Early Childhood Festivals

Michaelmas

This is a time of taming or overcoming our inner and outer dragons. It takes courage and perseverance to face challenges and not let them get the better of you. Even in nature we experience the fires that spring up in the autumn and the fiery colors that begin to adorn the trees as their leaves change to red and gold. The young children relate to this inner experience through their active engagement of outer challenges such as bobbing for apples, balancing all the way across a long log without falling off, or trying to climb all the way up a slide without sliding back down. They even take their first walk to the local park as a culmination of this special day.

Halloween Enchantment

This is the first of three school wide festivals which occur on a Saturday. All of the families in the school along with the faculty, work together to transform the school campus for this special night. It is full of delicious food, live music around a bonfire, fun games, and an enchanted story walk where families are transported to far away lands as they experience stories being brought to life. It is a lovely opportunity for the children to experience the magic of Halloween without all of the gruesome terror that seems so prevalent in present times.

Martinmas lantern walk

As the days grow shorter, the children busily work on making their lanterns for our lantern walk. As they work on their lanterns, they have been singing songs with their teacher. On this night, they gather with their families back at school for a special story. As they enter their classroom, they notice that it is only illuminated by candle light all around. After hearing the specially chosen story which is told to them by their teacher, they each gather up their lantern and the teacher lights their candle. Their faces aglow with their own lantern light, the children file quietly out of the classroom with their family and join the families from the other classes as they journey off campus on a walk through the neighborhood. As they walk along, they sing those songs they have been singing for the past few weeks in class and they share a bit of their inner light with the rest of the world before returning home again.

St. Nicholas

The children are told the story of St. Nicholas who was so kind, that he brought food to those in another town who had nothing to eat. On this day in the classroom, the children hear a loud knock on their own classroom door, but when they open the door, all that they find is a small basket with some special food in it just for them. “How did the basket get there?” and  “Who knocked on the door?” are questions that are heard echoing amongst the children. Inevitably, one child pipes up, “It must have been St. Nicholas, just like he did in the story!” The children seem content to continue discussing this as they begin to munch on the special treats that were left for them. 

Advent spiral

As winter draws nearer, bringing with it the darkest night of the year, we must turn inward, find our own light and bring that out into the world. In December, at the beginning of Advent time, the teachers build a giant spiral out of pine boughs. Sprinkled throughout the greenery, are crystals and seashells, flowers and berries, and wooden figures of animals and people. All of these represent the four kingdoms of minerals, plants, animals and people. In the middle of the spiral is a single candle. The rest of the room is dark. The teacher leads the children in silently where they each find a seat. Then one by one, they are brought to the entrance of the spiral and given an apple which holds an unlit candle. They journey all the way to the very heart of the spiral and light their candle from that one central flame. Then, slowly, as they begin their journey back out of the spiral, somewhere along the way, they find the perfect spot to set their candle down before returning to their seat. Little by little, the once dark room grows brighter with each individual’s light that is added. Once everyone has made the journey, the whole class silently follows the teacher out of the room. 

Winter Fair

This is our second school wide festival each year which occurs on a Saturday. All of the families in the school along with the faculty, work together to transform the school campus for this special day. Besides all of the delicious food, live music, fun games and crafts, and a puppet show, this festival also includes an Angel Room. This is an enchanted space filled with beautiful hand made treasures. It is a place where children can go to pick out special surprises for loved ones. As the evening draws to a close, families gather around for some caroling by candlelight.

Candlemas

The depths of winter can seem so desolate because most of the plants above ground appear dead. However, deep underground, there is a flurry of activity as the plants’ roots continue to grow. On this day which is the midpoint between winter and spring, each child brings a little candle out into the garden and they sing to the garden to encourage its continued growth. They sing to the seeds that lay sleeping in the earth and they sing to the plants who are waiting to send forth their first green leaves. 

Valentines Day

Besides working on making Valentines in class prior to Valentine’s Day, the actual day is looked forward to with great anticipation by the children. Parents have already been told that any valentines brought to school must be handmade, and there must be one for everyone in the class, so some children have been working on making their valentines for the past few weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day. On the actual day, each child gets to have a turn to pass out what they have made, and this process fosters in the children just as much joy in what they are giving, as what they are receiving from others. The valentines take such different forms, and while some of them are handmade paper cards of different sorts, others might be hand sewn beanbags, a magic wand with a heart on top, or beaded necklaces/ bracelets the child made. 

St. Patrick's Day

This is a day of mischief and fun. Whether it is their classroom where everything has been turned topsy turvy, or the little treasures found hidden all throughout the yard, the children find great delight in a visit from the mischievous leprechauns. 

Easter

As a way of actively engaging with all of the new life that is springing up at this time of year, the children plant their own little pot of wheat berries which quickly sprout into fresh green grass. They help to water their seeds each day and watch them grow over the course of a couple of weeks before they take them home. Besides growing the Easter grass, the teacher works with each student to transform one of their watercolor paintings into an Easter basket which they will use to carry their grass home. The children also participate in some sort of egg decorating which varies year to year. Sometimes they use colored wool to wet-felt an egg, while in others they paint a wooden egg, or dye a traditional egg. Each of these elements helps the young child to connect in a tangible way with the transformation and growth that they are experiencing inwardly as well as what they see outwardly all around them in nature.

May Day

On the first day of May, the teacher leads the children throughout the kindergarten garden to gather flowers and greenery. They fill vases with them and then take great joy in delivering one to all of the other classes at the school and wishing them a happy May Day. It is a simple deed to do, and yet it brings such joy, both to the kindergarteners who are gathering and delivering and the other children and teachers who are receiving the flowers. Besides the joy, this is also an opportunity for the kindergarten children to give something to others without any expectation of receiving something in return. 

May Faire

This is our third school wide festival each year which occurs on a Saturday. All of the families in the school along with the faculty, work together to transform the school campus for this special day. It begins with families making their own flower wreath crowns which they can then wear throughout the day. This is followed by each class performing a special dance around the MayPole, and the rest of the festival  is full of delicious food, live music, fun games and crafts, and a puppet show.

Rainbow Bridge Ceremony

The transition from kindergarten into first grade is a huge developmental step for a young child to make. This right of passage is honored and celebrated on the very last day of school. Friends and family come to watch as the kings and queens in the kindergarten (the older kindergarteners) make their way through the garden, under a large rainbow silk which is being held for them by the princes and princesses in the class, and up over the bridge to meet their 1st grade teacher. The 1st grade teacher then leads the kings and queens off to hear a special story in the 1st grade classroom for the very first time, while the princes and princesses (the younger kindergarteners) journey back into the kindergarten classroom to hear their own special story. Then all of the children return to the kindergarten yard where their family and friends are waiting and everyone shares in some light refreshments and a great deal of merriment.