Michaelmas With a Co-op: A Courage Course, Dragon Bread and a Short Play
Give Michaelmas one co-op morning near 29 September. Start the dragon bread dough first, then run a courage course outdoors while it rises. The children shape and bake the dragon, then act out the dragon story, with parts for every age. End with a shared meal, where each family has brought one thing from a list sent three weeks before.
A Waldorf-inspired co-op can keep Michaelmas in one morning near 29 September. Start the dragon bread dough first. While it rises, run a courage course outdoors. Then the children shape and bake the dragon, and put on a short dragon play with a part for every age. Finish with a shared meal. Each family brings one thing from a list the lead family sent three weeks before.
The story, the dragon bread recipe, the songs and the crafts are on our Michaelmas festival page. This guide is about doing it with a group.
Why Michaelmas suits a co-op
At home, Michaelmas can be a quiet day with one dragon and one knight. In a group, it can be what Waldorf schools make of it. Charlottesville Waldorf School describes tasks of courage that let the younger children "test their strength, balance, and resolve". At City of Lakes Waldorf School in Minneapolis, the classes plan and build an obstacle course. At The Minnesota Waldorf School, grades 1 to 8 perform a dragon play together, then share a feast with family and friends.
A co-op of five or six families has enough children for a play and enough adults for a courage course. In a northern autumn it falls in the first weeks of a new co-op year, so it's a good way for new families to meet. The festival year for a co-op shows where Michaelmas sits among the others.
The three weeks before
Ask one family to lead Michaelmas. Three weeks before, they send a note with the date, the plan and the bring list. Then the co-op mornings do the preparation.
| Week | At circle | At art time |
|---|---|---|
| 3 weeks before | Start a Michaelmas verse or song | Begin the dragon story |
| 2 weeks before | Verse and song again | Make the costumes: a red silk, a cardboard sword, a dragon cloth |
| The week before | Everyone knows the song | Walk through the play twice |
Keep the story the same all three weeks. By the day, the children will know it well enough to act it with little prompting. If your group follows a sample first term, this sits in the first block.
A Michaelmas morning, hour by hour
Change the times to suit your group. This assumes a meeting place with an oven. If yours has none, bake at the lead family's home the day before, and let the children shape small dragon rolls to take home instead.
- 9:30. Arrive. Circle with the Michaelmas verse and song.
- 9:50. Mix and knead the dough together. Cover it to rise.
- 10:15. Outside for the courage course.
- 11:00. Back inside. Every child shapes part of the dragon. It proves, then goes in the oven.
- 11:30. The dragon play, while the bread bakes.
- 12:00. The meal, with the dragon at the center of the table.
- 12:40. Tidy, a closing verse, home.
That's a long morning for the littlest children. Let them rest on a blanket with a parent during the play rehearsal if they need to.
The courage course
Set up four or five stations outdoors, each with one adult. Each station asks for a small act of courage, and every child chooses whether to try it. Nobody is hurried, and nobody is made to.
Station ideas that suit mixed ages:
- The log bridge. Walk along a fallen log or a plank on the ground. Older children can try it with a beanbag on their head.
- The river crossing. Cross from bank to bank on stepping stones, or on hoops laid on the grass.
- The full cup. Carry a cup of water filled to the brim across the grass without spilling. This takes care more than strength.
- The dark cave. Crawl through a tunnel of chairs and blankets to fetch one golden apple from the dragon's hoard.
- The dragon's gate. Two adults hold a rope. Children climb over it or duck under without touching it.
Give every child a small reward at the end: a gold star, an apple, a nut. The same for everyone, whether they tried one station or all five.
Before the day, check the course against your group's safety rules for outdoor time and supervision. Our co-op safety policy has a section on both.
Dragon bread with a group
The dragon bread recipe on the Michaelmas page makes one large loaf. For a group of 10 to 15 children, make one big dragon or two medium ones, rather than a loaf per child. Everyone gets their hands in the same dough.
Share out the shaping:
- The youngest children roll balls for the legs and press in the raisin eyes.
- Children around 6 to 8 roll the long body and the tail.
- The oldest snip the scales with clean scissors, with an adult beside them.
Check the recipe against your allergy list first. Wheat and egg are both in it. If one child can't have them, bake a small separate dragon from a recipe that suits them, so nobody watches from the side. Our guide to snack at a co-op covers allergies in a shared meal, and baking bread with children has more on what each age can do with dough.
The play
Keep it short, about ten minutes, with an adult narrator. The narrator tells the story, and the children act it as they hear it. Nobody has to learn lines.
Parts for a mixed-age group:
- The dragon. Four or five children under one long cloth, with the tallest at the head.
- Michael, or St George. One older child with a cardboard sword and a red cape.
- The villagers. The youngest, who hide when the dragon comes and cheer at the end.
- The king and the princess, if your story has them.
Keep the ending gentle. In many Waldorf tellings the dragon isn't killed but tamed. The Minnesota Waldorf School describes the dragon as a picture of "fear and the challenges we face within ourselves". The school's play was written by its teachers more than 30 years ago and has been edited over time. A co-op can do the same: write the narration once and keep it in the festival box for next year.
