Waldorf Family: who's behind the educational and seasonal pieces?

It was a long time ago but I acutally studied to become an elementary school teacher. I also worked as one for a couple of years. During that time I came across different theories and educational methods. One of them was the Waldorf theory by Robert Steiner. What I liked about it was its strong link to nature and the seasons, and that is why I loved getting to know Stephanie Green, the founder of Waldorf Family, and her beautifully illustrated educational products.

Please introduce yourself.

My name’s Stephanie Green, I’m the artist and founder of Waldorf Family. We are a sustainable home and lifestyle brand, making illustrated educational and seasonal pieces for families.

When did you start Waldorf Family and why?

Years ago we lived in Bristol and I was introduced to these amazing ideas like seasonal living, mindful living rhythms, and we celebrated all these amazingly colourful festivals. I was focused on being a mama and just loved living it; then in 2018 I started to draw little pieces for family and friends. With a little apprehension, started to share on Instagram and before I knew it, other people really engaged with the concept. I think I just gave visual form to a core idea that resonates with all people: we all share this same experience, of living on this planet right now. We created Waldorf Family the company around the illustrations and the soul intention to help people connect with nature.

What are the core values of Waldorf Family?

Sustainably and connection. Everything we make is sustainable. We use FSC wood, and brass fastening so that they can be recycled. There’s no plastic. We are UK made so our miles on products are kept to a minimum. The idea behind each product is to nurture connection to nature, in the maths collections that’s all about finding beauty and symmetry, with the Wheel of the Year is about engaging with the pattern and flow of the natural world.

What are lovely ways of incorporating the Waldorf method into everyday life?

There are a lots of ways to bring seasonal living into your lives, for us it started with a focus on festivals. So celebrating the darkness coming with lantern walks and Easter by planting an Easter garden and helping it grow. We also grow a lot of vegetables, but we supplement with a seasonal delivery box of veggies: so what we are eating reflects what’s happening outside – lots of salads in summer and root veg in autumn. I also think if you are starting fresh trying to let your children take the led a little is a great start, we can learn a lot from children – their sense of wonder for example can be a renewing, refreshing energy to welcoming into your family. 

The wooden wheel of the year is a lovely piece to teach children about the seasons.

What are the benefits of working with your educational products?

Less stress and deeper learning. Children are naturally really curious and given time they will unfold, like a flower in the sun. The educational products make space for this. For example the Maths collection together the Songs, Multiplication Wheel and the Maths Wheel can be used by a child to investigate step counting, multiplication, they could work independently or with an adult. What we do at home is listen to the CD in the car, and the kids follow allow on the Wheels on just reading the numbers on the Multiplication Wheel, we do one times table each day. We listen to it a few times, then sing it all together. Just from this my youngest who’s 7 can sing you all but the 9’s (because we haven’t done them yet) and my oldest has gone from hating Maths to realising once you know the times tables all the rest of Maths becomes easier. I think as parents and teachers we know how important the tables are; so it’s easy for it to become a pressured point, “learn them, learn them quick them everything gets easier”. I think given time and the right tools children will learn them: and we know self-actuated learning takes root as a much deeper learning. More than this independent learning aspect I think we should not underestimate two other elements, beauty and sensory learning. So the Waldorf Family collections are all colourful, I think all humans respond to colour but perhaps none more so than children I think colour fills us with joy and I think starting number work from this perspective is great. The second aspect that informs the collection is this idea that we are not just our hands or eyes or ears. We are amazingly complex creatures and so the Maths collection responds to us on many levels, colours, sounds, textures as well as intellectually. For younger ones simply using their hands to make patterns on  the Maths Wheel can help from a hand eye coordination and dexterity point of view. Finally that concept of discover is a great joy to watch when working with the Maths wheel, for children to see this language of Maths – which is highly beautiful – plotted out to become a symmetrical star pattern – but then more than that if they are using it in a number work block and doing all the tables the might be this moment when they realise after 5 – the midpoint- that the patterns are reflected – the same in the top half of the tables to the bottom. This “ah –ha” moment is another wonderful deep learning moment. To realise through the wheel the concept of symmetry  is a great building block for geometry later.

