Art, Exploration and Loving Care
Logo concept design by Preterra
Logo Edits, finalization and Watercolor painting by MICHAEL GAUGHAN
Resources
We are delighted to share some of our favorites. We hope you enjoy. None of the following are affiliated with
Orb Weaver Preschool.
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We feel so aligned with the the teachings and insights that Chinyelu has to offer and feel so grateful to have this resource to support our parenting and general practice. Not only does she offer a podcast for adults, but she also has created a storytelling podcast for children. We are thrilled to feature these resources on our site and hope that your family can also find joy and truth in these episodes.
At Wilded Family, we believe that hands-on learning is the key to inspiring curiosity in children. We provide beautiful, sustainable products for homeschool, waldorf, and unschooling that are designed to help kids thrive without stress.
Quality children's clothing made with quality materials for all seasons.
Sowwell Tots is a Black owned and run nature preschool in Bernardston, MA. We are so inspired by Bessie and the beautiful program she has built. Follow along with her on Instagram and check out her website and YouTube channel.
This is a local Waldorf inspired craft studio and shop located in Linden Hills Minneapolis. We adore Mrs. Lisa and her magical space. Here you can buy many staples: quality art supplies, wooden crafts for painting, wooden toys, wool, felt, felting foam and needles, fairy house decor, silks, wool ornaments, mini dolls, books, beeswax and so much more! Additionally, this is a craft studio where you can choose projects from the craft menu to complete in the shop. All supplies will be provided and guidance offered. Mrs.Lisa even offers summer camps, birthday parties, preschool festivals and occasional adult classes!
A huge and beautiful array of Heirloom toys for little ones that encourage open ended play!
Made from Non -Toxic materials
We love following along with Wondergarten on Intsagram. Wondergarten is located in Puyallup, WA. We appreciate their beautiful rhythm, quality activities and play spaces. One really special thing that we look forward to is seeing Mr. Nathaniel's chalk board drawings each month. These are then turned into prints and sold on their website.
Kinoko Kids is a local go to for us when it comes to buying toys, art supplies and books for our home... oh! and outfitting our children. We appreciate the quality selections, cute atmosphere and heart to hearts with the owners.
"Our focus is on quality, open ended toys from around the world with a focus on toys from Europe, America, and Japan. We also carry a wonderful selection of children's books, art and craft supplies, practical goods, and a curated selection of vintage clothes for kids." - Tammy & Erika
Truly Magical, comical and so much fun! We are so grateful for Open Eye! We have hosted several Open eye shows over the last few years and we absolutely love every one of them! We feel so grateful to have access to hosting driveway tours as well as attending shows that they host in their theater and around the city!
"Open Eye Theatre:
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Produces and presents profound experiences that open eyes, hearts, and minds through unforgettable performances in theatre, puppetry, live music, dance, and storytelling.
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Provides a springboard for emerging artists to make career-defining leaps and a sanctuary for established artists to experiment and innovate.
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Strengthens, unites, and celebrates multiple communities by offering unique programming in our theatre and throughout the Twin Cities."
So much love for this instagram page that is constantly inspiring me to source recycled materials and couple them with beautiful things from nature in order to create precious and practical decor, gifts and other useful items.
Our goto for books written by Indigenous/ BIPOC authors for both children and adults!
"Birchbark Books is operated by a spirited collection of people who believe in the power of good writing, the beauty of handmade art, the strength of Native culture, and the importance of small and intimate bookstores. Our books are lovingly chosen. Our store is tended with care."
Is there anything more enchanting than combining story telling with circus performance? Our family adores our time spent watching these breathtaking works performed by these incredibly gifted children! Circus Juventas offers a one of a kind experience and is such a great program to support! ...and if you attend a show you can even count on vegan hot dogs being served at concessions!
Black Garnet Books is a Black owned book store that offers books for both children and adults that celebrate diversity and the lgbtq+ community.
"Black Garnet Books exists to address racial inequality within the publishing and literary industries, both nationally and within the state of Minnesota. In an effort to do so, we’ve curated our shelves to focus on literature by authors and illustrators of color, ensuring that any purchase made at our store directly supports the continued telling of our stories."
These Shows have become traditions in our household to attend on or around Halloween each year. We always look forward to sharing space with the community and enjoying these deeply thoughtful performances ~ rich in symbolism and honor of the earth and all of it's inhabitants.
HOTB offers a monthly story time for children and the community. It is every 1st saturday at 10:30am. Songs, stories, puppetry and activities. Masks can be tried on and puppets can be rented from their puppet library for two week intervals! Orb Weaver Preschool will be incorporating the HOTB puppets into festivals, events, puppet shows and our circle time songs and we are so excited!
