The play area.

Last week I started taking Hope to a Waldorf toddler group. It was very inspiring. There was a good range of natural and open-ended play materials for the small children to explore. Playdens were set up from wooden clothes horses with fabric draped over them, beautiful offcuts of wood were sanded and smoothed of rough edges to be used in building, pine cones, shells, felted woollen balls , soft fabric dolls and much more were there to be played with.

At home, we have already been influenced by the Waldorf approach to some degree but I'm now in the process of developing the play area in the corner of our living room a bit more in this style. At the moment we are using this wooden shoe rack as a shelf for the 'toys'. There is a basketful of wooden pegs which the kids use for anything their imagination decides. It is quite fascinating to watch what becomes of such simple materials. I put a small jam jar on the tray and Hope will spend ages putting the lid on it and taking it off again. I also put a wicker basket there with some blankets and cushions for den making, or whatever... but as the photo shows, Hope loves to get in the basket and make herself comfy.

My mother-in-law gave Honor some coconut shells which had been a bird feeder in another life, and the kids have fun with those. I shall be adding more to the area as the opportunities arise.