One aspect I really love about Waldorf education is the use of natural materials for play. Kids these days have a tendency to play with quite a lot of artificial materials like plastic (especially since most toys are made from plastic), and I think its nice to provide them with other alternative materials/textures, especially those that come from nature.
With that in mind, I just started by leaving a basket of pebbles (of an assortment of sizes, textures and colours) in the hall where the boy usually plays:
And the boy really loved them! He would carry them around (in fact, he named one his "favourite pebble" and would bring it to bed along with him!) and would bring them to the table for meals. They got incorporated into building projects:
And got carted around on various "shopping trips"...
Thus encouraged, I've been leaving out other natural materials, such as shells (picked during a Pangkor trip), corals and casuarina fruit. I love how varied the textures, colours and shapes are, and how these are less likely to contain harmful chemicals compared to synthetic materials (of course, do give them a good wash with soap first!).
Do you let your kids play with natural materials? How do you incorporate them into their playtime?
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