Play Dough Recipe
As one of the parting gifts to our Morning Glory kindergartners, jars of colorful homemade play dough were given to each student with love from their teachers. The children were delighted! It is quite easy to make at home and your little ones will be well entertained with their imaginations at play! For anyone looking for a summer activity, we thought we would share Miss Dawn’s recipe for no-cook play dough below.
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbls cream of tartar
2 Tbls oil
food coloring of choice
1 cup boiling water
Instructions
- Mix the first 3 ingredients together
- Add desired food coloring (approximately 20 drops) and oil into the boiling water
- Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredient mixture
- Stir until it becomes a sticky dough
- Remove from bowl and knead on the counter, and add bits of flour to get dough less sticky if needed.
- Have fun! Always store your dough in an air tight container to keep soft.
Soup Day in Early Childhood
The shared snacks in our kindergartens are an integral part of our daily and weekly rhythms. It is another element that brings consistency and predictability to the children, helping to foster a sense of comfort and security in their world around them. The children often know the days of the week by our snack, asking “is it soup day?!” instead of asking “is it Wednesday?!”
On soup day, they start the morning by coming around the table ready to have a hand in purposeful work. They chop the vegetables together, with everyone contributing to the shared meal. It is a time for our little ones to understand how our food is made, to participate in meaningful work, to work on their fine motor skills, to appreciate the entire process and all of the smells and tastes that go with it, and to celebrate the importance of gathering around the table.
On this wintry day at home during break, we thought we would share one of our much loved kindergarten soup recipes below so you can enjoy it together with your children.
Larkspur Kindergarten Vegetable Soup
1 large or 2 medium of each of the following veggies:
beet
turnip
parsnip
onion
sweet potato
3 or 4 carrots and stalks of celery
avocado oil to taste
bouillon cubes to taste (we use Rapunzel brand Vegetable Bouillon with Herbs)
salt to taste
Cooked millet to serve as an add-in:
1 cup of millet
2 cups of water
1/2 stick of butter
salt to taste
Chop all the veggies very small. Saute the onion and celery in avocado oil until soft. Add water, bouillon, and chopped veggies to the pot. Cook until all the veggies are soft.
Add millet, water, and salt to a rice cooker, or cook on the stove. When finished, add butter and let melt. Offer as an add-in to the soup.
Serve with cheese cubes and crackers. Enjoy!
Bread Baking in Early Childhood
If you need a hand in the kitchen tomorrow, remember that your kindergartner can handle the bread baking! Not just during Thanksgiving, but every week we bake bread together in our kindergartens in preparation for snack time. It is a time for our little ones to understand how our food is made, to participate in purposeful work, to use their creativity to shape the dough, to appreciate the entire process and all of the smells and tastes that go with it, and to celebrate the importance of gathering around the table. We are grateful that we have been able to enjoy the company of your children in this unusual year.
For anyone at home who would like to make bread with your children, we have shared one of our much loved kindergarten bread recipes below.
Morning Glory Bread
2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 cup organic honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup of good organic oil
organic whole wheat flour (you can also mix some organic white flour in)
Mix warm water and yeast in a large bowl, add honey and salt, then add oil. When this is all mixed, add a cup or so of flour at a time and mix well until you have a nice dough. Cover the dough with a clean towel and let it rise for about an hour. When the dough has risen, smush it down with your hand and let it rise again for about a half hour. Then, knead the dough (the children are very good at this) for a while. You and your child can shape it however you would like. They can take small pieces to make what they want and you can braid the dough or shape it into a loaf. Bake it at 350 until it is a golden brown. We love it with sunflower butter and jam or just butter is delicious! We have fruit with our homemade bread for our snack.
Head, Heart, and Hands ECE Panel
Explore our early childhood education program through our Head, Heart, & Hands panels. These recorded sessions allow you to virtually get to know some of the faculty members who make our Waldorf preschool and kindergarten so full of magic.
Get to know our ECE Faculty
First Grade Readiness Q&A on January 20, 2021
Led by longtime Waldorf educators Nancy Blanning and Jessie Cartwright, this presentation gives prospective families a feel for what lies at the heart of Waldorf education.
First grade is a child’s introduction to the collective being of a class. We nurture a deep reverence for the earth, compassion for classmates, and a healthy respect for every living thing. From knitting to numbers, fairy tales to falling leaves, we help first graders discover the wonders of our world and understand the rhythm of life. This year is the beginning of a multi-year relationship with their teacher.
Preschool and Kindergarten Q&A on October 28, 2021
Renowned experts in early childhood education, Laurie Clark and Lori Daniels discuss the benefits of Waldorf education for children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 6 years old.
Preschool & Kindergarten Enrollment & In-Person Tours
We are currently enrolling preschool and kindergarten students and offering in-person group tours. Connect with Admissions Manager Brooke Camfield to learn more.