Colors of the Day

The Colors of the Day

• Monday - purple
• Tuesday - red
• Wednesday - yellow
• Thursday - orange
• Friday - green
• Saturday - indigo blue
• Sunday - white
  
  

I first read about Steiner's Colors of the Day in the A Little Garden Flower Kindergarten curriculum book and I loved the idea. I'm always on the lookout for ideas to include in our home rhythms and using color sounded like it would be fun as well as easy to implement.

The Waldorf Kindergarten Snack Bookalso talks about the colors of the day.  This lovely little book encouraged me to begin adding them to our diet.


Why I use the Colors of the Day:

• they add another layer to the rhythm of our daily and weekly lives 
• my children learn their colors in a natural, gentle way
• from a practical standpoint, it simplifies getting the children dressed each day 
• it gives us another aspect of nature and the world around us to appreciate
• it helps to encourage my children to try new foods
  
• it is FUN! 
  

How I DO NOT Use the Colors of the Day

I am subtle about it. I do not announce, "Hey, it is RED day! Lets do ALL red, ALL the time!" and we don't dress in head to toe in only red (that would be silly and maybe even a little creepy). We don't eat only red foods or play with only red toys.

I am not strict about it. I don't chastise them if they want to use yellow crayons on red day or have their heart set on the blue mug for their morning milk. This is supposed to be an enjoyable and fun layer to our rhythm, not a rigid rule meant to quash every one's freewill or personal preference.

How I DO Implement the Colors
I try to present the colors so they are woven into the fabric of our life and keep it simple.  This is another layer meant to enrich our daily lives, not make them more complicated.

• a tablecloth or cloth napkins on the table in the color
• watercolor painting or using beeswax crayons to create artwork in the colors
• serve lunch or dinner on a platter or in a bowl of that color
• put a vase of flowers or a candle that color on the table
• take a walk outside and try to find the day's color
• clothing - not head to toe, sometimes just an accent like a hair bow or socks
• serve fruit and/or veggies in that color
• we love smoothies in the colors of the day (even green smoothies)
• if I'm wearing an apron that day, I pick an apron in that color
• we have dyed playsilks in the colors of the day
• we have made rainbow play dough clay
  

The Colors of the Day and the Laundry
Using the colors of the day makes the laundry and organizing our closets simpler.  It is also simplifying our clothing purchases. I have aspirations that eventually each child will have 14 outfits for every day wear, or enough for 2 weeks of clothing, and that I will just have to do laundry twice a month. This hasn't happened yet, but we are transitioning as each child grows up into the next clothing size.  A laundry-weary mom can dream, can't she?

In the book Heaven on Earth: A Handbook for Parents of Young Childrenby Sharifa Oppenheimer, she talks about what her dream children's clothing line would be:

"washable all cotton, wool, and silk blended knits, in a rainbow palette of gorgeous solid colors, so everything matched with everything."

Keeping clothing choices simple and basic makes makes it easier to get the children dressed each day.  It also makes it simple for my oldest child to get herself dressed. 

I hope this post gives you some ideas on how you can incorporate color into your daily lives.  I hope it also gives some insight into what I mean when I list the color on my daybook entries. Using color this ways has been a fun little addition to our week and one that doesn't take a lot of effort.

(note:  is has been a busy week here at RG, so I'm republishing this post from 2009)