Waldorf Co-op Class Ideas by Age, With a Table to Copy

Borrow the shape of a Waldorf school year, where each age has its own crafts and stories. Children under 7 make bread, plant bulbs and hear a story told again and again. Grades 1 to 3 knit, crochet, paint wet-on-wet, play the pentatonic flute and build or farm. Grades 4 and 5 embroider, knit socks and pick up their first woodwork tools. Grades 6 to 8 carve, sew from their own patterns and draw geometric forms. Run each class for a block of four to six weeks, and tie it to the season, so the children finish something they can take home.

The table further down sets all of this out by age, ready to copy into your co-op's plan.

What are good homeschool co-op classes for each age?

Waldorf schools don't pick crafts at random. Each age gets work that suits it. Whatcom Hills Waldorf School lists its handwork year by year. Grade 1 knits flute cases and grade 2 knits animals. Grade 3 crochets hats and spins wool, grade 4 embroiders, and grade 5 knits socks. Spring Garden Waldorf School's grade list adds the music, painting and practical work around them.

A co-op can follow the same order. It saves a lot of arguing about what to teach, because the answer is already there, and it means a child's co-op handwork matches what she's doing at home. Waldorf handwork by grade explains why the sequence runs the way it does.

Under 3, with a parent

Waldorf schools run parent and child classes for this age. Washington Waldorf School's are for children from 18 to 36 months. They bake, sing seasonal songs, hear stories, spend time in nature and make simple crafts.

Class ideas:

• A short circle of songs and finger games
• Kneading and shaping bread rolls
• A walk to collect leaves for the nature table
• A simple story with a few table puppets

The parent stays. The class is for the adults as much as the children: they watch a steady rhythm and take it home.

Ages 3 to 6: real work beside an adult

Waldorf UK describes the early years as a time of child-led play and of working alongside adults at real tasks, like gardening, cooking and crafts. For a co-op, that means the class is a job the adult is doing, which the children can join.

Class ideas:

• A baking day: bread, oat cakes or soup, with children washing vegetables and kneading.
• The garden: planting bulbs in autumn, watering in spring.
• Finger knitting, which can become a long cord for the nature table or a lantern handle.
• Beeswax modeling, warmed in the hands during a story.
• Wet-on-wet painting with one or two colors.
• Seasonal crafts: a lantern for Martinmas, a window star for Advent, a wool egg in spring.

Keep one story running for a week or two, and keep the order of the morning the same each week.

Grades 1 to 3: the craft years

Spring Garden's grade 1 paints in watercolor, models beeswax, sews by hand and knits. The children also start form drawing and the pentatonic flute. Grade 2 adds crochet, gardening and nature hikes. Grade 3 has farming, a house building project, the recorder and the start of music notation.

Class ideas:

• Knitting: a flute case or a small animal, as a class project over one block.
• Crochet for grades 2 and 3: a bag, a hat or a small animal.
• Wet-on-wet painting, with a color story. Waldorf painting by grade gives the sequence.
• Pentatonic flute and singing, with songs for the next festival.
• Farming and building for grade 3: a garden bed, a bread-from-seed project, or a small shelter from branches.
• Form drawing on big paper or in the sand outside.
• Circle games, string games and bean bags for movement.

Grades 4 and 5: steadier hands

Whatcom Hills lists cross-stitch, embroidery and cobweb brooms in grade 4, then knitted and felted socks and carved figures in grade 5. Spring Garden has woodworking beginning in grade 5, and a Greek pentathlon in the same year.

Class ideas:

• Cross-stitch or embroidery, perhaps a needle case or a pouch.
• Sock knitting, over a whole term.
• First woodwork: whittling or carving a simple figure, with an adult who knows the tools.
• Recorder and part singing for the festivals.
• A local walk and map, drawn from above.
• Games of skill and an outdoor pentathlon in spring.

Grades 6 to 8: projects with weight

Older children often want work that's real and hard. Whatcom Hills has stuffed animals from their own patterns in grade 6, dolls and clothing in grade 7, and carved cups and stools in the woodwork shop. Spring Garden adds geometric drawing, charcoal, perspective drawing and choir in these years.

Class ideas:

• Woodwork: a carved spoon, a cup, a small stool.
• Sewing a stuffed animal from a pattern they draw themselves.
• Geometric drawing with compass and ruler.
• Charcoal drawing of light and shadow.
• A festival play, written or adapted and performed for the younger children.
• Service, such as making something for the little ones or helping run a festival.

The Schoolhouse suggests adapting a folk tale into short skits to perform for another co-op group. In a Waldorf-inspired co-op, the older children can do the same with the next festival's story.

If your group has teenagers, Waldorf high school at home covers what comes after grade 8.

The table to copy

Paste this into your co-op's plan and cross out what you won't do.

Age	Handwork	Art	Music and movement	Practical work
Under 3 (with a parent)	Watching an adult knit	Crayons	Songs, finger games	Baking, nature walks
3 to 6	Finger knitting, simple sewing	Beeswax, wet-on-wet with 1 or 2 colors	Circle, singing	Bread, garden, washing up
Grades 1 and 2	Knitting, crochet from grade 2	Wet-on-wet, form drawing	Pentatonic flute, circle games	Gardening, nature hikes
Grade 3	Crochet, spinning wool	Painting from a story	Recorder, singing	Farming, building a shelter
Grades 4 and 5	Cross-stitch, embroidery, socks	Painting animals and landscapes	Recorder, part singing, pentathlon	First woodwork, a local map
Grades 6 to 8	Sewing from a pattern, dolls	Geometric and charcoal drawing	Choir, ensemble	Carving, stools, a festival play

How long should homeschool co-op classes be?

The Schoolhouse suggests blocks of 20 to 30 minutes for preschoolers, with frequent changes. For kindergarten to grade 2 it suggests 40 to 60 minutes, with one main activity and a short sharing circle at the end. Older children can often keep going longer, especially at handwork or woodwork, where the work carries them.

In a Waldorf-inspired morning, a class usually sits inside a steady rhythm of circle, story, snack and time outside. The Waldorf co-op day schedule shows where the class falls in a sample morning.

How many classes should a homeschool co-op have?

A small co-op doesn't need a catalog. One class per age group each morning is enough for most groups, and two is plenty. Each extra class needs another parent teaching at the same time, and another set of materials.

Choose one way to grow:

• Same class, longer: keep one craft for a whole term, like sock knitting, rather than changing each block.
• Two classes side by side: handwork for one group while the other paints, then swap the next week.
• One class for everyone: a craft where each age works at its own level. Our guide to teaching mixed ages in a co-op shows how.

Choosing for your group

Start with the season. Autumn suits lanterns, bread and the garden's last work. Winter suits indoor handwork and painting. Spring brings planting and the outdoor games. Then match each class to the parent who'll teach it. A parent who knits steadily is worth more than a grand plan nobody can lead.

What to do this week

1. List your children by age, and mark their rows in the table.
2. Pick one class per age group for the next block of four to six weeks.
3. Ask one parent to lead each class, and write down what she'll need.
4. Buy or gather materials a week before the block starts.

For a fuller picture of each age group, see a Waldorf co-op for kindergarten, a co-op for grades 1 to 3 and a co-op for grades 4 to 6.