Making a Felted Blanket for Dolls / Filcano ćebence za lutke

Here is another Waldorf craft activity that we did another day. Waldorf pedagogy is fueled with love and care for animals and all living beings.  Making a small felted blanket for a doll or an animal-toy, or even a real animal, if we have one - is one of the many ways to develop this loving and caring attitude in kids, according to Waldorf pedagogy.

Evo još jedne Valdorf aktivnosti koju smo probali pre neki dan. Valdorf pedagogija pridaje veliki značaj prirodi, ljubavi prema životinjama i svim živim bićima, kao i prema ,,drugima" uopšte. Izrada jednog malog filcanog ćebeta, za lutku ili životinju-igračku (ili čak za pravu životinju, ukoliko je imamo) je prema Valdorf pedagogiji, jedan od mnogih načina da se kod dece razvija i neguje ova vrsta saosećanja i brige za druge.

You will need: a zip-lock bag, some wool for felting, and warm soapy  water (with dish-soap).

Za izradu filcanog ćebenceta biće vam potrebna jedna zip-lok kesica (može se kupiti u Dm radnjama), nepredena vuna za filcanje (može se naći u radnji Modellina u Hilandarskoj u Beogradu) i malo tople vode pomešane sa tri kapi deterdženta za sudove.

1. Make the design on a flat surface.  It shouldn't be larger than the surfce of the zip-lock bag. Here, we took one colored wool for the background, and then played with the pattern on top, adding wool in another color. (It is important to put enough wool so it doesn't come out to thin once it's felted.)

1. Položite jedan deblji sloj vune na ravnu površinu stola (površine ne veće od površine zip-log kesice). Ovde smo upotrebili vunu u jednoj boji za podlogu, a zatim smo na nju stavljali manje komadiće vune u drugim bojama. (Važno je staviti dosta vune tako da ćebence ne ispadne suviše tanko prilikom filcanja.)

2. When the design is done, place it carefully into the zip-lock bag.

2. Pažljivo ubacite vunu u zip-lok kesicu.

3. Add some warm soapy water, so the wool is completely soaked in it. Take care not to spoil the design.

3. U toplu vodu dodajte 3 kapi deterdženta za sudove i tu vodu ulijte u kesicu dok se sva vuna ne potopi. 

4. Once the wool is wet, lay the bag flat on an absorbant towel and starting from the bottom of the bag, press with your hand flat moving it towards the top of the bag squeezing out most of the excess water and air.

4. Položite kesicu i počev od dna kesice povlačite dlanom prema otvoru, kako bi izbacili vazduh i višak vode.

5. Close the bag and start working the wool by poking, bumping, hitting with hands and fists, rubbing with hands in circles, etc, for a few minutes, until the wool becomes firm and felted.

5. Zatvorite kesicu i počnite sa filcanjem tako što ćete trljati dlanovima ukrug, udarati dlanovima, pesnicama, drvenim čekićem, valjati oklagijom, itd. Treba li napomenuti da je ovaj deo najzabavniji za decu?

6. Open the zip-lock bag, take out the felted wool and rinse it under water.

6. Izvadite ćebence iz vrećice i pažljivo isperite i iscedite.

7. Place the small balanket on a towel to soak excess water and to dry.

7. Položite ćebence na peškir i ostavite da se osuši.

8. Let the play begin!

8. Neka igra počne!

Felt Balls / Filcane loptice

Last year I made these felt balls for baby Z. This summer she is old enough to help me make some new ones. Making felt balls is an activity from the repertoire of Waldorf activities, perfect for hot summer days, since it means playing with a lot of water! We used some wool for felting and two washbowls - one with warm water, and the other one with cold water. We followed this tutorial, with some small modifications.

Prošle godine sam napravila ove filcane loptice za bebu Z. Ove godine mi je već pomogla da napravimo nove. Pravljenje filcanih loptica je aktivnost iz repertoara Valdorf pedagogije, savršena za vrele letnje dane, jer podrazumeva igranje sa puno vode! Nepredena vuna, dva lavora sa vodom - jedan sa toplom, drugi sa hladnom vodom, malo tečnosti za pranje sudova i to je to. Pratili smo ovo uputstvo, sa nekim malim izmenama.

We also made this small felt blanket alongside the balls, but I shall present the process in the next post.
Usput smo napravili i ovo malo filcano ćebe, ali o tome ću pisati u narednom postu.

Plum Jam / Džem od šljiva

What I love most about our summers here, in nature, is, not only the fact that we are outdoors all day long, but also being so close and connected to the nature and it's processes. I think that it is very important for children (specially those who live and grow in urban cities) to be able to be part of these life-processes and partcipate in them when ever possible. Here are some photos from last year when we made plum jam together with the kids, and even though baby Z was only one-year-old - even she did help as much as she could and wanted. And just how many things one can learn in just being outside in nature! 


Ono što najviše volim u vezi sa našim boravkom ovde, u prirodi, je ne samo činjenica da smo sve(!) vreme napolju, već i to što smo na neki način spojeni sa prirodom i što imamo priliku da pratimo ili čak budemo deo njenih procesa. Mislim da je za decu (naročito za onu decu koja žive i rastu u  velikim gradovima) vrlo važno da budu deo ovih prirodnih i životnih procesa kad god je to moguće. Ovo su prošlogodišnje fotografije - kada smo svi zajedno pravili džem od šljiva. Čak je i beba Z, koja je tada imala samo godinu dana, pomagala - onoliko koliko je mogla i želela. 

