Virtual Holiday Fair 2020

This year our crafts are packed up for you to make at home! You can order a fair-in-a-box from The Hartsbrook School. Activities include:

• Waldorf window stars
• Kettle corn
• Paper birds
• Candle holders
• Embroidery floss knotwork
• Juggling beanbags

https://www.hartsbrook.org/community-events/holiday-fair-crafts/

 

Holiday Fair preparations

Each year for the Hartsbrook Holiday Fair, the early childhood/kindergarten families create, staff, and provide crafts for the Treasures in a Haystack and Children's Bazaar activities for the youngest visitors to the fair. This work is organized by a parent each year, who works with the Director of Development who orchestrates the whole fair, and each kindergarten class has a Fair Representative to facilitates the process for that class.

Each family, regardless how many children, is asked to contribute about 20 small, simple, handcrafted items. Some craft-loving parents want to make more, and other families don't have the time or just find this opportunity stressful and overwhelming, and we balance each other out.

In Fall 2018, as we have done in previous years, we are spending October Thursday morning craft sessions making crafts for the fair to augment what kindergarten families are making on their own, and to have an abundance for the fair. Kindergarten parents are encouraged to join us to make their crafts! We have some supplies, ideas, and encouragement. Please bring your supplies too!

We have a sample box of crafts to look at and get ideas for what kinds of things you could make. Class fair reps will likely have sample boxes out at drop-off and pick-up times near the Early Childhood classes in October. In case you don't see the items in the box, below are photos of many items that have been made in the past, to give you ideas!

October 2018: Sample crafts are in the display window at the front entrance to Hartsbrook Hall.

We strive to make these crafts by hand, with natural materials, but that is not a requirement. We want a variety of items and we want you to have fun making them! We look to include dolls/gnomes/angels with skin tones of varying race or ethnicity, and invite items that reflect many traditions.

As all our community work is woven together to form the fabric of our lives, you may also be interested in school efforts to expand inclusion, diversity, and equity consciousness and efforts at Hartsbrook. If you are interested in participating in this work, contact the school. 

The crafts offered in the Childrens Bazaar do not all have to be treasures specifically for kids! It is lovely to have some items that are more useful for the home or as decoration. Sets of small cloth napkins like are used in the kindergartens have been quite popular; wall hangings, sun catchers, small beeswax candles, dish clothes or pot holders or the like would be lovely. It is wonderful to encourage the children to pick out treasures as gifts for others, not just choosing things for themselves, and opening up the crafting to include items other than those for kids is a good way to make this happen.

Tip: See the Hartsbrook SmugMug site for photos of these activities at the fair in previous years.

Thursday morning fun and productivity

So far we have been crafting each Thursday with an eye to the Holiday Fair young children's activities, Treasures in a Haystack, where children dig in a big heap of hay for a treasure to keep, and Children's Bazaar where young children can choose a gift to give a friend or relative. The crafts for these activities are made by the parents, primarily, of all the early childhood classes. Here's some of what we've done!

Holiday fair Pinterest boards

Amanda put together these boards for parents over the past few years. Lots of ideas and inspiration!

Tutorial board

http://pin.it/Q59-Bog

2014 board

http://pin.it/elNdQBt

Peg dolls

http://pin.it/uig9r0o

2015 board

http://pin.it/e2Zxh3w

India's board:

http://pin.it/bnvW0JT

More felt and felting small creatures

Come craft with us on Thursday morning after drop off! We will be making felt mice and necklaces, pine cone hedgehogs, wooden peg fairies, felted acorns and bees, and more. You can take them home or contribute for the Holiday Fair. We have supplies but if you have felt, embroidery floss (colored string), colored ribbons, wooden pegs, please bring along. You may also want to bring your own scissors.

Felted acorns and felt birds

Last week an enthusiastic group of parents cut and stitched felt birds and felted little acorns. This Thursday morning after drop off, come join us to make felt mice and felt necklaces! We will have plenty of supplies but could use more felt, embroidery floss, and thin, colored ribbons.

If you find little pinecones about 1-1/2" long, please collect for us to make hedgehogs one week soon. Thanks!