All Posts By

Sarah Baldwin

Parenting, Sunday With Sarah, Toddlers, Waldorf Education, Waldorf Toys

Sarah Answers Your Questions: Toddlers, Toys & Teaching

This week on “Sunday With Sarah” I take time to answer some of the questions that viewers have posted here:

How to Keep Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy
How to Handle Unwanted Toys / Gifts
On Becoming a Waldorf Teacher

For more information on becoming a Waldorf teacher and for a list of Waldorf teacher training programs in North America, please visit the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA).

Have any other tips to share? Please leave them here, and keep those questions coming! What topics would you like to hear me discuss in future weeks?

March 2, 2013 by Sarah Baldwin

bella luna toys, Music, Waldorf Education

How to Choose a Pentatonic Harp / Kinder Lyre

Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf education, recommended thepentatonic harp or lyre (also known as a kinderharp or kinder lyre) as an ideal instrument for use with young children.

Its dreamy, quiet, and heavenly quality is calming and soothing for babies, toddlers and young children, and it’s simple enough for children and adults with little or no musical background to play.

Tuned in the five-note pentatonic scale (D, E, G, A, B, d, e), anything played on the instrument will sound beautiful and harmonious. There are no wrong notes!

I get phone calls and emails every week asking about the differences between the various pentatonic harps and lyres that we sell at Bella Luna Toys, so in this week’s video I demonstrate the differences between them, talk about the benefits of these instruments for in early childhood, and let you actually hear them.

Instruments Demonstrated:

I hope I’ve answered your questions, but if not, leave your comments and questions here and I’ll do my best to answer them!

February 24, 2013 by Sarah Baldwin

bella luna toys, Easter, Sunday With Sarah, Wooden Toys

Ostheimer Wooden Toys: Interview and a Giveaway!

As many of you know, I was in Germany last week attending the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg.

Not only was I ecstatic to discover many wonderful new wooden toys and Waldorf dolls to introduce this year at Bella Luna Toys, but I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with the presidents of several of the lines of European toys we carry, including Grimm’s Spiel & Holz, PlanToys, Käthe Kruse, HABA, and Ostheimer.

I had a long and wonderful visit with Wolfgang Schühle, the president of Ostheimer in Germany, and met Stephan Zech, the company’s current designer. I was able to share with them my love of Ostheimer figures and tell them about the joy they have brought my family over the last 20 years.

Wolfgang was able to share with me some of the history of the company, founded by Margarete Ostheimer in Stuttgart, Germany nearly 60 years ago. Fortunately, I was able to record some of my talk with Mr. Schühle and am happy to share it with you here!

I want to share my Ostheimer love with you, so Bella Luna Toys is giving away a set of these beloved wooden figures, perfect for a child’s Easter basket!

Set Includes:

1 Sheep
1 Sitting Rabbit
1 Picking Brown Hen
1 Brown Chick
1 Yellow Chick

Click on the link below for details and to enter for a chance to win:

Ostheimer Wooden Toys Giveaway

We’ll announce the winner next Sunday. Thanks for tuning in, and good luck!

Thanks to all of you for your many wonderful comments. Congratulations to Toby Rolf who won the Ostheimer Set Giveaway!

Toby wrote: “We are pretty new to the Waldorf world so I would really LOVE to have these for our daughter! She would especially like the beautiful bunny! Thank you for the opportunity!!”

I hope that this set brings many years of enjoyment and fond childhood memories for your daughter, Toby. Enjoy!

~Sarah

February 10, 2013 by Sarah Baldwin