I can't help it, I have to tweek the tradition Waldorf festivals to match us- I love the notion of taking a lantern walk through a dark night as we enter the dark time of the year. It is reflective of the season and how we can sometimes struggle to keep our inner fire burning and literally keep warm in the cold months.
It would not surprise you to hear also that I love the folklore of the troll mythology and folklore that is in our stories, particullarly from Norway, Sweden, and Scandinavia. So this being our 3rd year of lantern walks we did a simple family walk up to our neighborhood park with lanterns and a dessert picnic. And this park so happens to have a little trail that circles the park where we get to cross 3 bridges!
So our Lantern Walk had a definite troll influence. We talked about how the cold, dark months can often cause our troll natures to come out but that mom and dad would always love them and help them keep their warmth inside. We enjoyed some troll nose print cookies and hot cider in a bench on the trail trying to find trolls that had turned into stones and trees before we came on home.
The winter is a fun season, but not without its challenges. My oldest has waves of the blues that he gets that really brings out his inner troll, but we ebb and flow and continue to try and find a simple family activity that helps bring us a closer.
A friendly family troll had some presents in his neck pouch for the boys, just a couple gold coins for their savings jars. It is good to know there are other waldorf toymakers out there that are keen on trolls! You should check out her lovely work.
Our troll noseprint cookies were inspired by Jan Brett's newest book out called Home for Christmas, I had the opportunity to do a booksigning with her many years ago and I get her newsletter still when her new books come out. The new book is one of her many with trolls- I recommend it, all about how trolls lose their tails! Since our noses are not quite a pointing and long as a troll we only made a couple with our noses!
Boys in bed, I talked hubby into watching the foreign mockumentary Troll Hunter with me. This was at our well known True False Film Festival last year and was not well received, but I have to be honest, I thought it was a hoot- cracked me up. It was a treat for this troll loving mama, even down to the Loganberry reference! Not for kiddos though. Now my brain is swimming with ideas I need to sketch for some holiday trolls for the shop! Be on the watch, I have a feeling that one will show up as a give-away this week (hint hint)
Enjoy your Sunday- hope your lantern walks were good. If nothing else, I highly recommend going out and have a dessert picnic by candlelight just for the heck of it!
