The Children's Year: Crafts & Clothes for Children and Parents to Make

Rating:
Summary: A must for the Waldorf-crafter
Review: A large sized paperback book containing directions for 112 crafts. This book was written with the Waldorf education style in mind. In keeping with the Waldorf method, the book is divided into each of the four seasons and the projects correlate with the appropriate season. Also in keeping with the Waldorf teaching style, the materials are all natural, the toys are not finely finished, there are fairies and gnomes, and natural clothing items. There are simple handcrafts for woodworking, sewing, embroidery, and knitting. Special projects for holidays and festivals are featured. Some examples are Easter tree, willow whistle, Whitsun dove mobile, knitted baby jumpsuit, baby's felt ball, grass doll and grass horse, advent calendar, knitted finger puppets and dolls. The finished projects range from infant toys to items for the adolescent. There are no photographs in the book, instead, illustrations are hand drawn with black ink. The most annoying feature to me, is that the projects are not dedicated to their own page. They run on and on, for example, project #21 may start at the end of page 15 and continue to page 16, then page 16 has all of project #22 and the start of project #23. I don't feel that most of these projects directly correlate to a season and are therefore very jumbled. For example, a baby rattle, a cloth basket, and dolls don't pertain to a season. The book would be easier to follow and use if the projects were categorized into sections such as toys for infants, toys for young children, sewn items, knitted items, or clothing items. The projects seem very jumbled and out of order (except for the obvious festival and holiday projects that definitely correlate with a season). If you are not a knitter or a sewer, many of these projects will be impossible to make. If you are not a Waldorf teacher, parent, or student, you may not be interested in most of these projects, for example, you may be happy buying a plastic rattle rather than making a wooden rattle by hand. If you are interested in Waldorf education and like all the kinds of handcrafts that children in Waldorf schools routinely make, you will love this book. The authors followed this book with a larger book with even more projects titled "All Year Round".

Rating:
Summary: From the back cover:
Review: Creative handbook may give joy and satisfaction to adults and children alike. Here is a book relating the making-of-things to the seasons; taking the reader through Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter with appropriate toys and gifts to create, with full, clear instructions and illustrations. Designs and patterns for children's clothing are included, particularly meant to be made of natural fabrics to let the child's body breathe while growing. There are soft itens for play and beauty, and there are firm wooden ones; moving toys such as balancing birds or climbing gnomes; horses which move when you add children to them! From wooly hats to play houses, mobiles or dolls, here are over 100 potential treasures to make in seasonal groupings.

You needn't be an experienced craftsperson to create something lovely, and the illustrations make it a joy to page through while choosing what to make first. "The Children's Year" offers handwork for all ages and individualities; it reminds us of the process of creating as opposed to merely consuming, and all this in the contect of nature's rhythm through the year.

Rating:
Summary: From the back cover:
Review: Creative handbook may give joy and satisfaction to adults and children alike. Here is a book relating the making-of-things to the seasons; taking the reader through Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter with appropriate toys and gifts to create, with full, clear instructions and illustrations. Designs and patterns for children's clothing are included, particularly meant to be made of natural fabrics to let the child's body breathe while growing. There are soft itens for play and beauty, and there are firm wooden ones; moving toys such as balancing birds or climbing gnomes; horses which move when you add children to them! From wooly hats to play houses, mobiles or dolls, here are over 100 potential treasures to make in seasonal groupings.

You needn't be an experienced craftsperson to create something lovely, and the illustrations make it a joy to page through while choosing what to make first. "The Children's Year" offers handwork for all ages and individualities; it reminds us of the process of creating as opposed to merely consuming, and all this in the contect of nature's rhythm through the year.

Rating:
Summary: A treasure trove of ideas and inspiration
Review: I first borrowed this book from the library and then after reading it, making notes and re-reading it, decided I just had to own it. It is a wonderful resource for parents who enjoy making toys and crafts either with, or for their children, out of Nature's bounty, using natural materials such as wool felt, roving, paper, shells, yarn and silk. In addition, it has knitting and crochet instructions for farm animals, easy-to-follow doll patterns, sewing and knitting instructions for clothes for small children and inspirational ideas for Advent and Christmas crafts. A book that you'll turn to again and again for many years.

Rating:
Summary: The Children's Year: Crafts & Clothes for Children
Review: I love this book!!!!! I have made many of the crafts in this book and have loved everyone. The instructions are really good but they leave some room for thought of your own(the Wadorf way). This book will really make you think about what it is your children are playing with. After handcrafting a doll or a climbing gnome you will see the reaction from your children or others. Eyes bright and full of curiousity will inspire you to make more and more of your own toys rather than store bought imitations.

Rating:
Summary: The Children's Year: Crafts & Clothes for Children
Review: I love this book!!!!! I have made many of the crafts in this book and have loved everyone. The instructions are really good but they leave some room for thought of your own(the Wadorf way). This book will really make you think about what it is your children are playing with. After handcrafting a doll or a climbing gnome you will see the reaction from your children or others. Eyes bright and full of curiousity will inspire you to make more and more of your own toys rather than store bought imitations.