“I’ve been to several school festivals over the years but nothing compares to Winter Light Faire now that our children are attending Prairie Moon. The event was both magical and peaceful. I love how it allowed for the kids to have many hands-on experiences.”

— Heather Schwenk, PMWS Parent

Fairy lights twinkle above heads, the sounds of the flute and violin dance together around the room, as smells of gingerbread and evergreen wafts through the air; all the while children wander from room to room eager to participate in activities as parents reunite with friends and shop through the homemade gifts. Winter Light Faire at Prairie Moon Waldorf School was, once again, upon us.

This past Saturday, December 11th 2021, friends and family of the Prairie Moon Waldorf School community gathered together to celebrate bringing light into the darkest time of year. Winter Light Faire, an annual tradition, is a family-friendly holiday open house that features unique handmade gifts, food, entertainment, and crafts for both children and adults. In keeping with Waldorf’s “whole child” philosophy and nature-based curriculum, the event offers a slate of activities that showcase the unique aspects of Waldorf education.

In the weeks leading up to Winter Light Faire, the community was a buzz. The school was being decorated in beautiful lights and evergreen vines along the hallway floors, transforming it into a winter wonderland. Parents pitched into make handmade items to be sold in the bookstore. All while teachers helped in preparing activities, and decorating their classrooms with beautiful chalkboard drawings. Come the day of the event, the hard work of all those paid off. The school was decorated beautifully, the homemade items available for sale were a hit, and everyone had a wonderful time.

“We attended Winter Light Faire at Prairie Moon Waldorf School and found it to be welcoming and filled to the brim with students and other artists creative work. With classrooms open, we were able to catch a glimpse of the Waldorf philosophy. We’re looking forward to attending again next year. Thank you Prairie Moon!”

— Cris Darmon, WLF Guest

Each classroom of the school brought a different experience at Winter Light Faire. Starting with the Early Childhood classrooms, one was transformed into the perfect theater to put on a puppet show while the other became an excellent place to relax and take a sensory break. In the 1st & 2nd graders classroom was the opportunity to build Gnome Homes and Fairy Houses. With a wide variety of natural materials, participants of all ages were able to create their own magical abodes. These homes were beautiful and left all excited at the possibility of a Fairy or Gnome moving into the house they created for them. After creating their own mystical whereabouts, one could follow their nose to the 3rd & 4th grade classroom, that was hosting a magical scent, to discover gingerbread cookie decorating. Anyone who wanted to could decorate their own cookie, while some made theirs look like them others made theirs look like someone else entirely. After all the fun of decorating their cookies, the inevitable came, it was time to consume the cookie.

After enjoying a delicious gingerbread snack, the opportunity to make a candle holder and snowflake designs was found in the middle school classroom. While designing snowflakes and creating candle holders, all were left wondering two things: What does the final room hold? Why am I making a candle holder with no candle in sight? Moving onto the final room, the handwork & woodworking room, brought the answers to these questions; it was candle making. In this last room one was able to create a candle essentially from scratch. They started with grabbing the wick before moving to the beeswax dipping stations and dipping the wick into the beeswax, forming a candle. After all these activities, all that was left was to shop around the bookstore and with local vendors that brought amazing homemade items, and to eat some delicious lunch.

As familiar and new faces make their way around Winter Light Faire, old friends find their way back to the school. A group of wonderful alumni could not only be found in our puppet show room, serving as excellent puppeteers, but also in our activity rooms, supervising the construction zone of magical abodes, providing the all the best decorations for gingerbread cookies in need of make-overs, and making sure that all candles made had proper candle holders. Some of our alumni joined our amazing musician and music teacher, Maria Anthony, in providing some whimsical holiday tunes that floated throughout the school as guests shopped around. Prairie Moon alumni’s are one of the things that make the community so special. We love seeing them not only come to our events, but also volunteer their time to help make them all the more magical.

Winter Light Faire unites our community, brining together not only existing members but also drawing in new ones and bringing back old ones. It provides the perfect opportunity to get to know members of our community, see unique aspects of the school, and maybe start some of that holiday shopping.

Winter Light Faire will return in December 2022 to Prairie Moon Waldorf School. We hope to see you there.