What are Waldorf toys?

What are Waldorf toys?

What is Waldorf You may ask? Waldorf Education is a holistic, integrative approach based on imagination, stories and quality toys to cater to every stage of a child’s development, nurture their inborn genius, imagination and creativity. Waldorf is the approach through which we teach a child how to think and not what to think, allowing them to develop into the amazing being they were meant to be.

Rudolph Steiner, the pioneer behind Waldorf education, believed that children learn in three separates stages: birth to age seven, age seven to 14 and ages 14 to 21. 

For the younger age group, Steiner promoted the idea of learning through play as well as artistic work and developmentally appropriate chores. He believed the academic subjects like; Reading, Maths and Science should wait until the second stage, from age seven, when the child is more able to grasp these concepts.

So back to the toys. What makes a toy Waldorf?

Waldorf toys are open-ended, simple, inspired by nature and promote learning through imaginative play. Waldorf toys should nourish the child’s senses through, touch, sight and connection to nature.

Let’s break down these ideas.

• Open-ended toys can be used and explored in a variety of ways, depending on the child, their creativity and imagination. Examples are building blocks which can be used to make a castle, home, road, pretend food, build a robot, make a map, etc. The possibilities are endless.

• Simple Design. The designs are intentionally basic and simple, lacking in specific details and patterns. This is why Waldorf fabric dolls and peg dolls have no or very simple facial features, following the Steiner principle that the child can imagine their own designs and emotions.

• Inspired by Nature. Waldorf toys are made from natural materials and fibres like; wood, cotton, silk and wool and they are usually left natural or coloured with dyes and stains in natural colours, which do not take away from the natural texture and appearance of the materials. These toys are good for the environment and more importantly good for your child.

• Imagination. Now if you know anything about Waldorf Education you will know that much of the teaching is conveyed through story telling. From nursery age through to high school, narrative retellings of all kinds of stories lie at the heart of every lesson. The Waldorf education is rich in story, from nature stories and fairy tales, through great myths and legends, to biographies and historical stories. Stories communicate values, our own perceptions of life and history. A story can make the most difficult of material feel approachable and friendly. Which comes back round to why open-ended toys are so valuable in this education environment. A stacking rainbow can become a mountain that the Greek hero Sisyphus had to roll a boulder up for all of eternity.

Recently I was introduced to Waldorf Maths Gnomes by some friends of mine. There are five Maths Gnomes given novelty names, like: Tommy Times, Mr Minus, Penny Plus, Mr Divide and King Equals. Each family names the gnomes based on something that the child can relate too in their own life. These Gnomes are characters in stories read by the teacher and children use peg dolls to represent each Gnome and using Loose parts as the “Gems” in the stories, the children are able to visualise and physically manipulate the gnomes and gems to learn maths concepts and calculate their sums. Research shows that when children are given a variety of learning materials, they are able to retain concepts better.

You will find a variety of our toys suit a Waldorf inspired education in our Small World Play, Rainbow and Stacking Collections on our website www.fourkidstoys.com