Annual Steiner Waldorf Education Conference Saturday 3rd Oct 2026

Early Years Focus Workshops

Rhythmic-musical speech, singing, and hand gesture games

from Wilma Ellersiek’s "Bringing joy, giving love"

with Ulrike Farnleitner & Stella Huth

This workshop offers a brief introduction to the work of Wilma Ellersiek. We will practice a variety of games and songs based on the mood of the fifth. We will discuss and work on their supportive effects of the rhythmic structure in our daily work and life with children. The focus will be on nurturing the vitality of both children and educators, as well as developing a healthy form of gesture and language.

Leave the baby on the floor! Pikler method

with Veronica Crombie

The Pikler approach to infant care, emphasises trusting in the baby’s own innate knowing, when it comes to movement in the first year of life. This workshop will explore the parent/carer’s role – from respectful, child-centred care to setting up an appropriate environment in which the child can safely explore, developing agility, curiosity, joy and confidence as they teach themselves to roll, crawl and stand at their own pace and in their own way.

This workshop is for parents, future parents, educators in early childhood settings and those teaching students of Early Childhood Studies, as well as anyone interested in babies.

Childhood as a State of Consciousness

with Lina Palaez

At this workshop I will share how the domestic activities and the relationship between the educators and the children can become the basis that helps us to create a home experience for the young child. We will discuss 'childhood as a state of consciousness' and how to create a nurturing environment where young children feel safe, where they feel at home.