Hooray for winter solstice!

Last week was a busy one for our family, getting ready for the winter festival lantern walk held at the Steiner School where we attend playgroup. We enjoyed making paper lanterns both at home and at school for each of us to carry on the big night and we also attended the Collingwood Children’s Farm bonfire on the eve of the solstice as a bit of a warm up to the festival at school. As newcomers to the school community (and Steiner education generally), this was our family’s first opportunity to participate in a festival celebration and to experience the magical quality of such an event firsthand. The evening was dedicated specifically to the children in the Early Childhood program, which added to the overall innocence and reverence of the lantern walk. Older children have a separate event held a few days prior, with the eldest in Year 6 bestowed with the honour of lighting the bonfire. For the young ones, it is a quieter affair and more low-key. We gathered at 5.30 and shared soup and bread around a small fire pit in the kinder playground. Voices were hushed. The children were wide-eyed and a bit giddy as they gazed around the darkness. For our family, being outside in the dark is not often done, and it’s clear from their faces that the children could sense something special was going on. After the meal we collect our lanterns and walked around the school grounds, lit along the way with tea lights in paper bags. The evening concluded with a story inside in the candlelit gathering hall before heading off home with lanterns aglow.

A big part of my reason for choosing the Waldorf path has been just this: absolutely everything about it causes my heart to swell with the message THIS IS WHAT CHILDHOOD SHOULD BE. Magic, reverence, enchantment, connection to nature, to life, to the earth. I am so grateful that we have chosen this path and have come to this community at this time in our children’s development. I am inspired to do better in creating that same magic in our home, woven into the rhythm of each day. While we are only just at the beginning of our journey toward creating a Waldorf inspired life and home, it gives me much to work toward and that is both exciting and, I’ll admit it, at times, intimidating. I remind myself that journeys  don’t begin at the end! You need to have somewhere to journey toward. There are many bloggers who are old pros at this kind of lifestyle and method of teaching our children, and I love to learn from them and follow their work. If you haven’t already, have a look at the amazing blogs Wee Folk Art, The Magic Onions, Happy Whimsical Hearts and Beneath the Rowan Tree for some truly inspiring ideas. We are only just 6 months in to our journey: I can just imagine what our home and life will be like in a few years!

How to make your own paper lantern

Okay, so you’re keen to make your own easy-peasy lantern and go out on a night walk with your littlies.

Here’s how you do it:

Start with a large piece of good quality watercolour paper (I used 185 GSM Medium weight Arches Watercolour paper in A3 but even bigger is better). If you haven’t tried wet-on-wet watercolour painting before, now’s your chance! A wonderful introduction is here. Stockmar watercolour paints can be bought here, but any liquid watercolours work fine. Once your masterpiece is finished, lay flat to dry.

Once dry, turn your paper over so that the artwork is facing the table and then fold down a lip about an inch in width along one of the short ends of your paper (panel ‘E’, as pictured above), Fold the paper in half and then quarters, to create four equal parts, in addition to panel ‘E’. Mark cut lines on the wrong side of your painting along the bottom, shown above as ‘x’. Draw whatever shape you wish on panels ‘A’ and ‘C’.

Cut along your hash lines up to the ‘x’  and repeat for each panel. Carefully cut out the shapes from panels ‘A’ and ‘C’. Make one hole each in panels ‘B’ and ‘D’ about 2 inches from the top, where you will attach your yarn handle.

Assemble using a stapler, starting with panel ‘E’.

Tuck panel ‘E’ inside of the lantern so it is not visible. Make one final staple to the base (the last staple is the hardest to do without ripping your lantern but if you’re gentle you’ll get it). Staple panel ‘E’ onto panel ‘D’ to secure the top of your lantern, as pictured below. If you can manage it, you might be able to get one more staple in the centre using the hole where you have cut out your shape.  If not, don’t worry about it, its not strictly necessary.

Lastly, braid using 6 lengths of yarn (two pieces each section instead of just one) to form a handle for your lantern. You have two choices for how to attach your handle.  You could find a thin stick and run that through the two holes across the top and attach your handle to either end of the stick (this option is best if your paper isn’t a heavy weight GSM), or simply tie the yarn to the lantern itself.  A few generous drips of beeswax along the inside base of your lantern will hold your candle in place. Voila! You are ready for a magical, candlelit winter night’s stroll.

You don’t need to wait for next winter solstice to take a lantern walk with your kids! Why not warm up a thermos of hot chocolate and make it happen tonight? Don’t forget your mittens!

xx

Robyn