A Winter Term Plan for a Waldorf-Inspired Co-op: Advent to Candlemas, With Indoor Days

A winter term for a Waldorf-inspired co-op can run from the start of Advent to Candlemas on 2 February, with a break for the holidays in the middle. In the four Advent weeks, the nature table fills week by week: stones first, then plants, animals and people. January is quieter, with stories of seeds and animals asleep under the snow, and a lot of handwork indoors. The term ends with candles made at Candlemas. Below is that term week by week, and a plan for the mornings you can't go out.

Where this term sits

If your co-op follows two semesters, your autumn term may already end with an Advent spiral. The first co-op term plan and the autumn term plan both close in December. In that case, start this plan at week 6 and use the Advent weeks for next year. This version is for groups that like to hold the dark of the year as one stretch, from the first Advent candle to the Candlemas light.

The term at a glance

For the northern hemisphere, meeting once a week.

Week	Timing	Story	Hands	Festival
1	Late November	The light of stones: a story of a crystal cave	Stones and crystals on the nature table	First Advent candle
2	Early December	The light of plants: a seed in the winter ground	Pine cones, berries, evergreen	St Nicholas, near 6 December
3	Early December	The light of animals: the animals find shelter	Beeswax animals	Advent spiral
4	Mid-December	The light of people: a family by the fire	Handwork gifts	Last morning before the break, a shared meal
	Holiday break
5	Early January	Winter under the snow	Free painting in blues and white
6	January	The seed story continues	Knitting or finger knitting
7	January	Animals asleep in their burrows	Beeswax modeling
8	Late January	The first stirring under the ground	Roll beeswax candles	Learn a Candlemas song
9	Near 2 February	The old woman of winter and the bringer of spring	Dip candles	Candlemas
10	February	The story ends	Finish handwork	End-of-term meeting

The Advent weeks (weeks 1 to 4)

Davis Waldorf School marks Advent with a verse for each week: the light of stones, of plants, of animals and of people. Classes with nature tables add to them each week, it says, with stones or crystals first, then berries or pine cones, and so on. A co-op can borrow that shape whole. Each week, the children bring one thing from home for the nature table, and the story follows the same kingdom.

• In week 1, stones, shells and crystals. Light the first candle at circle.
• In week 2, pine cones, evergreen, dried berries. If you keep St Nicholas, Davis Waldorf School describes children leaving out their shoes for small treats around 6 December. A co-op might do it on the nearest morning.
• In week 3, small animals, made from beeswax or brought from home. This is a good morning for the spiral. Lay evergreen branches in a spiral on the floor of a darkened room, with one candle at the center. Each child walks in with an unlit candle in an apple, lights it, and sets it down on the way out. The Advent spiral page has the details.
• In week 4, people. Tell a story of a family gathered at home, finish the gifts, and share a meal before the break.

Some groups also keep Santa Lucia in these weeks. At Davis Waldorf School, second graders walk through the school in white, singing and offering bread or cookies. In a co-op, the older children could carry a tray of buns to the younger ones at snack.

After the break (weeks 5 to 8)

January mornings can feel long and gray, and that's fine. Let this be the quietest stretch of the co-op year.

Choose one story for all four weeks, told in parts: a seed asleep under snow, or animals in their burrows waiting for spring. Hawthorne Valley School writes of early February as a time to turn toward "the seemingly invisible forces hard at work underneath the hard and frozen earth." A story in that mood suits the children and the weather.

Handwork carries these weeks. Finger knitting for the youngest, needles for the older ones, and a basket for each child that stays at co-op. Running a handwork class in a co-op covers the baskets and how many knitters one adult can help. Beeswax needs warm hands, so let the children hold it a while before they shape it.

Keep outdoor time if you can. WECAN notes that young children can't yet regulate their own temperature well, and that in colder climates they need several layers, and hats in all weathers. Send a clothing list home before January, and keep a spare-clothes basket.

Candlemas (weeks 8 to 10)

Candlemas falls on 2 February, halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The Minnesota Waldorf School calls it "a celebration day of renewal and hope" that takes its name from the making and blessing of new candles.

In week 8, the children roll candles from sheets of beeswax. No heat is needed, so young children can often manage it alone. In week 9, if you have enough adults, dip candles. The Minnesota Waldorf School's grades dip outdoors, with hot cider by a fire and three stations that each need tending. The candles are kept for the next year's winter spiral. That's a lovely habit for a co-op too: the candles made in February light the spiral the following December. The Waldorf School of Tampa Bay calls its bonfire and candle dipping its "most casual festival of the year."

Tell a Candlemas story in the same week. Hawthorne Valley's second graders heard one about the old woman of winter and St Brigid, the bringer of spring. The Candlemas page has a song and more on the festival, and Waldorf seasonal crafts has the candle crafts step by step.

Week 10 finishes the story and the handwork. Book half an hour with the parents afterwards to talk about the term.

A plan for indoor days

Agree as a group what keeps you in, and write it down. Outdoor time at a co-op covers weather and spare clothes. When the day comes, keep the order of the morning the same, and swap out only the outdoor part. Here's a plan to copy and change:

1. Arrival: free play with baskets of wool, cloths and wooden blocks.
2. Circle, made longer: add a movement verse where the children walk, crouch and stretch as the story goes.
3. Story: as usual.
4. Snack.
5. Indoor games instead of outdoors: one or two from games for a Waldorf-inspired co-op, such as a singing game in a ring.
6. Handwork or beeswax.
7. Closing verse, and home.

Keep a box ready with everything the indoor morning needs, so no one has to plan it at 7am.

Planning notes for winter

• Order beeswax sheets, wicks and dipping wax in the autumn. You'll want them in January, and it's easier to have them in the cupboard.
• Collect evergreen for the spiral only a day or two before, so it's still fresh.
• Winter brings coughs and colds, and a few children missing is normal. If your group hasn't agreed when a child stays home, a co-op sick policy has one to adapt.
• Afternoons get dark early. If you hold the spiral or Candlemas as a family gathering, put the date and time on the calendar a month ahead.
• Give each story to one parent for the whole four weeks, and hand it over before the break.

If you'd like the stories and crafts laid out for you, Starpath gives a co-op a shared Waldorf-inspired program with the festival year and a group calendar. Running your co-op on it is free.

When the days lengthen, the spring term plan picks up from Candlemas.