Favorite Fall Tales for Waldorf Kindergarten

This is NOT an all-inclusive list, just a few of my favorites for the season!

For Four Year Olds:

For September: (and many of these could work for October or November as well!)

Anything from Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Tales” – I love
“Pipper’s Wild Plum Pie” and “The Apple Elves”

The Pancake Mill from “Let Us Form A Ring”

The Enormous Turnip

The Little Light Horse from “Plays for Puppets”

“The Apple Star”

Any of the wonderful Michaelmas stories available – Melisa Nielsen has a story in her “Before the Journey” book, Suzanne Down has “Little Boy Knight” in her “Autumn Tales”, in the book “An Overview of the Waldorf Kindergarten” (the pink book) try “Michaelmas Story of the Star Children” or “Michael and the Dragon”

For October:

Suzanne Down’s “How WitchamaRoo Became the Pocket Witch” from “Autumn Tales”

“The Naughty Hobgoblin” from “Let Us Form A Ring”

“The Anxious Leaf” try www.mainlesson.com

Suzanne Down’s “Why Trees Turn Colors in Autumn” from “Autumn Tales”

For November:

Stone Soup – a song version can be found in “Let Us Dance And Sing”

Melisa Nielsen has a simple story of Saint Martin in her “Before the Journey” book

Suzanne Down’s “Autumn Bear” from “Autumn Tales”

“Autumn Story” from Autumn Wynstones about Hedgy Hedgehog

For December:

Suzanne Down’s “How the Robin Got Its Red Breast” from her newsletter

“St. Nicholas and the Star Children” from Winter Wynstones

The Gingerbread Man

For Five Year Olds:

For September:

Any of the above plus:

Song version of “The Three Little Pigs” as found in “Let Us Dance And Sing” could be personalized with fall details as could “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” or The Brothers Grimm Tale “Little Red Cap”

For October:

Any of the above plus:

Elizabeth Thompson Dillingham’s “A Halloween Story”

For November:

Any of the above plus

“Spindlewood”, found in “Let Us Form A Ring”

“Mashenka and the Bear” found in “Plays for Puppets

“The Seed Babies’ Blanket” – try www.mainlesson.com

“The Elder Brother” also try www.mainlesson.com

“Sweet Porridge” many versions out there!

For December:

Any of the above

“The Elves and The Shoemaker” from The Brothers Grimm

The Story of the Christmas Rose

“The Mitten”

For Six Year Olds:

Any of the above plus:

September:

I love “The Hut in the Forest” by The Brothers Grimm – you could add fall details or spring details and tell it any time you like!

October:

The Bremen Town Musicians by The Brothers Grimm

November:

Any of the wonderful Native American tales – many are reprinted in issues of “Gateways” available through www.waldorflibrary.org

December:

“The Star Money” from The Brothers Grimm

“Little Grandmother Evergreen”

“Mother Holle” would be nice for January or “The Snow Maiden” from “Plays for Puppets”

Be sure to add YOUR personal favorites in the comment section below! Share with other mothers and help them! Also, don’t forget to tell some of the same stories year to year as children love the repetition!

Love,

Carrie

26 thoughts on “Favorite Fall Tales for Waldorf Kindergarten”

One version of “Stone Soup” that I really like is “Some Friends to Feed: The Story of Stone Soup” by Pete Seeger and Paul Dubois Jacobs. I think there’s even a song at the back to accompany by Pete.

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I love stone soup! For two and three year olds I love really simple stories – I’ve posted one on my blog, and I have another one I just need to type up! Stories for these younger children need to be very simple, and while mums can easily make it up, I always find it helpful to have a guide 🙂

Thanks for this list – its wonderful. I just love the richness of information on your blog – it really is am amazing resource for Waldorf parents!

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oh! thank you Carrie for this!
we are new to waldorf & i have just read ‘the enormous turnip’ to my 4 yo each day this week, while my first grader makes our snack. We will be having a different story each week, so this is a great resource for me.
Thank you again
Lynn

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Carrie on September 5, 2009 at 7:54 AM said:

Lynn, One thing you might consider is telling one story for two to four weeks at a time….You can bring different activities to the story (drama, puppets, modeling with salt dough, etc)…That really helps cut down on the number of stories you have to memorize and also fulfills the need for the story to live in the soul of the young child. They really should be able to say parts of it along with you by the end of the month!
Hope that helps,
Carrie

oh, Carrie! I hadnt thought of that. What a lovely idea.
1 story per month, here, then 🙂
Thank you for the ideas of different activities

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Thanks for the awesome list! Where did you find Suzanne Down’s _Autumn Tales_? I can’t seem to find it online anywhere in the US. Thanks!

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Carrie on September 14, 2009 at 8:20 PM said:

Rudolf Steiner College Bookstore carries this book. I highly recommend it for wee ones – that and her “Spring Tales”. To my knowledge all the stories are copyrighted and not available on-line. Suzanne Down does have a newsletter you can subscribe to though that has a story and craft every so often…Also, check back issues of Living Crafts as many times she has had a story and craft in there..:)