Celebrating the changing of seaons

[whoami]

Anyone elses spouse find it weird that you want to celebrate the changing of the seasons? We are not pagan, but I feel there is richness in paying attention to the cycle of the year and that it provides a great opportunity for learning.

This year we are celebrating the first day of winter and ds is so excited for winter day, however, it feels a little off for me because we really only have two seasons here. I thought we could make paper snowflakes and hang some beautiful icicles around as our winter decorations near the nature table but it just seems silly because we don't get snow. We will be visiting the snow though once it falls up north. How do you celebrate when you don't have the traditional four seasons?

[Tashakittie]

I hear ya, and I think that nature and its seasons are so important for children to understand. I live in Southern Florida, and our seasons' changes are very muted, and you have to pay extremely close attention to notice. I am a Pagan, and stopped all formal practicing once my first child was born b/c I was so overwhelmed. I knew I wanted to raise him with Paganism because it felt so beautiful and rich to me. Waldorf has given me a path of how to relate nature's beautiful changes to my son, who is 4.5, directly. We talk about snow happening in other places, and we talk about the first day of winter approaching. No, it may not be winter like in other places, but our winter is still winter. We have made snowflakes and hung them all over the house b/c thats the kind of snow we get here! My son wanted snow to fall the other day, so we cut up many sheets of scrap paper into little bits, and took turns emptying the paper snow out of a bowl, tossing it up in the air, in our living room. We made it colorful snow because we live in a very colorful place. And let me tell you, snow in the house was big fun. 

On Solstice, we will probably talk about it being the darkest day of the year, and we will probably light a special candle in honor of welcoming the light back. We will build a spiral out of greenery, and we will definitely read The Tomten, which is a special present that will be waiting in the Advent calendar.

[boatbaby]

Although I think it's important to teach kids about 4 seasons and how parts of the world have all 4, my thought has always been that you celebrate the seasons you have. This is what teaches kids to get tuned in to their environment and learn to celebrate the changes (even subtle ones, even only 2 times a year) that are in THEIR world.

We spent last winter in Hawaii (normally we live in 4 seasons Maryland) and rather than trying to replicate all of our winter crafts and nature table, we had great fu learning about the climate we were in and creating a nature table that reflected where we were. We crafted with coconut fibers rathan than pine boughs and ice. We made drawings of whales (as it WAS whale season out there, they only come in winter) rather than snowmen and snowflakes.

We had a chance to visit a local Waldorf farm school and there they teach the kids to observe and honor the rhythms of nature in the tropics with a dry and rainy season (each with their own nuances and special changes in nature) and things like the whale season and certain winds that only blow certain times of year.

So that's my 2 cents on it. When we start traveling I am not going to bring our 4 season paraphnelia with us. We will start over and create nature tables and rhythms based on where we are rather than creating a nostalgia for a world that's far away.

:)

[Tashakittie]

Originally Posted by boatbaby 

Although I think it's important to teach kids about 4 seasons and how parts of the world have all 4, my thought has always been that you celebrate the seasons you have. This is what teaches kids to get tuned in to their environment and learn to celebrate the changes (even subtle ones, even only 2 times a year) that are in THEIR world.

We spent last winter in Hawaii (normally we live in 4 seasons Maryland) and rather than trying to replicate all of our winter crafts and nature table, we had great fu learning about the climate we were in and creating a nature table that reflected where we were. We crafted with coconut fibers rathan than pine boughs and ice. We made drawings of whales (as it WAS whale season out there, they only come in winter) rather than snowmen and snowflakes.

We had a chance to visit a local Waldorf farm school and there they teach the kids to observe and honor the rhythms of nature in the tropics with a dry and rainy season (each with their own nuances and special changes in nature) and things like the whale season and certain winds that only blow certain times of year.

So that's my 2 cents on it. When we start traveling I am not going to bring our 4 season paraphnelia with us. We will start over and create nature tables and rhythms based on where we are rather than creating a nostalgia for a world that's far away.

:)

Brilliant! Inspiring! Beautiful!!!! What amazing adventures and learning experiences!