in maya's class this year at our waldorf school (grade 2), the children were encouraged to make valentine's gifts for each of their classmates (30 total). as explained by her class teacher at our parent meeting earlier this year, this exercise is in place to act as a bit of a precurser for the development of their will forces before the onset of simple homework during grade 3. the only requirements were that the gift be handmade (all similar, with only their own name, as the giver, somewhere on the gift) and done entirely, from beginning to end, by the child (no help from parents)! maya decided early on that she wanted to do a watercolor heart, adorned with gold and silver paint pens...
over the course of 3-4 days, she...prepared the watercolor paints and paper, painted four large rainbow paintings (letting them dry overnight), traced and cut out 36 hearts (which included extras to allow for any mistakes), drew a simple border and wrote 'happy valentine's day' on the front of each heart, and wrote 'from maya' on the back (often singing as she worked!)...
i must say i was duly impressed with her forethought, diligence and perseverance on this creative project, as well as the beauty of each piece of artwork she created in the process and lovingly gave to her classmates.
