people. We said
our blessing and feasted on all of the good treats
which had been provided by the children’s efforts
and collected on their journey. When all were

full and satisfied, we went outside once more
to throw nuts on the fire to see if they would
crack (indicating that we had a true love!) and
to experience the grand finale of five or six large
fireworks. With that, we said good night and
wished everyone well on All Saints Day, which
would happen the next morning.
I feel that it is very important to think
carefully about each festival that we present to
v v
Pumpkin Games
Susan Perrow, Periwinkle Children’s Center
Bangalow, N.S.W., Australia
Pass the Pumpkin:
Children sitting in a circle pass a pumpkin
round to the following rhyme:
Farmer Brown of Bangalow town
Passes the pumpkin round and round.
Pumpkins of varying size can be used, with
the older children challenged to lift and pass
the heavy ones. The largest pumpkin can then
be placed in the middle of the circle and the
children can take turns “doing something” with
it—balancing on top, jumping over, sitting and
spinning round on it, picking it up and holding
it over one’s head. (The list goes on!) A variation
of the rhyme can then be used, such as:
Farmer Brown of Bangalow town
Sits on the pumpkin and spins around.
or
Stands on the pumpkin and then jumps
down, etc.
83
The Autumn Season
the children, for the impression which is made
has a stronger effect than we realize. If anyone
has any comments to make about my form of
celebrating Halloween, I surely would love the
input, be it corrective or affirming. My address
is 1915 36th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2T
2G6, Canada.
v
The Pumpkin Ring:
For this game you need a large pumpkin for
the King’s throne in the middle of the circle, a
gold crown, a long piece of finger knitted wool
(long enough to go around the circle of children,
across each one’s lap, with the ends tied together)
and a golden ring (thread wool through this
before tying).
One child puts on the gold crown and sits
on the pumpkin throne with head bent down,
eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. All the
other children are sitting in a circle around the
pumpkin king. They are the castle wall, and their
“finger gnomes” pass the gold ring, on the wool,
around the circle until the last line of the poem
says, “Wake up, Pumpkin King, and see. Where,
oh where can your treasure be?” At this point in
the game, all the finger gnomes curl themselves
around the wool, pretending to hide the
treasure. The pumpkin king has to guess where
the golden ring could be.
The Pumpkin King in his castle slept, all
night long a-dreaming;
The finger gnomes in his castle walls, all
night long a-scheming.
Festivals and the Year
Rickety-tay, rickety-tay, pass round the
treasure and hide it away.
Rickety-tay, rickety-tay, pass round the
treasure and hide it away.
Rickety-tee, rickety-tee, wake up Pumpkin
King and see,
Where, oh where can your treasure be?
Pumpkin Patch:
This is simply a variation of “Drop the
Hanky,” played with a small pumpkin. Children
sit in a circle with eyes closed, and one child
walks or skips round the outside and hides the
pumpkin behind another child’s back or under
their chair. Then it is the child’s turn to take the
pumpkin and hide it. I usually sing:
Sally goes round the sun,
Sally goes round the moon,
Sally goes round the pumpkin patch
On a Saturday afternoon.
v v
84
Delicious, Nutritious Pumpkin Pie:
(This is a finger play poem with appropriate
actions for each line. After playing pumpkin
games for several weeks, we then cut the
pumpkins open and make pumpkin pie!)
A farmer once planted some brown pumpkin
seeds,
With a pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat-pat,
He watered them often and pulled out the
weeds,
With a tug tug at this, and a tug tug at that.
The pumpkins grew big and orange and
round,
Their green leaves growing all over the
ground.
And when they were ready that farmer did
make, riddle-dum-die,
Delicious, nutritious pumpkin pie!
v
 The Autumn Season

Martinmas
November 11 is the festival of Martinmas, celebrating the life of
St. Martin, a soldier who cut his cloak in two to share it with a poor
beggar. That night he dreamt of the Christ who appeared to him to say
that he had been the beggar.

In Europe a tradition has arisen of celebrating Martinmas with lantern

walks, for this is a time when the darkness of the year is growing stronger,
and we can gather the last rays of the summer’s sun to light our way
towards the darkness of mid-winter. Many Waldorf kindergartens now
hold lantern walks around the time of Martinmas. Parents and children
gather in the twilight to walk and sing with their home-made lanterns.

George’s Lantern
Mary Blanche, Shining Mountain Waldorf School
Boulder, Colorado

This verse is adapted from the Autumn volume of Said Father Sun, “I’ll give you from my
the Wynstones collection of kindergarten books, Last Autumn rays a spark,
where it appears as the story, “The Lantern” by If you will make a little house
Margret Meyerkort. To hold it in the dark.”

Lying in the meadow grass, With paper, paint, some windows,

And gazing at the Autumn sky, And a candle it was done!
“Dear Father Sun,” said George out loud, George came out and held his lantern
“It will be Winter, by and by. Up to Father Sun.

The nights will be long, dark and cold, Suddenly the windows lit,
Jack Frost will freeze the ground. The spark was dancing bright.
How shall I find the light, Carefully, George carried home
With so much darkness all around?” His lantern in the twilight.

v v v

85
Festivals and the Year

The Winter Season

December brings special challenges to the Waldorf kindergarten teacher,
for Christmas is a vivid part of our culture and a festival that brings deep
joy to children. However, there is sometimes a tendency to be so overt in
one’s celebration of Christmas that the kindergarten comes to feel more
like a Christian Sunday School than like a Waldorf kindergarten. This
brings great pain to our non-Christian families, but it is problematic
even for the children of Christian background. Within the Waldorf
kindergarten the festivals are not meant to be “taught” but are offered in
a light manner, much like telling a fairy tale, which allows the children
great freedom to come to the festival as they will. When offered in a
spirit of gratitude and with a sense of wonder and awe, something of the
essence of the festival can speak to the children.

The Advent Garden and the Lyre: Something of the History

and as an expression of thanks for the Creators of these gifts
Christof-Andreas Undenberg
Camphill Village, Copake, NY

We have always known that it was Dr. Karl
Schuben who had something to do with the
custom of the Moss Garden on the first Sunday
of Advent. If he did not invent it, he must at least
have introduced some of the form that makes
it. In his remedial class in the Stuttgart Waldorf
School, he had the children walk and move to
various forms, some of which were given to
him by Rudolf Steiner in 1922 or 1923. Karl
Schuben writes that after a child conference,
Rudolf Steiner drew onto paper several forms,
amongst them the involuting and outgoing
spiral. The child was to move to these forms
with his arms and hands, then later to draw
these forms himself. To the spiral movements
made by the child the teacher is meant to say:
“going into” and “going out.” Thus, in activating
the will, the child works on his rhythmic and
sensory systems, involving the whole man,
Karl Schubert writes.* This was sometime
before anthroposophical curative education
was inaugurated, and it may well be that such
exercises later prompted Schuben to incorporate
the double spiral into the layout of the Advent
Garden in his classroom. From where did he
take the idea of the garden of paradise?
In the German edition of the Journal for
Curative Education and Social Therapy, Volume
4, 1986, we are told of the history of the custom
of this “garden” which in a simplified form came
from Bavarian farmers, and was introduced
at the Sonnenhof, the original Swiss curative
home, by a German nurse working there from
1925 to 1928. Gustel Wetzl** knew of the
custom of bringing in fir-twigs and moss to
_______________
*“Zur Erinnerung an Rudolf Steiner” in Rudolf Steiner in
der Waldorf Schule, Waldorf-Verlag Stuttgart, 1927.
**Gustel Wetzl then married, and she and her husband
emigrated to the United States, probably in 1928.

