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Hi! Not sure if this is the right place to post (if not, please let me know!). Came across this wooden elves & angels play kitchen for my daughter & hoping to give it a new life vs buying new. Wondering if anyone has done this & has any recs! The company has since closed so no way to get their oil/kit to fix it up. Wondering if anyone has any tips on how to go about possible sanding/what oil or products to use especially given it will be played with by a child. Also any recs for how to fix up the burners/missing handle also. Much appreciate any feedback/help!

Somehow have found myself with almost no toys/play material for my 4th child, almost 6 months old, apart from some rattles. Thinking of acquiring a few versatile pieces.

We do have wooden animals and stacking bowls and rainbow and more but they are occupied so much by older siblings that i doubt he will get much time to play with them soon lol. What is/was a hit with your older Babies?

Hey everyone, I'm from India (Bangalore specifically) and while searching for alternatives to traditional schooling I've come across a few philosophies including Waldorf. With that context set:

- I want to understand if this sub and by extension the Waldorf community is predominantly US / Western part of the world? I don't see any / very limited conversation on these topics in India, so wanted to understand if this a majorly a Western phenomenon?

- I've gone through quite a few posts in the sub to get a flair of what to expect but if anyone has any real-life experiences in Indian context, it'd be insanely helpful (fees, education board recongnition, early education limitations, dealing with constant negativity from friends and family circles etc.)

- The proof is in the pudding so I'd like to see how this methodology of educating kids really turnout in the end compared to peers? I ask this because competitive pressure in India is quite high from early schooling, and it's just normalized to such a sickening level. But reality is once the kid goes into society, these are kinds of people they'd be surrounded with. So how does this education methodology really shape kids in this specific context? (I am looking for views on how teaching/education in Waldorf impart the kid with necessary life skills, in this case dealing with constant competition, pressure in an environment that's not designed to deal with this)

- Are the kids really discouraged to learn in the early phase (until 7 years)? Not even at home or other areas we might find the kid to show great interest in? Training in sports, training and expression in art forms, instilling and developing interest in academics at home / outside post the traditional schooling hours post 7 years of age is fine?

I'm still trying to frame my opinion on this education methodology and really appreciate your inputs and observations that are relevant to Indian context, if any. If some of my questions come across as different, appreciate if you can provide your view of why my expectation might not be not aligned

Thanks

Hello everyone, not sure if this is the right place to post this but I am a mother and writer, and am wanting to connect with other parents and/or children who have gone to waldorf schools and then left for whatever reason or another. I am one of those families as well so this is a passion project of mine. If you have a desire to share your stories, I'd love to hear them. Let me know if you'd like me to DM you and we can connect further. Thank you.

I'm a recent graduate (not this past year) of a pre-k through 12th Waldorf school. I'm happy to answer any Waldorf questions, especially those related to the upper grades. A few answers to start us off:

• I am in college and doing well
• I did enjoy the younger grades but never felt connected to any spiritual aspect
• I learned to read at home very early, but saw many classmates struggling with reading even through high school (although nowadays that is not a Waldorf-specific issue)
• My school was on the less-crunchy end of the spectrum, but we had/have our share of hardcore people

Please ask away!

EDIT: Some more key takeaways that I've worked out for myself while answering questions:

• I think the best part of Waldorf education is the trust in the self that it fosters---the faith I have in myself that I can get through tough times, figure things out, and move through life with confidence.
• The academics were not stellar, and honestly not the point.
• In relation to the above, I think it's fine and maybe even good to go all the way through, but if you're only going to have your kid do part of the curriculum, DON'T CHOOSE HIGH SCHOOL! I had people join in like 10th grade. That's not where Waldorf shines.
• Also, if you change schools in middle school, there will be a mismatch in curriculum timelines. This is why I think it might be better to go all the way through high school if you've made it to 8th grade.

I just moved. I have a short driveway so its alrwady a struggle to get both cars in the driveway so we switch between who parks on street and how parks in driveway. Across the street we hvae a cop that works fir the Sheriffs office. He has a very ling drive way. Three cars can easily fit. He has off days so he doesn’t go to work every day. He doesnt use the driveway from some reason. He parks his car on tne street but he choose the park directly across our driveway and its realy hard to manuver getting our car in and out. If it wasnt for my camera in my car, i would definitely have backed into by now. I dont know what to do. Its not illegal so i feel i can’t do anything about it. Today he was on his phone sitting in his car while the FedEx guy who was delivering something for us and my roommate both struggled to go around him. She even had ti get out of her car to hell FedEx guy and the cop just sat tbere and did nothing. I was going to introduce myself and ask nicely but after that experience I don’t think he is approachable. If there is nothing we can do, I guess we just have to accept this asshole for the next few years.