For how one story can hold children of different ages, see teaching mixed ages in a co-op. For longer plays through the year, see plays and drama in a co-op.
What each family brings
The lead family's note lists one item per family, with a name beside it. Adjust it to your group's size.
| Item | Family |
|---|---|
| Ingredients for the dragon dough | Lead family |
| A pot of harvest soup | ______ |
| Apples, washed | ______ |
| Butter and cheese (check the allergy list) | ______ |
| A long cloth for the dragon, and a red silk | ______ |
| Tablecloth, candle, matches | ______ |
| Bowls and spoons for everyone | ______ |
| First-aid kit and the allergy list | ______ |
| Small rewards for the courage course | ______ |
Each family also brings its own blanket to sit on. That school asks families to bring their own bowl, plate and utensils to its feast, and a co-op can do the same.
If it rains, or it's spring where you live
If it rains, move the courage course indoors: the full cup, the dark cave and the dragon's gate all work in a hall. Save the log bridge for another week.
In the southern hemisphere, 29 September falls in spring. The Michaelmas page has notes on keeping the festival there.
What to do this week
- Choose the date nearest 29 September that your co-op meets.
- Ask one family to lead, and have them send the note three weeks before.
- Choose the story and start telling it at the next co-op morning.
- Check your meeting place for an oven and an outdoor space.
- Write the bring list and put a name beside every item.
Sources
- Charlottesville Waldorf School: Michaelmas, a festival of courage, community and homecoming
- The Minnesota Waldorf School: Michaelmas, a festival of courage
- City of Lakes Waldorf School: Michaelmas festival
- Davis Waldorf School: Events and festivals through the year
- Shining Mountain Waldorf School: Festivals
Frequently asked questions
+What do Waldorf schools do for Michaelmas?
Many hold a dragon play and a day of courage. Charlottesville Waldorf School describes tasks of courage that test the younger children's strength and balance. City of Lakes Waldorf School's classes plan and build an obstacle course. The Minnesota Waldorf School's grades perform a dragon play together and share a feast with families.
+What's a Michaelmas courage task?
A small challenge a child can choose to meet: walking a log, crossing stepping stones, carrying a full cup of water without spilling, or fetching a treasure from the dragon's cave. In a co-op, set up four or five stations with an adult at each, and let every child go at their own pace.
+How do you make dragon bread with a group?
Make one dough at the start of the morning, or ask the lead family to bring a risen dough. Every child shapes a part of one big dragon, like a leg, the tail or a row of scales. Our Michaelmas festival page has the recipe. Check it against your group's allergy list first.
+What should each family bring to a co-op Michaelmas?
One thing each from a written list, such as the soup, the apples or the first-aid kit. The Minnesota Waldorf School shares out its Michaelmas feast the same way, with each pair of grades bringing one food.
+Should the littlest children be in the play?
Only if they want to be. A 3-year-old can be a villager who hides and then cheers, with a parent close by. Some schools keep the play for the grades. Davis Waldorf School says younger siblings don't take part in its Michaelmas play.
Related questions
A Sample First Term for a Waldorf-Inspired Co-op, Week by Week
One way to plan a first co-op term is 12 weeks in three blocks of 4, with the same morning every week and the festivals as landmarks. In an autumn term in the north that means Michaelmas near the start, a harvest in October, Martinmas lanterns in November and an Advent spiral at the end. Keep week 1 plain, and change the plan to fit your group.
Read answerBaking Bread With Children: The Waldorf Bread Day at Home
Pick one morning a week for bread and keep it. Mix the dough while your child watches or helps, let them knead a small ball of their own, then shape rolls, let them rise and bake them for snack. Toddlers can tip and stir, kindergarten children knead and shape, and a grade 3 child can make the whole loaf with you nearby. The rising is part of the lesson.
Read answerSnack Time at a Waldorf-Inspired Co-op: The Blessing, the Snack Schedule and Allergies
Give snack a fixed place in the morning and the same shape every week: wash hands, set the table together, say a blessing, eat, then clear up together. One family brings a simple shared snack each week on a written schedule. Collect allergies when families join, and keep the snack free of anything a child in the group can't eat. Bread, fruit, cheese and soup are plenty.
Read answerA Homeschool Co-op Safety Policy: Supervision, Bathrooms, Tools and Safeguarding
Most co-op safety policies cover the same ground. Children are supervised at all times, and two adults stay with any group. No adult is alone with a child who isn't theirs. Young children are taken to the bathroom, outdoor time has a boundary and a headcount, and tools are taught before use. One named adult takes worries about a child's safety.
Read answerTeaching Mixed Ages in a Waldorf-Inspired Co-op: One Story, Different Tasks
Tell one story to the whole group, then give each child a task at their own level. A young child draws or models the story, a middle child retells it aloud, and an older child writes a few lines in a main lesson book. The Schoolhouse calls this keeping the task the same and changing the level of demand. Older children can help the little ones, with a short, clear job.
Read answerLooking for a Waldorf school, kindergarten or parent-and-child group near you? Find one on the Waldorf Map.