86
 The Winter Season

form a garden on a table, which was then lit up Deep in the hardest bone of the head, the
by candles mounted on apples, an old parable temporal bone, lies buried the secret of the
of paradise. In 1925 she shared this custom at cochlea, a spiral structure winding “into” two
the Sonnenhof. The following year on the first and a half times, and inside that spiral, the organ
Advent Sunday, 1926, this became a formal of Corti, the most mysterious of organs, allows
celebration, with the moss laid out in a spiral the act of hearing to come about. One can say
path on the floor leading to the middle candle that the magic movement of the double spiral
which stood raised on a mount. The candles with its leap became also the creative movement
on the apples were carried there by individual of the form of the lyre, developed by Lothar
children and after being lit were placed along the Gaertner. Julius Knierim (musician, lyre teacher
path, so that in the end a lit-up garden vouched and curative educator) never tires of making his
for paradise regained. students experience the inherent form-principles
of the lyre by following them up with one’s hand,
Have the history of the Advent Garden and
and what Steiner said to Schubert holds good for
that of the lyre something in common? Is it not
that, too: “going into—going out,” or hinein—
striking that one of the first usages for the lyre
hinaus. Through such will activity one draws
was the Advent Garden ceremony! Between
closer to the inscribed secret, as for instance
the 6th of October, 1926, when the first lyre
expressed in the constellation of Cancer. In the
sounded, and the 28th of November, 1926, the
center you find the nebula Presepe, Latin for the
first Advent Sunday, are only a little over 50
crib, into which the child is “born.” The sign for
days! Could it be a cooperation of muses that
Cancer is the double spiral. The Advent spiral
these gifts have come to the dark and deaf earth
harbors more secrets than one! The light filled
at about the same time, one calling for the other?
sound is born in a new crib! The beginning of
Light and sound were combining in order to
all this now is sixty years ago, and for more than
open in a new way the gate to Christmas.
half this time I was allowed to be active in the
An occurrence from the early years may musical part of this birth moment.
illustrate this. So powerful was the impact on
Let me describe something personal out
Dr. Karl König (who later founded the Camphill
of this history. Come with me to the original
Villages for handicapped children and adults)
Stuttgart Waldorf School, after the war,
when he visited the Advent Garden at the
heating in the classrooms being scarce. What
Sonnenhof in 1927, that he then and there
encouragement it meant to meet Karl Schubert
decided to dedicate his life to children in need
in the courtyard where he would greet the
of special care, to the ones who are open to
student with the Austrian “Gruss Gott,” your
increasing light, to heavenly sounds. Anke Weihs
hand getting enwarmed by his big and warm
writes: “Dr. König experienced, while watching,
hand, a shepherd’s hand. Once Rudolf Steiner
an existential human drama: The fateful bite into
said to Schubert that he carries compassion to
the apple of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
wherever he works! Then travel with me in my
Evil thrusts mankind into a labyrinth of conflict,
memories to Arlesheim in Switzerland to meet
isolation, loss of meaning, loss of wholeness.
and shake hands with the thinker Edmund
Gently, in the obscurity of special homes,
Pracht. To witness him play the lyre was always
inadequate, sub-normal children would seem to
an experience of a kingly kind. Pracht once
take the bitter taste of that bite away and bring
wrote a song for the Advent Garden to words
light out of Paradise instead of sin.”
by Karl Schubert, a combination that points to

87
Festivals and the Year
the uniting of the creative elements we spoke of.
I never let the Advent Garden ceremony pass
without singing and playing that very song,
“Holy Mary, (also called “Over Stars Is Mary
Wandering”), which to me is a perfect example
of how the lyre should be companion to the sung
melody. There is an elementary character to the
“going into, going out” in the interplay between
the lyre and melody in this song.
Long since have Karl Schubert and Edmund
Pracht entered the realm of true light and
sound, yet at certain times one or the other is
tangibly present. Being aware of Karl Schubert
in this way this Advent time it may be right to
have mentioned this double spiral, as I feel he
wants us to take this up in a new way. The ever-
spreading custom of the Advent Garden is one
of the challenges in this direction. So I asked
A Story for the Advent Garden
This story is more appropriate for elementary-
aged children than for those in the kindergarten,
but we include it because it gives us adults such a
wonderful picture of the Advent Garden.
Once long ago, longer than your Father and
Mother or their Father and Mother or their
Father and Mother can remember, the earth was
a light-filled garden. Many flowers, shrubs, and
trees grew in it; also many fruits—strawberries,
blueberries, peaches, and so on. The sun shone
all the time and the sky was blue. In the middle
stood a tree, bigger than the others, and from it
hung down red, ripe, juicy apples. God Father,
who created all this splendor, walked in the
garden and liked it so much that he wanted to
share it, and so He created a man and woman to
enjoy it, too. But he said to them, “Everything
enjoy, play and feast as much as you like—only
from this one tree in the middle you shall not
eat.” So Adam and Eve had a lovely time, until
88
myself how can we introduce a “going into” and
“going out” on our lyres, and that especially at
that point of the year, the first Advent Sunday,
which by tradition is the beginning of the
Christian year? New awareness will lead us to
answers, and we as lyre players should share
what we glean in this search. That in turn will
link us to the creative moment in time sixty
years ago when the heavens were open enough
for impulses of light and of sound to come down
to earth, and the gesture of gratitude will be ours
in that realization, gratitude to Edmund Pracht,
Karl Schubert, Lothar Gartner and Gustel Wetzl,
Johanna Russ and countless others who brought
these gifts to our inner Christmas.
What different time is it today, how much
greater is the need, the need to go into the
darkness, spreading the light as we go out! v
one day Eve looked at and smelled the apple, and
could not resist tasting it, and gave it to Adam
also. But God Father saw them and was wrathful
and commanded the Angel with the fiery sword
to cast them out, for they had disobeyed.
At the moment that they left, the garden
became dark, like you see this one before you,
and the Angel took his sword and cut down
the tree in the middle, and he plunged the hilt
of his golden sword deep into the earth where
the tree had been. You know, the sword is like a
cross with the flame shining up, like you see at
this moment this big candle in the middle. The
garden of earth transformed into one huge, juicy,
red apple.
Ever since, the garden has been dark, but
every year we are allowed to come and lighten
it up, with our own little lights from the true
light which lights every man that comes into the
world. This is the true light which no darkness