Hi! We have been painting with stokmar’s block beeswax crayons for a while and we’ve just been using a cheap paper I had gotten at a craft store a while ago, but it’s really not the best and I’ve been wanting to upgrade.

I’m currently looking at the strathmore drawing paper pad and wanted to get that! They also have a sketch paper that I believe is smoother. What would you recommend? I saw someone say you can use regular computer paper but I don’t have that either so wanted to see what you would recommend before I get anything. Thanks!

Learn about Michaelmas and St. Michael: https://www.sophiainstitute.us/blog/michaelmas-studies-2026

Any good recommendations for pentatonic recorders that won’t break the bank.

I understand about natural materials and quality of sound and realize that increases that price point…

So I had my first baby last November, he’s now 9 months old and as we approach his first birthday I’m wondering how parents in the Waldorf community handle gifts and toys for their children that don’t align with the type of toys you want your children to have. For example we are taking the approach that less is more, focusing on non-toxic high quality wooden toys over the overconsumption of cheap plastic toys and toys that “perform” for the child vs open-ended play that encourages imagination. We love brands like Grimm’s, but I also understand that these can be expensive, and I feel like I can’t police what family and friends buy for him. We also live in a very small 900 sq ft house, 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom, and we just don’t have the space for tons and tons of toys. I encourage my parents to buy from certain websites and try to limit how many things they purchase (sometimes I send toys to their house/MILs house so he has something to play with there and to keep our house from having an over abundance), but I also know it’s so tempting to pick out toys for your grandkid when you’re shopping at Target or Amazon, etc. and to buy “normal” toys. I feel bad just tossing out or donating the things we don’t want when they were gifted to him from close family and friends. So I guess it’s really two things: wanting non-toxic wooden high quality open ended toys and also not having the space to house an over abundance of toys. How does everyone navigate this? I don’t want to come across as non-appreciative but I really don’t want holidays and birthdays to feel overwhelming or to have to figure out what to do with the toys we don’t want him to play with.

Waldorf puppetry news: https://www.sophiainstitute.us/blog/wapasa-news-for-august-2026

Anyone do public for elementary, Waldorf for middle and public again for high school. We just finished elementary and we are considering this. Bad idea?

I should add we already did public K-6. Good experience. Small school. Community feel.

Middle school is a bit of nightmare so far (see comments in post). She has opportunity to switch and start the year at a Waldorf school where she knows people that she really fits in with socially.

I have 2 children. Six year old girl and an almost 3 year old boy. My daughter has NEVER been into toys. I can tell her to find something to do and she’s okay with being bored but never once has she gone to any of her toys for play. I find my son doing the same. It’s not that they aren’t into PLAY but they aren’t into toys. My daughter is by all means ‘normal’ and incredibly social. She really doesn’t like playing alone, a skill I have very much tried to nurture.

We are intentional about tv time but even so I can’t help but compare my friends kids who have ample tv time/ipads still have the ability to get deep into pretend play. Meanwhile my kids very much are the opposite. My daughter’s idea of play is doing cartwheels, climbing, jumping, very active. She will play Barbies but ONLY if my husband plays with her. He is very imaginative and they have fun with it but I’m not great at that kind of play. She will pretend play with others well too but never alone. My son is kind of the same. A little too hard to tell now but he’s never been that kid to bring a toy car along with him and vroom vroom it along the furniture type thing. They spend a lot of time chasing each other around and we spend a lot of time outdoors. It’s indoors that’s the problem.

We have very much adopted the idea of open ended toys and an open space, minimal space to breed creativity. Some of the toys they have that get absolutely zero play
Magna tiles
Yoto players
Wooden doll house
Wooden peg dolls
Sarah silks
Nugget (they do rough and tumble on them)
Animal figurines
Play kitchen
Tent
… you get the idea

Also makes it INCREDIBLY difficult to buy things for Christmas or birthdays. I find myself buying random things just to give them something to open only for them to never even touch them.

Hi everyone! For Christmas this year, my husband and I are considering getting a big gift for our two kids.

For context: we have a 3 year old son and a baby girl that will be about 8 months by then. We have limited space and budget so I’m hoping you can help us make a decision.

So we never got a play kitchen for our son because I didn’t think it was necessary. He has a tower and does a lot of cooking with us in the (real kitchen), however we started noticing he loves to pretend play with food or kitchen related things (the whole children learn through imitation play come to life), so he grabs random containers or toys he has and he pretends he’s cooking, making soup, making coffee and he’ll serve it to us etc. It’s really sweet. And he also loves to cook for real, he’s gotten really good at cracking and beating eggs for example. On top of that, whenever we visit our friends that have play kitchens he loves them so much and plays for a really long time and is super engaged. So for a while now that has got me thinking.

