Handwork in the kindergarten, a topic close to my heart

By Edith van der Meer

This article is based on my knowledge of child development and my experience of having been a handwork teacher, early childhood teacher and adult educator in Steiner/Waldorf education for 30+ years. I am fully aware and have great respect for the handwork curriculum that is taught in Steiner schools around the world. What is taught is age- and developmentally appropriate and boys and girls alike lap it up!

But with most things in society these days we tend to want everything too soon. The problem is, the ‘too soon’ nature of life today is overwhelming and stressful for young children. So why do we then want children in kindergartens and daycares to make pom-poms, do finger-knitting and stitching, create dolls, hobby horses, make intricate boats with sails from wood or do weaving? We have to ask ourselves if we use these activities as strategies for esp. older children to stay in one place and not get up to mischief. Or do we want to improve the children’s dexterity? These are all activities with an outcome, a goal, an objective, thought of by the teacher. These activities take away from the child’s free creative play and in the worst-case scenario, when instruction is involved in the activity, calls on forces that are yet to be fully established in the child under seven.

Now looking a bit further into what others have said about handwork for the young child, I feel even more strongly that we need to hold off on the ‘too soon’ and stop ‘stealing’ the curriculum of the Class one Handwork teacher, as that was my experience when the new children came into the handwork lesson for the first time. They knew the songs, they did finger- and five-finger knitting and some even were already knitting on 2 needles. Of course, we can TEACH children to do anything; however, is this healthy and necessary? There is a good time for everything and anticipation builds resilience in a child.

Rudolf Steiner, April 1923, ‘The child’s changing consciousness’ said:

The task of the kindergarten teacher is to adjust the work taken from daily life so that it becomes suitable for the children’s play activities. The whole point….is to give young children the opportunity to imitate life in a simple and wholesome way.      

In the early childhood years ‘handwork’ is all the work that the child does with his/her hands. When a child is making mud pies, rolling playdough, using scissors, folding paper, washing dishes, spreading butter, building with blocks, and picking daisies, he/she is doing handwork.

The human hand is an amazing thing. There’s so much strength, sensitivity, and capability in the human hand and this is part of what makes us unique as human beings. Each fingertip has more than 3,000 nerve endings, many of which respond primarily to pressure (touch). Our fingertips are remarkably sensitive. They can communicate details of an object as small as half the width of a human hair, and discern subtle differences in surface texture and they can lift either an egg or a 20 kg sack of potatoes!! 

The hands become capable with use and developing fine motor skills is an important part of early childhood. This happens naturally through the course of the day and of course it’s important to provide opportunities to do real work.

Young children are most active in the doing, the willing realm of soul their life. They are drawn to adults’ work activity, especially when the adult is truly engaged in meaningful work. Experiencing the adult at work is body-building for the child. It is also an example of focused adult will, which enhances the child’s will forces.

The work of teachers and parents

Teachers and parents do lots of work with their hands, making beautiful and useful things. In the early years we work through imitation rather than instruction. You can do all the crafts you like or see but don’t feel that our young child should also be doing them. Your child learns so much just by watching you be creative!

Handwork, nature crafts, and making toys for our children are all excellent ways to hold the space while the children play. You can always have a little basket of real supplies available to the child. Allow the child to join you or wait till he/she asks to join, however, don’t be concerned if he/she’s too busy playing! Let the child determine the direction in which he/she wants to take their project. I had a child in my kindergarten who ‘knitted a jersey’ on two sticks!

So, what is important for us to do?

1.    Notice all the wonderful ways our children are exercising their hands every hour of the day.

2.    Are we doing enough fingerplays, modelling, and rhythmic work as a regular part of our days with the children?

3.    Are we engaged in making beautiful and useful things by hand in front of the child/ren?

4.    Are we providing supplies for the children and be open for them to join us? Let them learn through imitation rather than instruction in the early years. It is never about the outcome!