can overcome. At the same time as we place our
lights into the garden, up above in the starry
world Mother Mary goes from star to star
collecting the gold and silver threads for the
garment for her child. And you know she does
not find enough, but the Angel comforts her by
pointing to the lighted apples from many, many
Advent Gardens which the children of earth
have placed there to prepare for her child. It is
with their joy, loving deeds, and good thoughts
that she can complete the garment for the child.
Now, every child can come and light his
candle and place it wherever he likes, and we
Another Story for the Advent Garden
Nancy Foster, Acorn Hill Children’s Center
At Acorn Hill, as well as at many Waldorf
kindergartens throughout the world, the season of
Advent is marked by the ceremony of the Advent
Garden. Teachers lay out a large, spiral path
of green boughs with golden stars interspersed,
leading to a large, central lighted candle. Each
child in turn, holds a red apple with a small unlit
candle inserted into it, walks the spiral path to
the large candle, lights his own small candle, and
returns, placing the apple and candle atop one
of the golden stars along the way back. When all
the children have had their turns, the path to the
great light is aglow from all the smaller lights. And
this is one story that is told:
Long, long ago, Mother Mary was preparing
for the first Christmas. It was time for her to
weave a robe for the Christ Child, who was soon
to be born.
Among the stars she wandered, and they
gave her radiant threads of crystal for the Child’s
robe. To the Moon she went, and it gave her
silver threads. Threads of gleaming gold the
Sun gave to her. And so Mother Mary gathered
89
The Winter Season
will lighten this deed with our lyres and singing.
When the deed is over and all is complete, and
even the extra candles are lit for all children that
we know who are sick or who have died, or for
all children in the world, etc., then we can say:
Now you leave the garden which is full of light
nearly like it was. And when you come outside
and wait, then you will receive your apple to
take home. And if you do not munch into it like
the horses or cows do, but ask Father or Mother
to cut a thin slice across it and hold it to the
candlelight, then you will see the fine form of the
earth as it is going to be in times to come. v
all the lovely threads and began to weave. But
alas! The threads slipped apart and could not be
woven together. On her way went Mother Mary,
searching, searching.
“Ah, dear stones and crystals,” said Mother
Mary, “you are so strong and firm. Can you help
me to weave these threads into a robe for the
Christ Child?”
“No, Mother Mary. We will mark your
pathway to the stable and give you sturdy
ground for your footsteps, but we cannot help
you weave your threads.”
“Ah, dear plants,” said Mother Mary, “you are
so lovely and green. Some of you are green even
in the depth of winter. Can you help me to weave
these threads into a robe for the Christ Child?”
“No, Mother Mary. We will make you a
garden where the Christmas rose can bloom, but
we cannot help you weave your threads.”
“Ah, dear animals, “ said Mother Mary, “you
are so nimble and lively. Can you help me to weave
these threads into a robe for the Christ Child?”
Festivals and the Year
“No, Mother Mary. Our brother Donkey will
help you on your long journey, but we cannot
help you weave your threads.”
Now Mother Mary no longer knew where
to turn for help to weave her lovely threads. But
lo! there came an angel to her and spoke softly,
saying: “Mother Mary, you must ask the children
for the love in their hearts. When the children of
90
Earth send you their love, then you will be able
to weave the Christ Child’s robe.”
And that is just what happened. And now,
each year at Advent time, the angel comes and
brings us a light in the darkness. From it every
child can take a light. These lights will send
heart’s love to Mother Mary, to weave a robe for
the coming Christ Child. v
 The Winter Season

Music for the Advent Garden

We include the original song by Edmund Pracht and Karl Schubert (below)
as well as the revised pentatonic version (p90).

Verse 2:
Ruft die Sonne auf zum Weben
Für des Kindleins lichtes Kleid
Bittet dann den Mond zu geben
Ihrem Kinde Glück und Freud
Mary asks the sun to weave her
For her child a robe of light
Begs the moon then to bequeath her
Peace for Him and pure delight.

Alle Sternlein spannt sie singend All the stars she gathers singing
An dem grossen Wagen an, To her coach she makes them fast
Ziehet durch den Himmel klingend, And while heaven with joy is ringing
Kommt so auf der Erde an. Down she comes to earth at last.

91
Festivals and the Year
St. Nicholas Day
During Advent there is a much-loved
tradition in many Waldorf schools which is
the coming of St. Nicholas, that good man who
loved children and often intervened on their
behalf during his lifetime. Legend says that his
reward was to be allowed to return to the earth
each year on December 6 to bring heavenly
gifts to the children and to gather their love
and carry it to heaven to help prepare the way
for the Christ Child to come on Christmas. In
some schools he comes in the night and leaves
gifts in a basket or in shoes which are specially
left out for him. In other schools he appears
bearded and dressed in his flowing robes and
dispenses warmth and wisdom to the children.
Preparing for St. Nicholas Day
Deborah Elam Sidhu, Pasadena Waldorf School
At the Pasadena Waldorf School in
California, we prepare for the visit of St.
Nicholas by polishing shoes, which we later find
filled with surprises on the day of the visit.
About one week before St. Nicholas Day,
children each bring a shoe (any size or style)
from home that needs polishing. Tables are
covered with old sheets, and shoe polish and
rags are ready. During free play, the children
92
He is an archetypal figure of heavenly wisdom
and is the forerunner of Santa Claus, whose
very name is reminiscent of St. Nicholas.
Santa Claus, however, is a more earth-bound,
incarnated figure who dwells with the elves in
the North Pole. Though he, too, is full of love
for the children, his gifts are of a more material
nature, even through he comes on Christmas
eve, a time of profound spiritual giving. One
can understand how he arose in our more
materialistic, secular age, and one can hold him
in a positive way for the sake of the children who
love him so, but one can also create a place in
the Advent season to bring the original, more
heavenly St. Nicholas to the children. v
(sleeves rolled up and aprons on) polish
away until a lovely shine appears. Some work
vigorously for several days on the same shoe.
On the eve of the visit, we set the empty
shoes all in a row. Then, wonder of wonders, on
the morning of the visit, the children discover
them filled with golden nuts and polished
stones. v

St. Nicholas Speaks to the Children
In the Fall 1984 Newsletter we printed an
article by Dr. Helmut von Kügelgen of Stuttgart
containing the words which St. Nicholas might
speak to children in the kindergarten. That
article ended with the lines, “But the inner, true
intent of these lines may stimulate or inspire
every St. Nicholas. Whoever wishes to follow
this intent should read the text several times—
and then find the words and language which
suit the children to whom he comes. Filled with
his spirit and flowing from his heart, his own
language must stream to the children through
the mouth of St. Nicholas.” In working with
these lines, Michael Howard of the Waldorf
Institute, found a way of speaking them to the
children at Green Meadow School, and we
present his revised version as an inspiration for
those who take on the noble deed of being St.
Nicholas.
Greetings, dear children!
God greets you through my word.
I have journeyed through all the heavens,
Where the stars and the good moon glow,
And the great Sun of the spirit always shines.
There in a starry meadow,
I met the Heavenly Mother,
Who spoke to me saying,
“Dear Nicholas,
Soon it will be Christmas again,
When in the darkest and coldest hour of the
earth’s night,
The Holy Child is to be born.
I shall weave a garment from the rays of the stars
To protect my child from the dark and cold.
But one thing is missing,” she said.
“The warm light of Jove
From the hearts of all the children of earth
Must also be woven into the Holy Child’s
garment.”
93
The Winter Season
The Heavenly Mother then said,
“Dear Nicholas, please do me this kindness:
Walk over the earth,
Through meadows and forests,
And from town to town.
Seek all the children who will give the love of
their hearts
So that the Holy Child may be born on earth
again.”
Thus did the Heavenly Mother speak to me,
And I have done as she asked.
I descended through the heavens
Down to earth
Where I found my friend Ruprecht asleep in
some bushes.
And so I woke him;
Otherwise he might have slept through
Christmas.
Together Ruprecht and I have journeyed over
the earth,
Through meadows and forests,
And from town to town,
To gather the rays of love from all the children.
I see the loving thoughts in your hearts.
I know all that is good in what you say and do.
I see also those silly thoughts
Which sometimes cloud the light of your hearts,
That they might shine like the Sun.
Nicholas walks among the children, polishing their
hearts with a pine branch taken from his staff. To
each child he says,
Polish your heart.
Now I will open my golden book
To see what is written there.
Festivals and the Year
Nicholas reads what has been written for the
whole group to hear or for each child, individually,
depending on what seems appropriate.
Now, children, sing me a song, an Advent song,
That the love in your hearts may stream forth
For me to gather and bring to the Heavenly
Mother.
The children sing a song.
Thank you children!
Your song fills me with great joy.
For now I can tell the Heavenly Mother
That I have found children on earth
Who have made a crib of love in their hearts
Where the Holy Child may be born.
The Heavenly Mother has asked me to give a gift
to each of you.
Cherish this golden nut,
94
That it remind you of the light in your heart,
Which like this seed may grow into a mighty
Sun of Love.
The children, each in turn, stand up and a golden
nut (attached to a gold ribbon necklace) is placed
over their heads, so that the nuts rest over their
hearts. To each child, Nicholas says, “Grow in
love.”
After all the children have received their golden
nuts Nicholas says,
Dear children, I bid you farewell.
I must continue my journey over the earth
Until I return to the Heavenly Mother with your
gifts of love.
God greets you, dear children.
God greets you through my word. v

