Wooden Toys

My second guest post as a contributor appears over at Simple Homeschool today.

In my piece, Waldorf Toys: Choosing the Best Educational Toys for Your Children, I describe games that, as a Waldorf teacher, I shared with the parents of children in my classes. These hands-on experiences would shed new light on how young children experience toys, and allowed parents to experience the very different ways that children play with typical Toys ‘R’ Us type toys versus the kinds of natural playthings typically found in a Waldorf classroom.

I wish I could give every one of you the same direct experience, because there is nothing that beats experiential learning, but my hope is that you’ll head over to Simple Homeschool, read my description of the exercises and try them yourself. (Better yet, try them with a friend!)

This was one of my very favorite “parent evenings” to offer, and the insights gained were often profound. I owe credit to my dear friend Louise de Forest who first introduced me to similar exercises many years ago when she was my son Harper’s kindergarten teacher. Thank you, Louise!

Try picking up and handling different kinds of toys and objects from your child’s toy box with your eyes closed. No peeking! Experience them with all your senses. What did you discover? Share your thoughts here.