The First Grader~ Part IV: Simple Spring Chick Knitting Project

With Waldorf education, so much is about how we bring work to children, what is our intention in bringing this to the child. Beginning with a verse helps convey the mood that the adult is carrying within, in bringing the learning material, to the child.

Opening verse for handwork:

May our hands complete our task with patience,

May our work be done with care,

May our fingers work as friends together,

May we our friendship share.

Cast on sixteen stitches. Knit with garter stitch until it makes a square.

Measure by lifting one corner and folding diagonally across to see if both sides match. Cast off when they do.

Stitch one side. Fill with sheep’s wool. Stitch the other side. From the bottom take a gathering stitch up  bring down to create the shape of the hen.

Use red yarn and for a comb and gills and beard, if desired with buttonhole stitches.

Closing verse:

Our hands have completed the task with patience,

Our work has been done with care,

Our fingers have worked as friends together,

And we our friendship shared.

Now you can tell the story of The Little White (Red) Hen with your knitted hen.

Lisa Boisvert Mackenzie is the Editor and Publisher of The Wonder of Childhood and has spent the past fifteen years with one of her own children in early childhood (under seven years of age.)  She was blessed with a wondrous, rhythmic and outdoor childhood on the coast of Maine. Lisa has worked with children and their families for the past twenty two years, initially as a homebirth midwife. Lisa’s home based program The Children’s Garden began twelve years ago on a remote tropical island in the Pacific Ocean. Lisa’s current focus is on supporting parents of very young children and exploring the needs of boys in relationship to the Waldorf curriculum and ways of implementing support for those needs within the Waldorf curriculum. She lives with her family in Vermont. Lisa blogs at Celebrate the Rhythm of Life and offers an online program there. She also hosts a discussion groups for parents of young children here.