I welcome Lori from Beneath The Rowan Tree to Discovering Waldorf today. Lori is an exceptionally talented needle-felter with a hugely successful Etsy shop. I adore her creations! Her topic for discussion is the needle felted playscape.
Not everyone knows what a playscape is, what a playstand is for or what a playsilk does. The word ‘play‘ isn’t always a giveaway ~ so dependent have we become on toys that direct the child that we find it hard to trust that our children will know just what to do with these alternative toys!
These toys, arising out of the Waldorf educational philosophy, are intentionally open ended, simple and made with natural materials. They are created to nurture the wonder of the early years of childhood by allowing children to move smoothly into the world of play and imagination while determining, for themselves, the course and nature of that play.
Most mainstream toys limit a child by determining how the child shall play through their built in cause and effect types of features (push the button, it makes a sound). While cause and effect is an important skill, it doesn’t leave much to the imagination, nor does it allow the child to practice problem solving or to live out their rich inner life! Not to mention that
plastic (aside from environmental and health concerns) is cold and lifeless.
Natural toys warm in a child’s hands. You can easily explain the cycle from sheep to wool to toy and connect the child with the earth and the ideas of inter-connectedness and sustainability. They allow the child to lead the play and move freely through their imaginative ideas. They are wide open space instead of a cattle chute!
I wanted to take a moment for the playscape~ essentially a play mat, an environment for natural play. Most playscapes are felted (wet and needle felting OR processed wool felt) and made of wool and other natural fibers.
They provide a scene or setting for the child’s play. They also provide lots of open space for that play to unfold. Popular themes are fairy, gnome and folk tale based. Natural environments being
most common: farm, seaside, forest and more. Sizes vary, as does scale. They can be populated with many simple things~ acorns, stones, crystals, bendy dolls, natural found items.
We love to create
playscapes and many other natural toys at Beneath the Rowan Tree, as do a number of other members of the Etsy Natural Kids Street Team (www.etsy.com) and use handmade search term ‘Naturalkids team’).
12 Responses
Such beautiful work. Donni I love the playscape you made for K. I can just imagine how much fun she must have with it. Someday I have to learn to do that. Now off to check out Beneath the Rowan Tree.
Oh, her work is amazing… and yours came out fabulous too Donni.
Warm wishes, Tonya
Oh how lovely! A wonderful and inspiring post, as always.
Stunning. These creations are so amazing. Beautiful art and creative play working together to enrich our children’s lives. What an inspiring concept!
I’m amazed at the beauty of these playscapes! They’re stunning, and they definitely look inviting to play with.
What beautiful playscapes!
I’m getting to work right now making an Easter playscape for the grandkids and I’m really excited! Thanks for the inspiration.
These playscapes are incredible! My mother-in-law made us a couple over christmas and they really are wonderful toys.
Donni, you are very clever. what a wonderful Mom you are. Lucky K & Mr T!!
I love her work. Thank you for this!
Donni, I love your playscape! Your little boy looks so dreamy as he plays with it. I love your Thursday series. Lori! Thanks for your great article about playscapes. love, Beth
This is wonderful! And so are play mats, taking toys outside, and having kids decorate boxes or posters to make their own play lands.
Just FYI if you need to start small and want to add some trees for your child’s dolls or creatures, there is an evergreen knitting pattern and some completed trees in my etsy shop, Woolflower Boutique.