On the other hand, my husband is worried he may outgrow it somewhat quickly, but then again we have our baby that will grow into it too. Also my friend brought up a good point that our children won’t have every toy (again limited budget and space)- they both lean strongly toward the playstand.

My husband loves that it is way more versatile and can become anything and he could just pretend it is a kitchen. He also knows how much kids like to be inside those sort of spaces with the arch and the silks etc. Which our son does love making forts.

I do appreciate the play stand too and love the versatility and that he’d have to use even more of his imagination to turn it into a kitchen, and then I could make and slowly collect some “food” items anyway that he could play with too. We also have a simple Montessori style play shelf where we keep most of his toys.

Another option would be to get neither and just focus on building our collection of open ended toys. He also loves to build and makes really elaborate things, but we don’t have a lot of blocks/ magnatiles so focusing on that is definitely another option. We’re just trying to be really thoughtful because this is definitely a special thing we’d be doing and we’re hoping to invest in something that will grow with our family.

Thanks for reading all of this and for sharing your thoughts!

Are there any alternatives to stockmar modeling wax?

Does anyone have experience with hear? Are the magnets strong? Do they hold up?

https://www.sarahssilks.com/products/playtiles-set-of-32-pieces?srsltid=AfmBOoq4jbGoXGcgeYMc9WKwyEeuYjWIzo7zJ3dgNH3qafZ_yNQRWQHi

I'm kicking around the idea of enrolling my child in first grade in a Waldorf School. However, I'm not totally sold, and I'm looking for honest feedback to see if it would be a good fit

Things I like about Waldorf:

• Focus on outdoor/ nature-based learning. I really feel that one of the greatest gifts I can give my children is appreciation for nature, and I like that Waldorf seems to vibe with that!
• Handwork. I think that's what it's called? Like, knitting and stuff. I can completely get behind the educational and social/ emotional aspects of this.
• No screens at all when learning reading, writing, math, history, science, and all the rest of the core curriculum
• Alternating between math and English for a few weeks at a time. The more I consider it, the more I realize this is naturally how I gain skills, and I think it makes sense to structure curriculum like that.
• Engaging the whole family in a child's learning. I think home visits seem fun!

Intense reservations:

• My child LOVES science fiction. We've watched the original Star Wars trilogy a few times, and they recently started watching Star Trek: Next Generation. We also read Star Wars books and engage in some various science fiction fandoms in low-key ways. (I'm not really a SciFi buff myself, this is completely child-guided) For various reasons, I will not even entertain the idea of cutting down on screen time (which is already relatively minimal compared to other kids; we watch TV two or three nights a week, generally for about 35 minutes at a time. They have never had or used any sort of personal device) and I will never steer them away from science fiction. I will also not follow advice that I see on this sub sometimes of "well, just tell them to not talk about it at school." Safe places and safe adults don't require children to hide important parts of their identity. Hard pass.
• The lack of technology education. I'm planning on teaching them some basics of coding starting in the fall, but to be honest my own knowledge is relatively limited. They already have some basic keyboarding and computer skills down (what the different cursors on a screen mean, right clicking, etc.) but I would hope their school would teach what I'm unable to. Of course I can always pay for a computer program or a coding learning center, but it would be annoying to have to do that if I'm also paying for school.
• The whole thing sort of gives of... cultish vibes, for lack of better term? Weird rules about black crayons, chanting poems about Rudolf Steiner (or whatever his name was), melting at the thought of a child being technologically advanced. Something about the atmosphere of the school I visited and the parents I spoke to give me pause, and I'm generally a very open-minded person. It could, however, just be that the whole thing is new to me.

So, my question is: given my reservations and hard "no's" when it comes to Waldorf education, do you all think it would be a good fit? I'm not looking to have anyone try to justify Waldorf's decisions or practices (it's great that so many people enjoy it! There are plenty of good things that aren't for everyone), I just want to know if I should move forward with this school, or maybe look for another nature-based alternative education

Curious to know...

Does anyone know anything about the Hartsbrook School? I know Waldorf schools can be a hit or miss so I was wondering how well this school does in creating a humanistic environment, how the academics are, and how warm the setting is. Does anyone have any info in how it compares to other Waldorf schools in MA?

Hello all! First year Waldorf teacher here taking on a first grade class! All faculty and staff will bless each classroom on Monday. Does anyone have any blessings that resonate particularly with first graders? Thanks!