Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Simply Sacred Play

Each morning my girls get up and begin their daily play. Realizing how important creative play is, over the years we have provided open-ended toys and natural items (shells, acorns, tree blocks) to enhance their stories. My twins are 7 1/2 now and the other morning I sat in my office and listened to their play. I was amazed. The ideas  and items they used to mold into what was needed for their game were incredible. I hear vocabulary words that far surpass what an average 7 yr old says (I especially love it when I hear a word from a book we just read). Their play is divided into "chapters" with interesting titles like "The magic snake finds the golden key"

I am currently reading a fantastic book called "Simplicity Parenting" by Kim John Payne. He is a waldorf education counselor and has worked extensively with Waldorf school and parents to "use the power of less to raise calmer, happier, and more secure children" (subtitle of book)

Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure KidsI highly recommend this book and I am only halfway through! After reading the first few chapters, epecially the one on a child's environment, I spent an afternoon with a large trash bags and some boxes whittling down my girls room. It ended up a truly calm room. The girls had so many clothes (my niece is one size up so we get many hand-me-downs) They could never keep their closet even remotely organized. I realized they didn't wear about 80% of the items! I cleared all but a few favorites and was able to consolidate into 1 dresser. This left room to make a "reading nook"-an old beanbag chair with a makeshift slipcover, a pillow,  a few favorite books, crayons, and paper. They love it and are spending time in their room like never before. I just like to peek in, smile and wish I was 7 for a day.

5 comments:

  1. What a special moment, Donna! Thanks for the book rec and for the inspiration to get to the ole' spring cleaning. That is probably our biggest struggle - decluttering. I have a packrat who gets very upset even if broken pieces get thrown away (OK - so I'm a packrat, too). I get amazed that they find a creative way to play with even parts of old toys, but I do so recognize the health benefits of simplifying! Thanks for that reminder and nudge in the right direction! :D

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  2. *Wink* I forgot to mention Kim John Payne will also be a guest speaker at The Waldorf Homeschool Expo in June (that's my next seminar series)

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  3. I really enjoyed reading your post! I am going to look for the book you recommended. It sounds really good!

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  4. What a great post. We keep things really simple in our home too. We have shared bureaus for years, at first by necessity, not for simplicity.
    Less truly is more.
    Warm wishes on your day, Tonya

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  5. simplification comes in spurts for us, but we've really been honing in on what is actually of value to us. & letting go of things is liberating...we always purge at Passover (which is this week), we we're feeling very renewed right now. Even the fridge is a fun place to be ;)

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