The Handwork teacher

I am a mother to two beautiful girls and I teach Handwork and Fine Arts in our local waldorf charter school in Arizona.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Michaelmas time....Michaelmas time...time is turning under the plow


Michaelmas time....Michaelmas time...time is turning under the plow

I would love to hear what you are doing at your school too....and what you are doing for Martinmas

Michaelmas is a season not just a day. It extends from Sep 29th (the feast of St. Michael) to Oct 31st (all hallows eve)
since it's 109 degrees outside, we will celebrate Michaelmas later.

Michaelmas Festival

Thursday, October 8th 2009

8:00 parent volunteers arrive to set up field
8:45- Kindergarten comes onto the field
9:00 1st and 2nd grade come out to the field
9:15 3rd and 4th grade come out to the field ---Kindergarten leaves the field
9:30 5th and 6th grade (they should have snack before coming on the field) come to the field
9:45 7th and 8th grade (they should have snack before coming on the field) come to the field
10:00 1st and 2nd go back to class and have snack
10:15 3rd and 4th go back to class and have snack
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10:30- Families arrive and Students assemble on grassy knoll
10:40 welcomes everyone and faculty sings
10:45 2nd grade performs the Michaelmas play
10:55- 9th grade sward dance
11:00 – dragon appears and St Michael tames the dragon in front of the black smith
11:15- 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th , 9th line up for food at tent station ONE
2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th line up for food at tent station TWO
Parents line up with their children
Everyone must have their order form in hand

12:30 1st-9th go back to classroom for Michaelmas treat, clean up and verse
12:30 parents help to clean up the activities/ break down festival

12:45 dismissal (half day for ALL students)




Michaelmas field activities
Each class must stay together. Most of the activities are for a group. Cheer each other on and encourage group camaraderie Your class must wait till everyone is done with one station before moving to the next.


Station 1 Hay bale maze
Station 2 /3 Obstacle course
Jump Rope run through ropes always going

Station 4 Potato sack race (
Station 5 Tug of war
Station 6 Hula Hoop Marathon.

Station 7 Marble Toes.

Mark with lime or paint an area on the grass a foot or two in diameter. Cover the area with marbles. (You could set up several areas so groups of students can do the activity at the same time.) Students take off their shoes and socks and attempt to pick up marbles using only their toes. How many marbles can each student pick up in 60 seconds?


Station 8 Shoe Kick.

Have students loosen one shoe so their toes still are in it. From a marked starting line, students kick that shoe into the air. Record the distance the shoe travels. Students might take a running start, or not; they are disqualified if they take a running start and kick from the wrong side of the starting line.

Station 9 Froggy Finds a Pad.

Give each student five beanbags; each beanbag represents a frog. Spread over the game area a dozen lily pads. (Upside down Frisbees might represent the lily pads.) How many frogs can each student toss onto a lily pad?

Station 10 Balance Beam/BeanBag Walk.

Students get into a close caterpillar line, all students have bean bags on their head. They start to walk on the balance beam (several children are on the balance bean at the same time…no gaps in the line) if your bean bag falls off your head, you have to stand out. If you walk across successfully you go back to the end of the line and do it again.

2 comments:

Cadi said...

I love all the Michaelmas songs. Our Michaelmas all-school play is on Thursday. We will also test our strength in an all-school tug-o-war & have homemade applesauce for snack. I'm so looking forward to the celebration. What does your school do for Michaelmas?

Sarah said...

Our play is Friday. Liz is finally in the dragon. Helen performs the sword dance and is in the orchestra. Our activities happen after school with massive quantities of apple crisp, obstacle course & relay races, lots of apple activities, and a middle-school woodsmen event.