Three Kings Play
Johanna-Veronika Picht, Stuttgart
In 1976 Johanna-Veronika Picht taught at the
Waldorf Institute and gave this play which a
number of teachers have used and adapted over
the years. For those unfamiliar with such a play,
the children are usually simply costumed but are
not expected to say their lines. The teacher says
them, but in time the children begin to say them,
too. Each day different children play different
roles, for they are not expected to “master” a role.
All make a cradling motion. While singing “stars are coming and the moon,” the moon and stars get up
from their chairs and walk around the Holy Family.
95
The Winter Season
The children sit on chairs in a circle in the
following order: Teacher as Astronomer with
telescope and special book, stars, moon, donkey,
Mary holding baby, Joseph, the three kings and
the three pages. Joseph stands and takes the
donkey to the center of the circle. He then leads
Mary with the baby to her chair in the middle
and stands by her.
Festivals and the Year
The angels walk around the Holy Family, while everyone sings:
Red King: A star is shining light and bright.
I’ve never seen it till tonight.
Blue King repeats the same words.
Green King repeats the same words.
Red King: Page, bring me the telescope.
Page goes to the astronomer and takes the
telescope from him to each of the kings who
look through it in turn.
Red King: Page, bring me the Astronomer.
Page returns the telescope and brings the
Astronomer who carries a large book.
Red King: What is the meaning of this star?
A bright new star shining from afar?”
Astronomer looks at book:
The star it shines for all of us to know
96
That we to Bethlehem should go.
To welcome there the newborn king.
The New Year is now coming in.
Astronomer sits.
Kings rise and say: Then let us go to Bethlehem
and carry gifts to honor him.
Red King: Page, bring me gold.
Blue King: Page, bring me frankincense.
Green King: Page, bring me myrrh.
All three kings: How can we find the way so far?
Oh, see again the wondrous star!”
Star Angels, Kings, and their pages go on journey
around the outside of the circle while singing:
When they come to the Holy Family, Kings bow.

Red King: Oh, dearest child, I bring you gold.
For you it shall its glory unfold.
Blue King: With all my heart, I bring with me,
frankincense to honor thee.
Green King: Myrrh is what I offer you. Take my
love and praises, too.
Mary and Joseph: Thank you for the gifts you
bring.
Thank you, oh royal earthly kings.
Kings leave while singing “Wander, Wander” with
second ending.
Everyone sings “Silent, Silent, Dearest Child” and
on words “Stars are coming…” the stars move
around the Holy Family, which lies down to sleep.
97
The Winter Season
The angels go around the Holy Family while
singing “At Day and at Night.”
Big Angel talks to Joseph in his dream:
Joseph, Joseph, you humble man
Hear what I must tell you then -­
Go to Egypt, start off tonight,
Take Mary and her child so bright.
Joseph: How shall I find the right path there?
I’ve never journeyed anywhere.
Mary: Joseph, have a trusting mind.
God will help us the path to find.
Angel goes in front, Mary, Joseph and the donkey
follow singing:
Festivals and the Year
The Spring Season
This season speaks to the hearts of all with
its vivid images of new beginnings and new
births. We await the melting of the snows and
the emergence of the first flowers. The earth, too,
is emerging from a deep sleep, similar to death,
and contained in the experience of rebirth are
the memories of death, of all that came before
the new beginning. It is said that it is always
darkest before the dawn, and thus, before Easter
comes Lent and Good Friday, and before the
freedom of Passover come the generations of
slavery and the experience of the Ten Plagues. In
Tu Bi’Shevat: New Year of Trees
Donyu Catino, Petaluma, California
Each person in every generation has a
responsibility to contribute to the well-being of the
world. “It is not up to you to complete the work,
yet you are not free to abstain from it.”
– Avot 2:21
Tu Bi’Shevat is on the 15th day of Shevat;
in 1993 that will be February 6. In Israel this
is the time when the sap begins rising, and we
celebrate this holiday of trees not when they
are in full leaf and displaying all their glory, but
when most are barren and we have only the
hope of what they are to bring forth.
Trees have always been important to the
Jews. Law forbids cutting down fruit trees (Deut.
20:19), and tradition calls for planting a tree at
the birth of a child. Appreciation of nature is
important and we have special prayers for seeing
trees in bud (“Blessed be He who has caused
nothing to be lacking in His universe, and
created therein beautiful creations and beautiful
trees, that people may derive pleasure.” Ber.
98
this season, we can experience somber moods,
but when we remember spring’s rebirth and
Easter’s resurrection, these deeper moods do not
into fall into despair, sadness does not become
depression. For the young child, whose feeling
life is not yet so developed, spring is a simpler
season, filled with the energy of rising sap and
the sense of release after winter’s imprisonment
indoors. We adults drink from the deeper
cup and bring to the children the fruits of the
experience, thereby helping them to prepare for
the times of sadness which enter every life.
43b) and on seeing beautiful trees at any time
(“Blessed be He who created beautiful creations
in His world.” Ber. 7).
Celebrations are carried out with tree
plantings, nature walks and parties. Customarily
we eat the fruits of Israel—figs, dates, almonds,
oranges, carob, pomegranates, grapes, raisins
and olives. As with all holidays we tell stories
and sing songs. Collections are taken up to plant
trees in Israel. ($5.00 per tree, Jewish National
Fund, 42 East 68th Street, New York, NY 10021).
Often we will plant an outdoor parsley patch.
This will be a home for our beeswax figures and
then will be harvested for the Passover Seder
plate. Forcing tree branches on the nature table
is always wonderful. We then use them to hang
mobiles of butterflies and birds. Making bird
feeders to hang in the trees at home is also a
much-loved activity.
On Tu Bi’Shevat we begin to turn outwards.
After the inner reflection of winter, we return
 The Spring Season

to the Garden. Tikkum olam is the spiritual Finger Plays:

repairing of the world, a returning the earth
to the wholeness of the Garden of Eden, a The Tree
responsibility we are ready to begin. I am a tall tree.
Creating a Parsley Patch—Cover parsley I reach toward the sky
seeds with warm water and let stand overnight. Where bright stars twinkle
Set into freezer until frozen solid. Remove and And clouds float by.
let thaw. Put into pots at once; treat like any My branches toss high
other indoor seed/plant. As the wild winds blow,
And they bend forward
Forcing Tree Branches—Cut branches Laden with snow.
from early-flowering trees and cover with warm When they sway gently
water and let soak overnight. Put in vase with I like it best.
warm water; change water every three days; mist Then I rock birdies to sleep
occasionally. v In their nest.

My Garden
This is my garden
I’ll rake it with care,
And then some flower seeds
I’ll plant in there.
The sun will shine,
And rain will fall,
And my garden will blossom,
And grow straight and tall.

