Please, Can We Play Games?

“Please, can we play games now?” is a frequent plea in the early childhood classroom. Children explore and relate to their world through play, and something magical happens when it’s time for games and a caring adult dons the cloak of playful lightheartedness. A regular offering of appropriate games in the early childhood curriculum can create a powerful atmosphere for healthy development. Between teacher and children a safe harbor springs up—a place where trust, interest, joy, and an enthusiasm for learning is kindled. Rudolf Steiner expressed many times that children thrive in an atmosphere of joy, warmth, and love. He also stressed the importance of imitation in early childhood. The Waldorf early childhood classroom strives to be a place where children want to follow their teacher’s worthy example. Please, Can We Play Games? offers the author’s forty years of creating, collecting, and playing traditional and original verses, songs, and games for early childhood circle time or home play. As you make your way through the pages of this book, may you enjoy your own personal harvest of food for the young child’s body, soul, and spirit. Perhaps for you too!

Ruth Ker is a mother of two grown children who were educated in the Waldorf school that she pioneered on Vancouver Island, in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada. She has been a teacher of early childhood education for over thirty years, first in mainstream education and then at Sunrise Waldorf School. She is a member of the WECAN board.