We absolutely cherish our many MayDay celebrations spent attending the breathtaking and powerful parade that HOTB put on for the community, with the community. We cherish our time creating puppets and building friendships during our time in the theatre. We grieve the absence of our communities parade but we still value the intention behind those who have taken over HOTB.
(We love you Sandy!! Thank you for everything!)
"BareBones Productions is a Minneapolis-based 501(c)(3) performing arts non-profit. We operate as a collective of visual and performing artists to produce visionary parade sections, outdoor installations, and spectacle performances, generally involving stilting, bicycles, and great big puppets."
"Since 1973, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre has helped to create and cultivate the puppetry community in the Twin Cities. We are a world-renowned theater recognized for our large scale puppets and political activism. We have brought some of the most talented puppeteers to Minneapolis while maintaining a strong connection to the local puppet community.
In the HEART of the BEAST (HOBT) is a community of artists working within our larger community to create magic together. We make puppets large and small—monstrous, beautiful, silly, human, plant, animal, you name it. We use gesture, voice, form, and color, giving life to puppets that help tell stories to represent the world as it is and as we dream it could be"
(Lake Owasso County Park)
"Bread and Puppet is one of the oldest, nonprofit, political theatre companies in the country." Located in VT. We had the immense privilege of seeing a Bread & Puppet show here in Minneapolis when they came to In The Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. We are so inspired by this company and love having their beautiful posters hanging in our home.
We feel so blessed to be located near so many great nature centers, nature play areas and trails. Being in harmony in/ with nature is such a gift and truly heals and holds you gently and consciously in the present moment. So much to explore and discover in the natural world. There is only one nature center in our very own city and that is Karl Kroening. Beyond that Here is a list of the Nature Centers nearest to the Twin Cities.
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Dodge Nature Center
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Eastman Nature Center
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Harriet Alexander Nature Center
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Lowry Nature Center
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Maplewood Nature Center
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Richardson Nature Center
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Springbrook Nature Center
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Tamarack Nature Center
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Wargo Nature Center
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Westwood Hills Nature Center
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​Wood Lake Nature Center
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We love being in the Turnblad Mansion. It is such a beautiful and inviting space. Our children love playing in the children's room. With dreamy illustrations, open ended toys and plenty of space to move about~ this makes for a lovely outing! Also they offer early childhood programming for children and their caregivers.
"At Bella Luna Toys, we take pride in the fact that our company was the very first online source for Waldorf toys and supplies. Since 2002, we have been in the business of providing high-quality toys with an emphasis on Waldorf toys. At Bella Luna Toys, we believe children’s toys should be beautiful to behold and contribute to a child’s “sense of life.” As Plato so eloquently recognized, “the most effective kind of education is that a child should play amongst lovely things.” Everything we do at Bella Luna Toys is designed to foster creative and open-ended play and allow for childhood to be filled with magic."
"Palumba's selection of products are carefully selected to ensure they are made of wood, wool, silk and cotton along with other natural materials.
Palumba is the only retailer that features the complete Camden Rose line. Camden Rose Inc. is our manufacturing name and Camden Rose's commitment to durability, beauty and natural and renewable materials make them the American leader in eco-friendly natural toy and children's furniture design. A handful of items come from a women's cooperative in Peru while the majority of items are made in the USA."
"There are Over 1,100 Waldorf (or Waldorf-inspired) schools and 1,700 Waldorf kindergartens in some 80 countries around the globe."
This film takes you on a journey through Waldorf classrooms around the world and gives you sense of how thoughtful and truly magical this approach to education is. It's such a treat to be able to see how this model of education can be adapted to the the unique cultures that exist wherever a school is built. The inclusion of all walks of life and the devotion to honoring and nourishing ALL ~ is deeply inspiring.
A great goto for bringing your vision of dreamy play spaces to life both indoors and out. They offer safe and non toxic wooden structures for children of all ages that can be used for open ended play.
I love this shop's huge selection of wooden toys with an emphasis on wooden animals as well as their cool selection of felted play food! Such a great goto for building our homes meaningful collection of toys for the children.
We love following this beautiful human/mother/gardener/medicine maker/doula! She lovingly demonstrates a divine connection with the earth and pregnancy and raising babies in a web of complete sacredness.
If you are looking for dreamy projects and activities follow along with woodlark!
Endlessly inspired by this person. It's such a treat to follow along with her instagram and see all of the beautiful things she is doing and making. She is currently taking a social media break and has removed her account. She also announced that she will be closing her e-book shop last year sadly but perhaps one day she will open it up and share her offerings with the community again. Worth checking back FORSURE!
DollBelge has the actual CUTEST handmade, handheld dolls! We are obsessed! What a magical gift or collection to build. Great for rotating in for seasonal play. Pictured here are our favorite fruit and vegetable dolls but there are also spring, autumn and winter dolls! Not all are foods.