99
Festivals and the Year
Passover in the Home and in the Kindergarten
Joan Almon
Having grown up in the Jewish religion,
I count the Seders of my childhood among
my happiest memories. My family gathered
around a large, beautifully set table, and the
ancient biblical tale of the freeing of the Jews
from slavery was commemorated. There were
prayers and blessings sung in Hebrew by my
grandfather, a number of symbolic foods, and an
abundance of matzo and wine. All was done in a
certain order which was repeated year after year.
Included in the Seder was a large meal,
and following it was the singing of traditional
Passover songs. This was a special event, indeed,
for we were not normally a singing family. Each
family member had a favorite song, and I can
still recall my grandmother singing hers in a
surprisingly clear soprano voice and my brother
leading us through a Hebrew song in which
the verses grew longer and longer, but each was
sung on a single breath. What laughter as we
breathlessly arrived at the end. My favorite was
“One Only Kid,” a song that is like a sequential
tale in which one deed follows on the next. I
remember not liking the next to last verse where
the Angel of Death comes and “destroys the
butcher, who slaughtered the ox, who drank the
water, who quenched the fire …” But the final
verse always soothed me, for it said that “the
Holy One, Blessed be He, came and destroyed
the Angel of Death…”
100
Many years later our kindergarten
experienced the tragic death of a kindergarten
mother just before Easter. In seeking a way to
bring to the class a picture of eternal life being
stronger than death, the song of “One Only Kid”
ran through my mind. How still the class was as
I sang it for them, especially for that mighty last
verse… .
We have had small Seders in the
kindergarten over the years. They consisted
mostly of a few words about the holiday and a
song, some matzo and some grape juice. They
were simple, but within me was the memory
of the holiday as I had known it as a child,
and some of that mood lived for us in the
kindergarten. I can still see one little fellow who
came from a religious Catholic home and who
developed a deep love for the matzo at our little
Seder. The name, however, eluded him, and
periodically during the following year he would
say to me, “Teacher, when are we going to have
that… that… .” Somehow, I always knew what
he meant. “You mean matzo, Michael?” “Yes,”
he would say with great relief, and I can still see
how his face lit up.
Looking back I can see what a gift a festival
is for a child, particularly in the home where
it can be repeated year after year throughout
childhood and where it weaves together the
people we love the most. These are experiences
which nurture us our whole life long. v

Carnivale and Lent
Andrea Gambardella, Baltimore
Lent is the quiet herald of winter’s end and
spring’s beginning. These forty days begin with
Ash Wednesday, commemorating the days for
fasting and temptation spent in the desert by
Jesus Christ. (An interesting aside is to note
other “40 cycles” in the stories of Noah, Jonah
and Moses.) The subject matter of Lent and
Easter are deeply personal and engage our
thought life in its most mature development.
Bringing their essence into family life is to bring
forward the simple symbols that indicate its
universality.
Lent in the Church is a time of fasting,
reflection, prayer, and almsgiving. These
elements engage our whole being—our physical
selves, our thoughts, our feelings, and our
activity in the community. On All Soul’s Day in
November we paused to remember those who
have died, to give recognition to those people
who offered and continue to offer us significant
strength and occasion for self-reflection
through their own attributes which realized
transformation. Lent, on the other hand, is the
personal experience of death, examining and
passing away our outer selves, recognizing our
own highest potential and seeking to identify
what work is needed to realize this more fully.
Conscious engagement of suffering and
death forces us to take stock of our gift of life
and consider ways of reforming and living
our lives fully and passionately. The very
least a communal Lent can offer us is the
opportunity to understand mortification,
so that as suffering comes into our lives, we
will recognize it for what it is and have some
tools to find in this earthly pilgrimage its
mysteries and deepest meaning. (To Dance
with Gods by Gertrude M. Nelson)
101
The Spring Season
Fasting can be as simple as abstaining
from a single food item you encounter daily or
skipping a weekend meal. More important is the
“giving up” of habits or behaviors that hinder
our journey in self-growth. Choose something
obvious and accessible: Be more polite as a
driver; have a relaxed attitude in the express
lane at the grocery; try to give family members
reminders with an objective tone of voice; etc.
Another practice is to have a positive thought
about each member of your household and to
find a moment in the day to hold it in front of
you—upon waking, before sleep, while washing
dishes. As in every festival there also needs to be
a place where we widen our life circles to include
the community of the world. Almsgiving and
acts of charity contribute to the season’s purpose.
For children of all ages (and adults!) a
wonderful introduction to Lent includes
Carnivale or Mardi Gras. Carnivale is actually
a season beginning with Epiphany, January
6th, and culminating in Shrove Tuesday, the
day before Ash Wednesday. In some countries
and in the New Orleans area, these weeks are
filled with parties and balls emphasizing the
enjoyment of our physical selves. The New
Orleans Mardi Gras crescendos during the last
five days with an enormous festival. At home
you can gather friends over the weekend with
parties including costumes, masks, dancing,
parades, entertainment (stories, songs, games)
and, of course, food. Planned or spontaneous
fun is the word of the day. Traditional foods
are doughnuts, pancakes and fried foods.
Cajun tradition includes sweet potatoes baked
slowly (300 degrees) for hours causing them to
caramelize and come sweet. A King’s cake is a
decorated brioche with a hidden bean or charm.
The finder is the King/Queen of your pageant
Festivals and the Year

and bestowed with good luck. New Orleans
colors are purple, gold and green. For Shrove
Tuesday, a festive supper of pancakes, waffles
or something messy might be followed by some
silliness—stories, joke-telling.
To end a simple family celebration, the
parents speak about Lent as a time to prepare for
Easter and the renewal of Spring. We gather the
last of winter inside of us, carrying the cold and
starkness of nature and then receiving the first
of spring, noticing its joyful face peeking out.
For older children we can add that Lent is an
opportunity to ask God for help with something
in ourselves which we want to work on. On Ash
Wednesday a quiet walk before or after dinner
can bring the family to notice how the natural
world is beginning during these forty days. Lent
is another opportunity for the family to center
around the realities that nature is experiencing
while reflecting to us universal truths.
In contrast with the evening before, the Ash
Wednesday meal might be simple and include a
multi-grain bread. For the bedside candle, a new
one of white or simple beeswax can be used—an
obvious contrast to one of color or decoration
which can be used for Easter Sunday. Fasting is
an unfair discipline to ask of children. Instead,
the family can decide on an evening each week
when no dessert follows dinner, and for an older
child perhaps add one lunch per week when it is
especially simple. Including children in charity
work deepens their experience of the soul mood
of the adults in their lives and eliminates the
need to talk about abstract ideas.
Great Spirit, fill us with light. Give us the
strength to understand and the eyes to see.
Teach us to walk the soft earth as relatives to
all that live. (Sioux Indian prayer from
To Dance with Gods by Gertrude M. Nelson)

v v v

Easter
Andrea Gambardella, Baltimore

Easter is the festival of our fulfillment as understanding of which will last us more
children of Mankind, of the rescue of our than this lifetime. No festival requires so
earthly existence from aimlessness, and much power of thought in its celebration as
the renewal of its purpose and meaning… Easter. (The Christian Year, Evelyn Capel,
The experience of Easter is not given to pg. 137)
us human beings in the natural course of
At Christmas the gifts of the holy event
events as the spring is given to Nature… We
to humanity are brought to us openly and we
know little of Easter unless we awaken to
receive them with wonder and delight. So it is
its mystery in our hearts. We may follow in
for children that gifts are there to see waiting
deep feeling the transition from Good Friday
under the tree. At Easter the gifts are hidden—
to Easter Sunday and keep the holy mood
shrouded in mystery which we must penetrate
of the days of resurrection, but we shall not
with our thinking and permeate with our hearts.
feel that we have really caught more than
For children the basket of treats is hidden by
the shadow of Easter in this way. Each year
the Easter Hare (or Rabbit) and they must seek
our thinking should penetrate a little further
it out. For elementary children this should be a
into this most profound of mysteries, the
challenge!