5.    Guide a rhythm, hold the space for free creative play, and connect with the children in your care and you are doing it right!

A broad definition of handwork in the kindergarten and early years is basically all the work that the child does with their hands.  A healthy kindergarten day is full of moving, doing, and playing, so there are many opportunities to work with the hands all day long.

Developing strength and coordination in the hands and fingers is a key developmental task for the 0–7-year-old child.  Hand development is linked to neurodevelopment.  It also lays the foundation for writing, drawing, and artistic work in the school.

But perhaps the most critical reason to do work with the hands is that ‘handwork’ is central to our heritage as human beings, whether it’s using our hands to create tools and necessities, to prepare food, or to make our homes and lives more beautiful.

Young children work with their hands when they:

o   Play with blocks, building forts, or pounding nails into a stump

o   Play in the sand

o   Work with modelling materials of all kinds including beeswax

o   Play with materials for drawing, cutting, and glue-ing

o   Practice finger plays

o   Help with cooking, gardening, and cleaning

In years gone by, people would have happily added to the above list:

o   Learn simple handcrafts such as finger knitting, carding wool, hand sewing, and wet felting

However, our mindset in kindergartens is changing, as a lot of those activities need a certain amount of instruction.

Michael Howard, in his book Educating the Will states: “In early childhood we do not ‘teach’ the arts and crafts to the children so much as we create opportunities for children to be exposed to and engage in the realm of art as a natural part of everyday life.” –

Keep remembering that young children learn through imitation.  It’s wonderful for them to see you engaging in a craft or handwork.

In the Waldorf-inspired daycare, nursery or kindergarten, the child’s work is to play and the teacher’s work is to create rhythm. Rather than engaging the child directly in activities for much of the day, we let the child play. And it’s the adult’s activities and sense of rhythm that “hold the space” for that play.

Children already know how to play, but it helps them to really sink deeply into their imagination when they feel held by a ‘rhythmic container’. You can provide that container by creating a daily rhythm, by being present with the children, and by working nearby.  Sometimes it's when you're engaged in your own activities that you best hold the space.  

You can notice this for yourself (and you probably already have), but some activities which do not hold the space for children to play are chatting on the phone, doing anything on a computer/phone/tablet, or reading a book. When we are engaged in this way, we are not present in the space we share with the children. Our minds are elsewhere. And children really feel that difference.

There are many activities which do hold the space for children to play.

o   handwork like knitting

o   spinning

o   embroidery

o   hand sewing

o   rhythmic work in the home such as sweeping

o   washing dishes

o   gardening

o   raking leaves

o   folding laundry

o   baking.

o   drawing

o    making art

o   form drawing

o   making or repairing anything by hand

o   singing!

o   If there’s a rhythmic or creative element to it and you can sink into the activity while still being aware of and mentally available to your children, it’s probably perfect for holding the space.

This feeling of a rhythmic container is palpable in any Waldorf early childhood settings and it's one of the things that truly sets them apart.

o   The teachers are neither passive nor reactive.  

o   They're not standing back to supervise and then swooping in to intervene.  

o   They don't distract children from playing but they also don't mentally vacate the premises.  

o   They are busy (with carding wool, knitting, sewing dolls, ironing, polishing, cooking, gardening, setting up, tidying up, guiding transitions with songs and movement, telling stories with puppets, and any number of things) holding the space.  

o   The teacher's activity sets a quiet and gentle hum to the room.  It provides opportunities to imitate and participate but it doesn't distract from the child's own imagination.

o   The more we are fully present in the room and with what we are doing the more our children are fully present with what they are doing. That’s a subtle connection worth paying attention to.

How do we know when things are working well?

1.    When the relationship between what you are doing and how relaxed and engaged your children’s play is. 

2.    Think about whether you need something to keep your hands busy while the children play. This is a great reason to take up knitting, crochet, needle felting, or embroidery.

And that is why WE do handwork and the children play!