Something that I have been doing for years is creating tablescapes. We were inspired by Waldorf-style nature tables for a quite a while. It slowly turned into themed tables where the "only use things from nature" Waldorf "rule" got old here quick. I loved making nature tables but wanted to expand it outward to really be something that enriched our life and that was a fun discussion and inspiration point in our home.
Tablescapes began to take form every month or so, inspired by one of our interests. I often times start it with a theme and then the family adds to it if they want to. I love that it is such an organic, interesting art form that grows as long as you have it out. It has real depth and shadows. Depending on the time of day you see it differently according to where the sun is shining into our home. We all enjoy moving things around, or adding something fun to it.
Tablescapes are something that our family has learned from, laughed over, got lost in daydreaming, and become inspired from. Whatever your families current passion is, be it Legos or Legumes you can create a Tablescape to celebrate, honor and explore a certain topic in an unique and artistic way. The possibilities are endless!
I'd love to see photos of your tablescapes! Please place a link, if you'd like to share, in the comments section of this entry.
2 comments:
Hi Dayna,
Just finished reading your book & loved it! My children attend a University Lab school (v. progressive) and I'm trying to incorportate more of your ideas into our homelife/parenting.
Your tablescapes make me smile -- our kids do this offen at school to display their projects and research (usually look like a table of knicknacks that is very meaningful to them). Just wonderful.
Jan
I love how you've expanded on the nature table idea to better meet the interests of your family. Our nature table looks very much like the ones you find in the waldorf tradition, but that is mostly due to the fact that my 4 year old is naturally attracted to nature and stories of fairies. Sometimes though, we will find a surprise addition -like a yellow plastic truck for the lady to go "visit her friends."
http://simple-whimsy.blogspot.com/2010/11/autumn-nature-table.html
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