102

For the adult, the mysteries of death
and resurrection are central to a living
appreciation of Easter… But such
considerations are not appropriate for
the young child who still lacks an inner
experience of death. To the child the world
is permeated with life. (Celebrating Easter,
Signe Schaefer, pg. 1)
What is important for young children (under
9 or 10 years) is the inner attitude of the parents
and the quiet commitment the parents make in
considering the mysteries of Easter. For older
children (12–14 years and older) taking time
in the evening to read from the gospels is to
offer the story in its original and simple fashion.
These children will note in a more conscious
way how the adults prepare their frame of mind
and the details of making the house ready for
Easter morning. Give them the opportunity to
help with decorative arrangements, cooking
and cleaning. Making our house ready is to also
prepare the house of our soul for Easter.
On Good Friday, the table (or nature corner)
might include a young plant or sprouting
branch, eggs, and an empty bowl. This empty
bowl will be filled Easter morning with found
eggs. Also into the empty bowl on Easter
morning might go a treasure which each child
brings from his/her own store of stones/shells,
etc. A quiet walk in the afternoon of Good
Friday allows us to notice how nature receives
this wonder of a day. Follow this with tea and
traditional hot cross buns.
Holy Saturday is always filled with
preparations. Children might prepare their
bedroom or prayer candle area with a special
cleaning/tidying. A new candle can be decorated
that day and await Easter night. On Easter
Sunday decorated eggs can be delivered by
children to neighbors, thus bringing them out
of the family and into the world. Including the
greater community in simple ways completes the
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The Spring Season
picture of Easter as far-reaching; we celebrate
the renewal of life and the eternal life in all the
world and for all peoples.
A STORY OF THE EASTER HARE
The following story was told by Johanna-Veronika
Picht and is based on a tale told by K.E. Proske.
The origins of the tale are not known. We have
seen other versions of this story, as well, in which
the order of the eggs is changed. One can feel free
to adapt the story. In translating it, the German
word Hase has been translated as “hare” even
though in America we speak of the Easter rabbit,
not the Easter hare. But the hare is a different
creature from the rabbit and is more intimately
linked with Easter and its great story of sacrifice,
for the hare is willing to sacrifice himself in order
to save other hares.
Once there was a father Easter hare and a
mother Easter hare, who had seven children, and
they did not know which of them was to become
the Easter hare. Then the mother Easter hare
took a basket with seven eggs, and the father
Easter hare called the seven children and spoke
to the eldest. “Take an egg out of the basket and
bring it to the garden by the house where the
many children live.” The oldest hare took the
golden egg, carried it through the wood and
over the stream, came out of the forest, hopped
across the meadow, and came to the garden of
the house. There he wanted to jump over the
gate, made one leap which was much too large
and mighty, and the egg fell and broke. He was
not the true Easter hare.
Now the second one had his turn. He took
the silver egg, carried it through the wood and
over the stream, came out of the forest, and
hopped across the meadow. There the magpie
called, “Give the egg to me, give the egg to me,
and I’ll give you a coin.” Before the hare saw
what was happening, the magpie had taken the
Festivals and the Year
silver egg into her nest. He was also not the true
Easter hare.
Now it was the third one’s turn. This one
took the chocolate egg, carried it through the
wood and over the stream, and came out of the
forest. Just then the squirrel came running down
from the tall fir tree, opened his eyes wide and
asked, “Does it taste good?”
“I don’t know, I want to bring it to the
children!”
“Oh, just let me taste it!” The squirrel licked
it, and because it tasted so good, the hare licked
and tasted it with him—until the whole egg was
eaten up. When the third hare came home, his
mother pulled at his whiskers, which were still
covered with chocolate, and said, “You are also
not the true Easter hare.”
Now it was the fourth one’s turn. The fourth
one took the speckled egg. With this egg he
ran through the wood and came to the stream.
As he was running across the stream on a tree
trunk, he stopped in the middle and looked into
the stream as if into a mirror. As be stared at
himself, the egg fell helter-skelter into the water.
He was also not the true Easter hare.
Now it was the fifth one’s turn. The fifth one
took the yellow egg. He ran through the wood,
and before he came to the stream, he met the
fox, who said, “Oh, come home with me into my
cave and show the lovely egg to my children.”
The little fox children began to play with the egg
when it hit a stone and was broken. The hare
ran quickly to his house, with his ears hanging
down. He was also not the true Easter hare.
Now it was the sixth one’s turn. The sixth
one took the red egg. With the red egg he ran
through the woods. Along the way he met
another hare. Then he laid his egg on the path
and began to wrestle with the other hare. They
just went plip-plop with their paws. Finally
104
the other hare ran away. When the sixth one
searched for his egg, he found it broken into tiny
bits. He was also not the true Easter hare.
Now it was the turn of the seventh one, the
youngest and smallest hare. He took the blue
egg. With it, he ran through the woods. Along
the way he met another hare. He ran past him
and went on. Then came the fox. Our hare made
a few long leaps and went further. He came to
the stream. With a couple of hops, he jumped
across the tree trunk. The squirrel came, but the
hare kept running and came to the meadow.
When the magpie shouted, he just called, “I
must keep going! I must keep going!” Finally he
came to the garden of the house. The gate was
closed. He made a great leap, not too big and not
too small, and laid the egg in a nest which the
children had made for it. He was the true Easter
hare.
A GIFT OF FORTY DAYS
Barbara Klocek, Sacramento Waldorf School
As winter draws to its end, a longing fills the
human soul for more warmth, a longer day, a
flower, a new birth. Even before Lent is finished,
Nature begins to stir upwards, called by the light
and warmth. The blessing of heaven touches
the earth in color and scent. Yet often the
human soul cannot suddenly respond but finds
itself more acutely aware of its darkness and
lack of focus. This contrast comes poignantly
early here in California because Nature gives
her springtime gifts so early, in February. A
student from the north, when asked how he was
enjoying the flowers of March said ruefully, “I’m
not sure I like flowers in Lent.”
Following the darkness through Good
Friday allows a deep experience of the joyous
celebration of Easter, the Resurrection and
new life. This need not be a brief experience,
for if one is aware and awake, the forty days
 The Spring Season

following Easter can be a time of healing and feast. Healing and strengthening forces can bring
replenishing. This was the time when the joy and rebirth to a weary soul.
Risen Christ walked upon the earth, bestowing
After this great flowering, the flowers wither,
wisdom and blessings. He has risen and now has
and decay seems to set in. A sense of loss can
united Himself with these growth forces. Can we
ensue. This feeling can be transformed with
awaken to this wonder, this miracle around us?
the understanding that now the fruiting begins
The blossoms continue with rich color and scents.
and, as with the plants, the inner fire can be
Decay seems held in abeyance for forty days until
developed within us.
Ascension.
The balance of the forty days of Lent is given
Can we create the time to witness this
in these forty days after Easter. Let us open our
wondrous gift of forty days? To take the same
eyes, ears and soul to attune and fill ourselves
walks everyday, or to observe one place at the
with this presence which is so wonderfully
same time each day will allow the senses to
mirrored in Nature for a short time. v
create a window for our soul to drink in this