Some More Writing / Još malo pisanja

This spring, while preparing to plant some vegetable seeds in our garden in the countryside, V made these garden labels, with just a pinch of my help. We used 'the method' described here to write the vegetable names - with some permanent markers on large popsicle sticks. V was so so excited about planting the garden and all the preparations around it, that he was more than motivated to write and draw the labels. And, of course, he was so happy that he could do it (almost) himself!


Proletos, dok smo se pripremali da zasadimo baštu na vikendici, V je napravio ove oznake za baštu sa samo malo moje pomoći. Koristili smo 'metodu' opisanu ovde da bi V napisao nazive povrća - permanentnim flomasterima na drvenim štapićima (koje, inače, lekari koriste pri pregledanju grla, a mogu se naći vrlo povoljno u apotekama). V je bio toliko uzbuđen zbog sađenja bašte i svih priprema, da je bio više nego motivisan da iscrta i ispiše sve oznake. I naravno, bio je presrećan što je to mogao da uradi - (skoro) sasvim sam! 

Writing Beginnings/ Pisanje, počeci

I strongly believe in following the child's lead, without imposing what or how to do without imposing on a child what to do or how to do things, and also love the philosophy of John Holt in regards to learning. One of the main things that he claimed (point he makes) was that children have a naturaI need to learn and to understand (make sense of) the world around them, but they have to do this in their own way and in their own time. Uninvited teaching does not make learning, and more often it prevents learning. Children learn best without being taught - if we let their inner interests flourish. Every child learns in his own way, and if allowed, builds his own system of constructing knowledge. Holt thought that adults could help young learners best not by deciding what they are to learn but by encouraging and helping them to learn what they are already busy learning.

Čvrsto verujem u praćenje detetovih ličnih interesovanja, bez nametanja onoga što bi trebalo da uči/radi ili kako. Takođe volim filozofiju Džona Holta koja se odnosi na način kako deca uče. On je smatrao da deca imaju prirodnu potrebu da uče i da razumeju svet koji ih okružuje, ali da to moraju da rade na svoj sopstveni način i svojim sopstvenim tempom. Nametnuto podučavanje od strane odraslih ne proizvodi učenje niti stvaranje smisla i vrlo često onemogućava pravo učenje. Deca najbolje uče onda kada nisu podučavana - kada dozvolimo da slede sopstvena interesovanja. Svako dete uči na sebi svojstven način i ako mu dozvolimo - stvoriće sopstveni sistem konstruisanja znanja. Džon Holt je smatrao da odrasli mogu pomoći deci, ne tako što će određivati šta će učiti, već tako što će ih ohrabrivati i pomagati im u učenju onoga što su deca već sama odabrala da uče, kao i načina na koji su odabrala da to rade.

V was about four years old when he started showing interest in writing. This intense enthusiasm (curiosity) lasted for a while, and then it disappeared for almost a year, to appear again some time ago. In the beginning V asked us to write down some words for him so he could copy them. And then some more, and more, and more.  He would ask “How do you write a 'lion'?" I would write it down and he would copy the word. And so on. 

This initiative and approach of his own was very exciting for me, and I was thinking of ways to follow his lead and support it discretely without pushing too much in my own direction. 

Since he loved drawing so much I suggested we make some writing cards together: he would say the word, I would write it down, and he would draw it, so he would know what it meant. 

V je imao četiri godine kada je počeo da se interesuje za pisanje. Ovo interesovanje je kratko trajalo, a onda ga skoro godinu dana pisanje uopšte nije zanimalo, do pre izvesnog vremena. U početku bi V tražio da napišemo neke reči kako bi mogao da ih prepiše. A onda još i još i još. Pitao bi: ,,Kako se piše 'lav'?" Ja bih napisala, a on bi prepisao reč. 

Ova njegova inicijativa i njegov sopstveni pristup u savladavanju slova i pisanja su za mene bili vrlo uzbudljivi i razmišljala sam o načinima da ih ispratim i podržim - diskretno bez previše nametanja u pravcu koji bi više bio moj nego njegov. Pošto V obožava da crta predložila sam mu da zajedno napravimo kartice za pisanje: on bi predložio reč, ja bih je zapisala na kartončiću, a on bi je, potom, nacrtao kako bi znao šta na kartici piše.

Instead of asking us to write the words all the time for him to copy, he could now do this activity on his own, as well: he would take a card with his drawing of a lion, for example, and he would know that 'lion' is what is written according to his drawing. He would then copy the word on a blank piece of paper, with no help.
Umesto da stalno traži da zapisujemo za njega reči koje bi kopirao, sada je mogao ovu aktivnost da sprovodi i sam: uzeo bi karticu sa crtežom, npr. lava koji je sam nacrtao, znao bi po crtežu da tu piše 'lav' a onda bi reč 'lav' prepisao na parče belog papira, bez ičije pomoći.

Maybe this approach was completely wrong from the methodical point of view, but it totally made sense for V and he embraced it with so much enthusiasm, that I think it couldn't have been harmful. And this is what I want for him: to try to save this passion and enthusiasm for learning and discovering new things! If passion exists in things we do - then I strongly believe - it can't be a wrong way! 

Možda je ovaj pristup učenju slova i pisanja potpuno pogrešan sa metodičkog aspekta, ali je za V-a očigledno imao velikog smisla čim ga je prihvatio sa toliko entuzijazma, tako da verujem da nije mogao biti štetan. I to je upravo ono što želim za njega: da pokušam da sačuvam ovu strast i entuzijazam za učenje i otkrivanje novih stvari. Ako strast postoji u stvarima koje radimo - onda čvrsto verujem - da to ne može biti pogrešan način!