August Nature Table

maggie and milly and molly and may

~E.E. Cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may

went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang

so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star

whose rays five languid fingers were

and molly was chased be a horrible thing

which raced sideways while blowing bubbles; and

may came home with a smooth round stone

as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)

it's always ourselves we find in the sea

I haven't had time for much blogging this summer, but I did manage to get together our August nature table after a recent trip to the beach.  August is usually a month of beach trips for us, and probably the busiest month of the summer.  We're trying to enjoy the summer one day at a time, although thoughts and plans for the upcoming school year are bubbling up to the surface of my mind each day. 

I hope you are all enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation before commencing another fabulous and creative school year!



Our sea themed nature table.







I made little sailboats with shells and twigs. 
The twigs are stuck on with modelling wax
and I sewed on the little sails.




The squid, turtle, and jellyfish are happily
drifting along in the current.




And on the sea floor rests a little mermaid among
her  treasures.



June Nature Table

There are fairies

at the bottom of our garden!

They often have a dance

on summer nights:

the butterflies and bees

make a lovely little breeze.

and the rabbits stand about

and hold the lights.

Did you know that they could sit

upon the moonbeams

And pick a little star to make a fan,

and dance away up there

in the middle of the air?

Well they can.

~Rose Fyleman

 First, I must apologize for the timing of this post!  The month's half over!  At any rate, we decided that this poem would be a great inspiration for our June nature table as this is the month of the Summer Solstice.  We could just imagine such goings on under the moonlight our little yard, perhaps near the apple trees where S is always busy building fairy houses and leaving special things for the fairies and gnomes.  Enjoy, and Happy Summer!



The whole nature table, with the
poem written on a little card below.



...the butterflies and bees make a
lovely little breeze...



...and the rabbits stand about
and hold the lights...



...did you know that they can sit upon
the moonbeams, and pick a little
star to make a fan...

 




May Nature Table

May

May's a month of happy sounds-

the hum of buzzing bees,

The chirp of little baby birds,

and the song of a gentle breeze.

~Holly Hobbie

I finally finished our May nature table last night.  A few days late, I know, but it's such a busy time of year with garden planting, yardwork, and spring cleaning!

I needle-felted the little Maypole maidens and the little busy bugs.  The flowers came from our yard:  Muscari (grape hyacinth), geraniums, and blossoms from one of our apple trees.

Happy May!

April Nature Table

We change our Nature Table pretty frequently, but not as often as I'd like during each season.  So to keep it fresh and interesting, I've decided to become a little more diligent about changing it at the beginning of every month.  This has become part of our Circle Time on the first day of each month. 

We use the circular Grimm's calendar (really the best calendar for kids, such a great visual of the circle of days/weeks/months) and light a candle on the first day of the month while we recite a little poem about that particular month.

So for April, I took a poem from a book I've had since I was a little girl, Holly Hobbie's Through the Year Book.  Here is the poem:

April

April is a rainbow month

of sudden springtime showers,

Bright with golden daffodils

and lots of pretty flowers,

Our Nature Table reflects the feeling of that poem, but was also influenced by actual events in nature, of course, like the emergence of flowering bulbs and spring grass.  We have only three little flower children right now, but we'll be adding to them over the course of the month.  The following is a picture of the table thus far.  Enjoy, and I hope this inspires you with some ideas for your own Nature Table!

Our April Nature Table
with King Sun up on his cloud up top,
rainbow and sheep in the middle with
modelling wax swans in the stream,
and flower children sprouting from the soil below.
The postcard is from a set, one for each month.

So Much Advent and Christmas!

The fourth light of Advent is the light of Humankind

The light of hope that we may learn to love and understand.

~ R. Steiner

So much to do!  So much to do!  Unfortunately,no matter how laid back I try to be about the holidays this week, that seems to be my mantra.  My tasks are not unpleasant, just a little too plentiful!

As we finish our last week of Advent, we are adding human figures to our nativity.  We started with the shepherd and now have two of the Three Kings.  Instead of adding the Three Kings to the scene immediately, they are at a far end of the table, for they have not yet begun their journey to bring their gifts to the Christmas Child.  They will be moving closer each day after Christmas until they arrive on January sixth.  See?  I might not be a religious person, but I've at least done my reading!  It's all in the spirit of keeping it in line with the story.

the shepherd joins his flock on the right

Speaking of stories, we did a little puppet play for one of our Christmas songs yesterday morning during circle time.  That old song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?" is such a nice little story and perfect for acting out with a few little dolls and simple props.  The kids thought it was great fun to sing the different parts and move the dolls accordingly.  We used one of the kings and the shepherd from the nativity, along with a cut out paper star with a "golden" tail.  The kings palace and throne were comprised of several plain wooden blocks.

Said the Night Wind to the Little Lamb, "Do you hear what I hear?"

Another nice little activity we've been doing ties in with the story of Mary's Journey.  Mary is up in the heavens gathering silver and golden threads to weave a shift for her baby.  She is wondering if she will finish it in time for the arrival of the baby.  But all ends well, because the children of the earth are doing good deeds.  The children's angels carry news of these deeds to the heavens where new threads are created in a quantity sufficient to complete the garment just in time.  (I was not able to find this story on line to link to, though I'm sure there must be one out there somewhere. The one I have is in our Live Ed curriculum.  Sorry!)

As much as I don't like to admit it, my kids have needed a few more reminders than usual to mind their actions towards one another this week.  So each time they do a good deed by sharing, using kind and loving words, or helping someone, I write their deed on a little paper star with a "golden" thread hanging from it.  The star then gets hung up around a door frame for all to see and to remind them of their good behavior.  I'm happy to say that the door frame is getting quite full of stars!

Tonight we're getting ready to walk our Solstice Spiral.  Many people kick off Advent with a walk in the Advent Spiral, but the appropriateness of walking the spiral on the actual Solstice made more sense, especially with our more nature-based approach to Advent and Christmas.  I believe there's a link to an explanation of the Advent spiral in my first Advent post.  We're taking a less solemn approach to our Spiral walk, and the children will be singing "This Little Light of Mine" as they walk in and out. (We'll be leaving out the Jesus and Satan parts, thank you!)

Lastly, in preparation for Winter, we stripped our nature table of Autumn items and set the scene for the new season.  Our nature table has three tiers, so we took a new approach this season.  Our lower tier represents the underground, where the gnomes are busy at work making and mining crystals, gems, and precious metals.  The middle tier is the surface of the earth, covered with snow (a white silk).  We will be adding King Winter to this part of the scene at a later date (as in when I finish making him!).  The top tier is for the heavens, where the Snow Queen sits on a soft cloud of white wool and makes the snow fall.  We had two little crystal prisms which we hung from this tier to represent sparkly snowflakes and ice.  The effect is quite charming, and the kids thought it was delightful to create.  They especially loved adding special stones and geodes for the gnomes.

our winter nature table

Since I most likely won't get a chance to write again until after Christmas, have a joyous holiday season with your families and love ones!