A Circle Game for Easter

Roseann Dati, Pali Uli Waldorf School, Kona, Hawaii

In preparation for the Easter festival, a
question was growing strongly within me of how
to bring the resurrection to the children. Then
at our February Teachers’ Conference came the
answer: a simple, beautiful circle game which I
found inspirational for the children. With verse
and song from the Spring book of the Wynstones
collection. We began as caterpillars with:
Caterpillar wind about, round and round
and in and out,
When you are fed come spin your bed,
Go to sleep—deep, deep.
As a caterpillar die, waken as a butterfly.
When the verse called for “sleep,” the
children were on the floor with their heads
down. As I said the last few lines of the verse, I
covered each child with a lightly colored gauze
(silk would be so nice), tucking a corner in each
of their hands.
Singing “Waken sleeping butterfly …” (Spring
volume of Wynstones collection), we then soared
through the room and out the door, fluttering in
the year with our “wings” of freedom.
Those questions held within always bring
inspiration.

v v v

105
Festivals and the Year

A Maypole in the Kindergarten

In the spring, especially around May Day, THE CAROUSEL
one’s thoughts turn towards Maypoles. When I Suse König
worked in Vienna, I was introduced to a lovely
Good morning, good morning, our carousel
Carousel song used with a Maypole. At Acorn
goes past.
Hill we have adapted it into a May Day song. The
On horseback you can sing, first slowly and then
pole itself can be made from a closet pole, with a
fast.
round, flat piece of wood fastened on the top. It
You lovely children, come with me.
can be fastened with a bolt and washers so that
Today’s first ride will now be free,
it is secure but just loose enough to be able to
This way, this way, this way,
revolve as the children hold onto the streamers.
Who’ll ride with me today?
Ribbon streamers can be attached to the edge
Ru-la-la, ru-la-la, ru-la-la, ru-la-la,
of the round, flat piece with small nails. It can
Ru-la-la, ru-la-la, ru-la-la, la.
be further decorated with paper flowers at the
Hei-didel-dum, hei-didel-dum, nut, nut, nut,
top, or even fresh flowers for a special festival.
nut, nut, nut.
An adult or child holds the pole in the middle of
Hei-didel-dum, hei-didel-dum, nut, nut, nut,
the circle. Depending on its height, it can rest on
nut.
the floor or on a stump. As the song begins, the
La la la … (as in music below)
teacher hands out the streamers to the children
We gather reins from everyone, our carousel is
who simply go around in a circle holding the
oh such fun,
streamers. There is no effort to weave them into
Such fun, such fun, such fun, we gather from
one another as in a more complex Maypole. At
everyone.
the end, the streamers can be gathered up by the
teacher or can be allowed to gently fall into the (The last two lines are to the same music as the
middle. lines beginning, “You lovely children…”) v

106
 The Spring Season

107
Festivals and the Year

The Summer Season

As the school year comes to an end, summer is just beginning in many of our
kindergartens, but one feels in the children, and in nature, a great out-breath
building up. The children yearn to splash in water, to climb trees, and to run
barefoot outdoors. In nature the air is full of the sounds of bees and other
insects, and the life of the earth is stretched out to the tree-tops and beyond.
The sun pours down its warmth and the earth stretches upwards as if all of
nature is trying to bring the two great forces together.

Summer
Ellen Lundh, Children’s Orchard, Nelson, BC

Far up in the Heavens where the stars live, a “Now where shall I go?” Sunbeam asked,
Fire Fairy named Sunbeam lived in a star called “Which is the way?”
the Sun. Sunbeam loved to dance and as he
A busy bee below on Earth heard and said, “I
grew stronger, he shed light further and further
shall show you the way.” Then up from the Earth
into the heavens. On one of his journeys as he
the Bee flew. Up and up he flew, round and
danced far amongst the stars, he saw Sister Rain
round, higher and higher until his little wings
dancing near the Earth. Sunbeam watched her as
grew, oh, so tired. He felt he could go on no
she moved from clouds to earth and he wanted
longer. They were just too small and he was too
to go to dance with her. He called out, asking for
high and he began to get dizzy. Then the warmth
help to go visit the Earth. Sister Rain answered,
from Sunbeam wrapped the air around the Bee
singing a droplet song,
and carried him further, higher… higher than
Pit, pit, pat, pit, pit, pat any other bee had flown. Then Sunbeam met the
That I cannot do. tiny Bee and welcomed him and thanked him
For my wings of dew for coming. Together they came down to Earth
Would dry and I could not fly. dancing.
Pit, pit, pat, pit, pit, pat.
When the children on the Earth pick and
You can ask Brother Wind.
eat the seed fruits, such as apples, berries and
So Sunbeam called to Brother Wind. pears, they taste kisses from Sunbeam. When the
“Brother Wind, I wish to go to the Earth to children put honey on their bread and in their
dance with you. Can you help me?” tea, they taste the sweetness from the flowers
that Sunbeam kissed and that the Bee took and
Brother Wind answered, “Yes, I can. I am too
carried to her house to share with us. v
busy to dance with you, but I shall make a way.”
And so Brother Wind opened the door and then
flew away.

108

A Midsummer Tale
Bronja Zahlingen, Vienna, Austria
Once upon a time there was a little girl who
lived with her mother in a small cottage at the
end of a village close to the forest. They had a
garden where they could grow the vegetables
which they needed. Everything else for their
livelihood the mother earned by weaving and
sewing. The child played in the garden, in fields,
and forest. She listened to the birds singing, she
watched the bees and butterflies as they went
from blossom to blossom, and she went skipping
across the little stream nearby. Before going to
bed, she loved to sit on the doorstep and wait for
the sun to go to sleep. One evening, just as the
last sun rays fell upon her eyes, a toad jumped
out of the green grass and looked at her with
its golden eyes as if it wanted to say something.
“Toad, green toad,” said the little girl, “say what
are you wanting?
Milk, sweet milk, is that what you’re wanting,
Are you hungry, you poor thing?
Here is milk, so come and drink.
Quickly she went indoors and brought back
a bowl of milk, which the toad enjoyed very
much. From that day on the toad came every
evening for milk, and the little girl never forgot
to put out the milk.
Once, however, early in summer, the mother
fell ill. A sore leg would not heal, and she had
to stay in bed now. The girl looked after her as
best she could. She also tended the garden, but
for weaving and sewing she was still too young.
Instead of that she began to look after the small
children in the village, and, when their mothers
went to work, she took them out to play and
sing:
On fields so green where from the ground
The flowers bright are springing,
109
The Summer Season
We seven girls will skip around
A-dancing and a-singing.
Then seven fish in waters clear
Who heard the children sing
Went up and down the silver waves
A-swimming in a ring.
There seven birds up in the air
Who heard the merry song
Spread out their wings and in a ring
Came a-flying all along.
Then seven stars in heaven high
Were shining overhead.
“Now stop your dance and stop your song.
’Tis time you went to bed.”
The good little children went home to sleep,
and their mothers gave the girl milk and bread
and some meal to make a soup. This she brought
home to her mother, and however tired she was,
she never forgot to leave a bowl of milk on the
doorstep for the toad.
Once, it was just on St. John’s day, the girl
went out to the woods nearby. She wanted to
pick some flowers for her mother and also to
find sweet berries. She took her little basket and
went on her way. After a while, she sat down on
a mossy stump to eat her lunch. “I should love
to share my bread with a gnome,” she thought.
“Mother says they like it if you share. I wonder
whether they live here under rocks and stones
and whether they are hiding now. Anyway, I will
put a piece of bread down here on the moss, so
the gnomes can fetch it.”
No sooner had she put the bread down
when she heard a fine chuckle and sure enough,
there a pointed red cap was to be seen behind
some rocks. She jumped up and it vanished, but
Festivals and the Year
she could see the gnome running along, and
he seemed to beckon to her. She followed to a
clearing. Why, there were more of them! But
suddenly they disappeared again. She followed
as they reappeared behind a tree stump. She had
to walk through high thistles, and again she saw
something red shining under the green fence.
When she bent down, there were lots of red,
ripe, sweet strawberries. She picked a basketful
for her mother and ate her fill. Then being tired,
she sat down and fell asleep. Now she had a
strange dream. The toad was sitting in front of
her and looking at her out of bright golden eyes.
Suddenly she heard it speaking:
Go look for St. John’s wort,
The sun-golden flower,
That bears such a secret
And wonderful power.
If you can but find it
At Midsummer night,
Whatever is ailing
Will soon be put right.
When she woke up it was getting dark, the
moon was rising—it was Midsummer night! The
toad had disappeared, but she remembered the
rhyme quite clearly:
Go look for St. John’s wort,
The sun-golden flower,
That bears such a secret
And wonderful power.
If you can but find it
At Midsummer night,
Whatever is ailing
Will soon be put right.
The girl stood up, took her strawberry basket
and began to search for the flower. Glowworms
110
and fireflies flew and lit up her way with their
shining lanterns. She followed them to a clearing
near some rocks where a waterfall was rushing
down. (Music) Water nymphs were playing
ball with the sparkling pearls of water. The
moon shone brighter, while the fireflies and
glowworms showed her the way, and in the air,
light fairies were swaying round and round.
(Music) Further along she went, following the
fireflies and glowworms to the front of a big,
rocky cave where the toad was sitting on a rock
like a guardian. (Music)
Now the cave in which little gnomes were
moving about was opened, and there in front
of a great Midsummer fire stood a king in a red
garment and a golden cloak. Salamander was his
name and upon his head, he wore a crown like of
flames. He looked at the girl, and as the toad was
hopping up to her, he pointed his golden shining
staff towards a green glen. Really, there grew the
St. John’s wort for which she had been looking.
Full of joy she picked a little bunch. “Thank
you,” she said quite aloud. There was no longer
anything to be seen: no gnomes, no fairies, no
water nymphs nor fire beings, only the good
toad looking at her, as if to say, “Go home now
with your treasures.”
She followed the glowworms that flew ahead
of her to lead her home. She put the strawberries
by the bedside and put some of the St. John’s
wort on her mother’s sore leg. Next morning the
mother felt much better, and within three days
she was perfectly well again. They were very,
happy and honored the flowers very highly. And
the child never forgot to put the bowl of milk on
the doorstep for the toad to drink. v
 The Summer Season

