Westside Waldorf School Sunset Campus, Pacific Palisades

Creative play is at the heart of our early childhood and kindergarten programs. Through imaginative play, children learn to experience and integrate the possibilities of life. Self-initiated play fosters children’s abilities to think creatively, problem solve, and develop social relationships, practicing and testing their skills as they tackle more and more difficult tasks. Using the simplest of materials from nature to construct worlds, children flex their imaginations, which grow strong and active; open-ended toys allow children to imitate and transform activities of everyday human life. Participating in play cultivates and strengthens the child’s comprehension, memory, and imagination, as well as their growing body. Waldorf teachers work consciously with rhythm - the great rhythms of the seasons, as well as the smaller rhythms of the weeks and days. Through story, verse, song, and movement, we live with seasonal moods and experience subtle changes. The daily rhythm of activities includes time for imaginative free-play, preparation and sharing of nourishing snacks, artistic activities, stories told by the teacher, outdoor play, hikes, and gardening. Weekly rhythms include watercolor painting, eurhythmy (a movement class), bread baking, and soup making. Through these activities and others, a vessel of security and predictability is created in which each child can relax and grow with confidence.