(Outside the Waldorf Kindergarten)
We visited our local Waldorf Winter Fair at the weekend. The children loved hand dipping candles with a cosy fire close by, making tiny bottles of 'magic' potion and visiting the gnome garden.
They waited for their turn outside a kindergarten classroom. They knew it was time to enter when they heard a knock from inside the door. The children pressed through a soft, light curtain and a girl offered them a stone to take home from a little woven basket and then she quietly played her lyre.
Miss K and Little L had to crawl on their hands and knees through a thick carpet of autumn leaves, all the while seeing the little hand felted gnomes nestled all around, some in their tiny homes and others getting on with their winter activities like fishing on a pond or sitting on a swing made from twigs. The way was lit with candles shining inside their jewel-like lanterns and aromatherapy oils burnt. After pointing out the different gnomes to each other, whispering and giggling in surprise, they pushed open another door and stepped back out into the daylight to the sight of a fire burning brightly and explored outside the kindergarten classrooms.
We love our tradition of visiting the Waldorf Winter fair each year at the beginning of December, it signals the beginning of Winter to our family, even though the Winter Solstice isn't until the 21st December when true Winter begins.