Where are your products made? What materials are used to make them?

We use FSC approved wood, so that means it’s all coming from sustainable forests. Then they are held together with brass, the boxes and packing are recycled Kraft paper. We have to use a bit of gum on the sticker to close the box – but we deliberately don’t use tape because it’s tricky to recycle. Everything we use is from the Earth and can be composted or recycled.

All wheels are made from FSC approved wood.

Out of all of your products, which one is your favourite and why?

At the moment I’m smitten with the Perpetual Moon Calendar. We love watching the moon in our house, we have a great big telescope and very excitable children, it’s just such a joy to watch them use it. On another level I’ve been really touched with the Maths Collection I have people writing to me to say its helped their dyspraxic son or stopped a worried child from being so stressed that’s huge and makes my heart happy.

What are the things that make you feel heiter?

Colour, like the rainbow, but also when the sun catches the leaves on a tree just right and they look like they are so vividly that colour: that really lights me up.

Interview and image: Katharina Geissler-Evans, heiter magazine

How to feel heiter by nurturing your connection with others

Are you ever tempted to think of “heiter” as a luxury, or alovely optional extra, rather than a necessity? It’s easy to slip into this way of thinking about the things that add joy to your life. However, as we’ve all been forced to realise recently, as soon as you encounter a challenge—whether that’s a global pandemic, bereavement, job loss, relationship struggles, or health issues—those “little” things that bring you joy are actually not so little after all, but can be a lifeline during hard times.

One of the things that never fails to make me heiter is a sense of deep and meaningful connection with people that I love and trust. I’m writing this just a few weeks after a sudden family bereavement; my sister lost her life partner, a man who was a brother and dear friend to me, as well as being the source of much of my sister’s happiness and peace.

I’m not sure how we would get through this terribly difficult time without feeling connected to our support network. I’m more grateful than ever for all the time and energy we’ve put into our relationships during better times, so that that connection can be here now to hold us in our pain, without feeling forced. 

Whether or not you’re going through a tough time yourself right now, being intentional about nurturing deep connection with the important people in your life is a powerful way to care for yourself in the here and now, as well as creating plenty of heiter moments in the future, no matter what might come your way. In the joys, sorrows, and everything in between of your life, connection with others will make the good times even better, as well as carrying you through the pain. 

Here are a few ideas to help you nurture connection in a way that feels sustainable, and can work for your unique life circumstances.

Stay focused on your inner circle

As an extrovert with people-pleasing tendencies, I can fall into the trap of thinking I can be friends with everyone, and I’m often tempted to try and be all things to all people. This can be a very overwhelming way to live, and also means you can’t be there for the people who rely on you the most in as much depth as you’d like, because you’re stretched too thin.

Over the years, I’ve learned that I can have meaningful relationships and connection with lots of people, while also protecting my own energy and wellbeing, by implementing good boundaries and being aware of who my “inner circle” is. These are the people—family members and close friends—who I’m in a close, mutually self-giving relationship with, the people who I’d call or who would call me in an emergency or moment of celebration. 

There’s no ideal number for your inner circle, but it’s important for this to be a manageable sized group, so be realistic about what feels right to you and the amount of energy you have to pour into relationships. 

If you find that it feels rather cold to categorise the people in your life this way, just remember that having an inner circle doesn’t mean you can’t have plenty of other meaningful relationships beyond that group. It also doesn’t mean that those groups are inflexible or that relationships can’t shift and evolve over time. It just means that you know where to focus your attention and expectations, while holding it all lightly and allowing plenty of room for things to change. 

Accept and celebrate relationships for what they are

When you’re really intentional about figuring out which relationships are priorities, and have invested time and energy into getting to know people and letting them know and really see you, you’ll become aware what you can realistically offer each other. 

