Simplicity in Play

In truth, Steiner had no inputs on what crayons we should use, or even needle felting and beeswax for that matter. He said a lot about the role of bees in our lives but not so much about beeswax modelling for kids. In all my reading [so far] in Anthroposophy, he was of the view that children should have ‘natural play’ not ‘natural play toys’. He believed that kids, other than during school hours, should spend their time outdoors, or in an environment that enliven’s their imagination – less is more. The only toy he spoke of, was a doll that too describing it as simple and expressionless. Yet most parents fill their houses with every Waldorf toy that appears in the market in an attempt to keep their children busy and appear waldorfish. It is really not needed.

I am no exception. At home we have our fair share of “waldorf” toys from ‘purchased’ wooden tree blocks and Waldorf dolls to Stockmar paints, beeswax and crayons. And yet I have observed from my own mistakes that my little one doesn’t really need it at all. I can see her imagination best at work when she uses everything from the spoon and fork to enact a story after finishing dinner, or even the paintbrushes after a painting session used as spoons to stir soup for the lunch she is preparing for “her children”. My point being that ‘the kids don’t really need all of this stuff we keep buying them thinking they need it’.

What are we really trying to achieve with children in kindergarten and for that matter early grades – we want them to have colourful rich pictorial imagination. This can only be brought on in part by allowing them the ‘empty space’ in their minds to “create”. Boredom is difficult for us to manage as parents, especially now that most of us are working from home during this pandemic, but ‘boredom’ is what the children need most. Leave them to it and they will figure out a ton of things to do. If we crowd the play rooms and toy cupboards with so many toys even if open ended, we leave little room for them ‘to create out of nothing’. We must have a few toys, but most of what they can play with, can be sourced free of cost – twigs and stones from the garden or park, shells from the beach. Make sure to always pick up some remembrances from new places you visit on holidays to add to this collection – things that the child cannot find easily back home. Pistachio and walnut shells, seeds from seasonal fruits like lychees, peaches and apricots (all we have to do is dry them in the hot sun for 48-60 hours), a few warms colours of 1 meter cotton muslin fabric from any nearby fabric shop to use in their play and yes 2-3 dolls preferably in variety showing gender and colour variations… and that’s it.

Bringing up children in the Waldorf pedagogy in India can be quite expensive. Whilst the school fees are reasonable what works out to be expensive are all the ‘natural play’ elements and material the children should work with. Whether it is Stockmar crayons or Filges felt or Mercurius chalk, nothing costs less than Rupees 2000-3000 which is quite expensive considering that in country with a population of close to 1.4 billion people, only 20% of the children have access to an education in private schools such as the Waldorf school my child goes to.

So it should be a natural for us to find acceptable substitutes available cheaper and local. There are three companies I have come across so far locally in India that produce locally and sell Waldorf inspired toys – https://bloontoys.com; http://mylittlebookshop.in and the new addition https://www.bombaytoycompany.com
However for specifics that we like to use, here are my recommendations.

Crayons – I love the beeswax crayons at Hoopoe on a Hill, Kodaikanal INR 450 (https://hoopoeonahill.com/shop)
Modelling clay – the local potters clay is best. In Mumbai is costs between INR 40-50 per kg and is a perfect substitute to beeswax. For INR 500 you can also by beeswax by bloon toys. They are the only source for locally produced beeswax clay for kids that I have found so far.
Paints – I have unfortunately not found any ‘non-toxic’ plant pigment based substitutes to stockmar… so very often I just use camlin poster colours..but i’ve also discovered the world of natural paints using kitchen waste and flowers and leaves… not something than many would want to go regularly as you’d need to make the paints fresh every time, but once in a month engaging my little one in the entire process of collecting the ‘material’ we will use, to cooking the dyes to finally using them to paint something on paper is a beautiful experience for the child and I highly recommend it. I will soon put up tutorials on the website for those interested to give it a try.
Play silks – the cheapest version you would get is at the local fabric shop. At INR 500 I found essence of india (https://www.essenceofindia.com/cotton-fabrics/shaded-modal-soft-muslin-fabrics) shaded modal silks also lovely though I prefer them for nature tables more than child play as they are not as thin. Cotton muslins/mul mul in pastel shades works better for play (easier to clean too).
Dolls – Aatman toys (https://www.instagram.com/aatmantoys/?hl=en) and Silai Wala (https://silaiwali.com) are my favourite

If you have any recommendations of local sources in cities you live in, please do post them in our comments section. I am sure many parents all over the country would benefit.