111
Festivals and the Year

112
 The Summer Season

Summer Birthdays
Nancy Foster, Acorn Hill Children’s Center

For the past several years I’ve always had journey over the rainbow bridge. But do not
many (6 to 7) summer birthdays, so I have sorrow; it may be that you will find each other
celebrated them as part of a Summer Festival again.”
for the whole class, with all parents present.
At last the day came when one of the
We do a short circle on a summer theme (and
children looked out through the golden clouds
once or twice I did a “retrospective” of the year,
to Earth, and there, as if in a dream, he saw his
with favorite items from each season), and then
mother and father waiting for him. And so he
the children sit at their parents’ feet for the
said to his friends, “Now it is time for me to go
birthdays.
down to Earth. Won’t you come with me?”
The birthday book, which is drawn in simple
“Oh, no,” said his friends. “It is not time for
fashion for each child, arose because I wanted
us to go yet.”
to be able to individualize the children’s stories
as I do on regular birthdays, but I couldn’t hope And so the child’s angel said to him, “Yes, it
to remember events for so many children. So I is time for you to go. Go with courage for your
had asked each parent for a list and made the journey. I will stay here and watch over you until
books, and then I read each child’s book at the you are ready to return.”
appropriate point. It has worked well. It’s also
And so the child went over the rainbow
nice because otherwise the summer children
bridge to the place where his parents awaited
wouldn’t get a birthday book, as I can’t ask the
him, and they received him with great joy. And
class to go into mass production and create the
the first gift the child received (this is said as the
usual books with one drawing from each child.
teacher brings the birthday crown and puts it
The parents have seemed appreciative of this way
on the child’s head) was a name, and his parents
of doing the birthdays.
named him (Michael).
v v v
(Then I read life events from that child’s birthday
Once upon a time there were (four) children book.)
who were still with the angels in heaven, and
Not long afterwards, the second child looked
they were very happy there. They looked at
out…,
the lovely colors, they listened to the beautiful
music, and they played together. They were so etc., and so on for each child.
fond of one another that they could hardly bear
For each child, when you say, “And in July
to be parted, and they said to each other, “Let us
she will be five years old,” you may light the
stay together forever.”
child’s candle. At the end of the story I sing,
But their angels said, “No, that is not “In Heaven Shines a Golden Star.” Then I give
possible, for each of you must make your own birthday boxes as a gift. v

113
 Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the contributors
to this publication, whose names are included
with their articles, and the following publishers
who allowed us to publish, and in some cases, to
translate the following articles:
Von der Würde des Kindes and Erziehungskunst
for the following:
• “Rudolf Steiner Asks for Kindergartens”
• “Dolls and Animals in the Child’s Room”
• “Movement, Gesture, and Language in the
Life of the Young Child,” originally published
in the Rudolf Steiner School Newsletter,
Vienna, Austria
• Marionette Theatre”
Plan und Praxis des Waldorf Kindergartens,
published by the International Waldorf
Kindergarten Association for the following:
• “A Day in the Life of the Kindergarten,”
originally published in Mitteilungen der
Waldorfschule Kassel, November 1972.
• “Handwork in the Kindergarten,” originally
published in Die Menschenschule, May 1971.
• “About Painting and Human Development
through Art”
• “Fairy Tale Language and the Image of Man”
• “Experiencing the Fall” originally published
in Erziehungskunst
American Publications:
• News and Views, Waldorf Institute,
Chestnut Ridge, NY, for “In Praise of Early
Childhood”
• Journal for Anthroposophy, Spring 1982 for
“What to Do about Witches”
• My Book House (Sent by Mary Lynn
Channer, Lambertville, MI) for “Shingebiss”
114
• Lyre Association Newsletter, Great
Barrington, MA, for the “Story for the
Advent Garden”
• Newsletter of the Waldorf School of Baltimore
for “Carnivale and Lent” and “Easter”
• Newsletter of the Raphael Associates, Fair
Oaks, CA, for “A Gift of Forty Days”
Other Publications:
• Märchen und Geschichte zum Erzählen
und Spielen by Bronja Zahlingen for “The
Magnificent Rooster and the Little Ant” and
“The Rabbit and the Carrot”
• Star Weavings, Fall-Winter 1990, the
Australian Rudolf Steiner Early Childhood
Newsletter for the “Music in the Waldorf
Kindergarten” and “Pumpkin Games”
• Waldorf Kindergarten Newsletter of Great
Britain for “Celebrating the Festivals”
• Rundbrief of the International Waldorf
Kindergarten Association for “The Saints of
Autumn” and “The Story of the Easter Hare”
• Aus Michaels Wirken for “St. Michael on the
Crescent of the Moon”
We thank all those who helped translate
articles: Paula Lane-DeLorme, who translated
numerous articles, Bronja Zahlingen, Brigitte
Best, C. Mallon, Gudrun Davy and Joan Almon;
Bella Schauman and Jerilyn Ray-Shelley for
work on past Newsletters; Nancy Foster for
transcribing the music; Carol Petrash for her
editorial work; Lydia Roberson for editorial
work and compilation of this volume; Leslie
Bailey for art work; and Bob Roberson and
Clopper Almon for technical assistance on the
computer.