You’ll also become aware of the limitations of some relationships over time, and that’s okay too; in fact, it can be really freeing to know those limitations, so you don’t end up expecting too much of people. Perhaps you have a friend who is great at providing practical support, but isn’t always up for more deep and emotional conversations. Or, a friend who is great when you’re together, but not good at staying in touch long distance. When my children were born, for example, I appreciated how wonderful it is to have friends with different strengths and weaknesses; some who feel comfortable hanging out with you and the baby, some who’ll encourage you to reconnect with your pre-baby self and enjoy some time away from nappies and sleep schedules. 

Knowing what to expect of people can help you accept and celebrate different relationships for what they are, and prevent you from needless frustration. If you have an intimate circle of supportive friends you can rely on, it doesn’t matter if other relationships feel more surface level or temporary. 

Explore different ways of being in touch, until you find one that works for both of you 

If your friend is always writing to you using Facebook messenger, but you only log on a couple of times a year and when you do you forget to check your private messages, you’re not going to have much luck connecting.

Have a play around with different communications styles, for example setting up a re-occurring Skype date, sending each other voice notes, emails, or even old-fashioned letters. Ask each other what makes the other person feel loved or overwhelmed. For example, I tend to get inbox overwhelm and have several hundred unread emails, and my evenings tend to get overbooked and I’m always tired once my kids are in bed, so phone calls can be hard to arrange, whereas I find it easy and fun to exchange voice notes, postcards, and WhatsApp messages. 

Finding common areas of interest can be another great way to nurture your connection with someone; maybe you both love music and can exchange playlists, or perhaps you’re both bookworms and can take it in turns to suggest a different book to each other and then set up a catch up phone call to talk about them.

Find ways to remember what matters to them (and make it easy for them to do the same for you)

Paying attention to the little details that are important to the person you’re nurturing connection with is a great way to deepen your bond. Remembering to send a text to let someone know you’re thinking about them the morning of an important presentation or job interview, or reaching out on an anniversary shows people that you really care about them. 

There are so many little, easy ways to do this, for example keeping an up to date address book so you can look up a loved one’s address and surprise them with post every now and again, making a note of people’s dietary needs and preferences in the margins of your recipe books, and putting reminders on your phone to get in touch with a loved one when an important day for them is approaching. Keeping a special calendar just for marking birthdays and important anniversaries and dates for your friends is another easy way to remember those important details and nurture connection.

I always feel so loved when someone remembers the anniversary of my dad’s death, for example, and reaches out to let me know they’re thinking of me. I want to be the kind of observant friend who does that for my closest friends and family. 

Remember that sharing with others is an invitation

Sometimes, especially when we’re going through very hard times, reaching out for connection can feel selfish. We can worry about burdening someone else with our bad news or difficult feelings. But how many times do we fall into the trap of hoping others will be proactive and reach out to us to show us that they care, while the other person is secretly longing for connection but is feeling shy to reach out to us?

In the context of a trust-based relationship that you’ve chosen to invest in, opening up and sharing the joys and sorrows of your life with someone can be a beautiful invitation to them to share their ups and downs with you in return. Not everyone will be open to that invitation, but in my experience discovering a deep soul-connection with someone is one of life’s greatest joys, and worth every ounce of potential discomfort or awkwardness as you seek it out and nurture it.

Words & image: Sophie Caldecott

Sophie Caldecott is a writer living in a cosy cottage on the edge of the moor in the South-West of England. She explores themes of connection, empathy, and all the things that make life worth living in her work.

Nurturing connections is an important part of The Heiter Society, our exclusive membership.

By introducing The Heiter Society we, here are heiter, have tried to expand our reader’s experience by offering alternative ways of finding joy. By organising workshops, co-working and networking sessions, we offer them an online haven where they can try out new creative and mindful activities and connect with like-minded people.

Sounds interesting? Then we’re inviting you to join now and instantly benefit from monthly workshops, a lovely community and depending on your level, advertising opportunities for your independent business. Discover all details here.

The doors to the society are open until the end of February 2023 and might stay closed for the rest of the year. In case you wonder, all sessions are recorded and can be re-visited in your own time, the payments are monthly and you can cancel your membership whenever you wish.