keeping our children warm...

i'll admit it.  i'm a huge 'children need to wear hats' advocate.  and unabashedly so.  young children need to wear hats!  my three year old, who was as bald as any baby can be, has been and is now...never without a hat if she is outside.  even into the spring (and that's pretty warm here in texas).  and most definitely in the fall and winter.  but when i look around, there just aren't enough hats to be seen.  so why the obsession with hats?  what interesting waldorf tradition do we have here?

young children do not have a fully developed sense for temperature (their own, or that around them) until they are around 7 years old (yet another hallmark of the seven year change).  until that time, they are dependent on us to dress them appropriately.  rudolf steiner, the founder of waldorf education and it's inherent philosophy, believed that one of the most critical gifts we can give our children is to make sure they are sufficiently warm.  in fact, the waldorf philosophy speaks in terms of a child's body needing to be warm enough to 'properly receive the soul'.  and since the majority of warmth leaves via the head (and this is especially true for younger children)...that means keeping their head covered.  

ideally, natural fibers should be used...as they hold living properties and are comforting and soothing to the child. whether it be warm and cozy wool in the fall and winter, silk in the spring or cool cotton in the summer. many waldorf supporters feel that no child under one year should ever be without a hat, inside or out (a silk hat is probably the best during this first year as silk is sensitive to temperature needs, keeping the child warm but not too warm).  and up and through the second birthday, every child should have a hat on when outdoors (wool is naturally the warmest and best for outdoor activities).

 

so let's hear it for hats, and keeping our children's heads covered!

- hand dyed upcycled green wool hat

- pumpkin orange wool hat

- pink silk pilot cap

 

yours in warmth,

  

shelley