WALDORF HANDMADE TOYS: Table puppets

 Waldorf Table Puppets

Wee Willy Winkie

Running thru the town

Upstairs and downstairs in his nightgown

Tapping on the windows, rapping at the lock

Are the children in their beds?  For now it’ 8 o’clock

I think that my love of Waldorf Handwork began when I first stepped into a Waldorf kindergarten classroom.  I was amazed at the vast array of beautifully handmade toys and from that moment on, I started to learn to make them for my own children.

Table puppets were some of the first toys that I made.  My first ones were very simple.  For example, I made wool felt clothes and needle felted wool roving on the head as hair.  I learned the hard way though that if you’re making toys for kids, they need to be durable and able to withstand a lot of handling.  I learned to start making finished edge clothing and crocheted wool wigs for hair.  Here are some pictures of some of the table puppets I made over the years.  Some of them are at least seven years old and have held up fairly well.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your long hair!

Like Wee Willy Winkie above, I often made table puppets to go with a fairy tale or nursery rhyme–something that I’d do when I’d occasionally substitute teach in the parent/child class.  I made many of these puppets for the Kindergarten classes at our school.

To market, to market to buy a fat pig

Home again home again dancing a jig.

I feel true gratitude when I look back on the toys I made for my children, but I still wish that I could have made just a few more…

Children feel so special when they watch their moms working on toys for them to play with.  If you have young children, make as many toys as you can for them!  They will feel the love and care in every stitch…