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 ABOUT
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Thecolored stripes,blue,yellow,andned,standfor thesky,thesunlight,

andunden theearth,respectively, andareanimaginative wayto guidethe
child'spninting, if needed. Forinstance, theteachen cansaythetall letters
s t ic ku pi n t ot h es k y ,t h es m allle tte r sliketo b a skin th esu n sh inaen, dth e
"9"digsdowndeepin theearth.
Thestningtyingthebooklet togethen is calleda twizzleandis made
with thneestrandsof cottonyarn,eachabouta yarcJ long.Tomake,two
people holdthethneestninqs together at"opposite encjs anrjeachtwiststhem
theopposite wayuntilthethreestrands aretightlytwisted.Thenoneperson
graspsthetwistedstringsin themiddleandtheotherperson holdsthetwo
endstogether above theperson holding themin themiddle.Theperson holding
themiddleinches his f ingersupthestrands fromthefoldandnragic happens I
Theytwist together belowhisf ingersandforma ropeI When hereaches the
top,someone ties theraw endstogether in anoverhand knot.Thesemake
wonderful bracelets, necklaces, andbookties.
 FORM
DRAWING
FORTHE
HOI1ESCHOOLING
PARENT

Barbara5. Dewey
Educati
onalConsul
tant
89900Nill lJill Road
Bowerston0H 44695
6t4-269-3038
Rev.3/98
 Thisnecessarily briefdiscussion of formdrawing will doubtless leave
theneader with manyunanswered questions, buthopefully curiousenough to
readthereferences in thebibliography.
Formdrawingis donein grades| -5 in WaldorfSchools. Formdrawing
worksontheethericbodysothat in sleeptheformsare "corrected."
"Correction" bringsharmony to theethericbody,which,in turn,brings
harmony to the physicalbody.Thisprocess involves workingwith thehighest
spirit beings.Thustheteacher mustbringfonmdnawing to thechildren with
greatreverence but also with joy and imagination.
Formdrawingworkswith thefour lowensenses: life, touch,movement,
andbalance,lf thesefoursenses areproperlydeveloped in childhood, thefour
highersenses whichdepend onthemwill bebetterableto develop later. (See
Soesman, Albert,TheTwelveSenses.) Oneshould thusbeawareof theinward
experience whendoingformdrawing.
All formsin theuniverse aremadeupof linesandcurves.Theline is
relatedto thinking, thecurveto thewill, anda combination of thetwo,to
feeling.
In a Waldorfschooltheformis first drawnbythe teacher, whousually
tells a storyaboutit. Thenthechildren walktheform,drawit in theair,ona
chalkboard or in the sand,and,with their fingeronly,onpaper. Thenthey
standupto drawit with the crayon heldverticallyonlarge pieces of paper,
lightlyat f irst. Thechildgoesoverandoverthesamelineswith a f lowing
rhythmicmotion,dankening themgradually. Taught formallyin this way,it is
verymeaningful.
Home-schooling parents I haveinterviewed whohavesomefamiliarity
with the Waldorfschool presentation of formdrawingfelt veryinadequate to
teachit. tlanyparents, to start with, feelveryinadequate abouttheirown
abilityto drawanything. Theyalsofeelvenyfoolishstanding upandmaking
their one childstandupto drawa simpleformona venylargepieceof paper.
I doformdrawingveryformallywith mygrandson everyweek,andhelovesit.
Looktng back,however to mydaysasa parentof I yearolds,I don'tthinkI
couldhavemustered thenerveto doit with themin quitethis way.
l-lowever, I recommend that a parenttakea workshop with a goodform
drawingteacher, and then arrange to doit formally with a groupof children,
evenjust neighborhood children.Thereis something veryspecialto children,
anychildren,aboutmakingformdrawings in theformalway.Theytakethe
forminto their wholeself. Theylovedoingit. Theylovespeculating about
whatthenextformwill be,andtheylovewalkingthem.
Theelements of formdnawing areribbonor running forms,f iguresl-8, A
andB; symmetry/vertical, f igures9- | 6; metamorphosis/transformation,
f igures2,5, 6, 17-22,26>28; circleandspiral,f igunes 4, | | , 2l ,23-34,D,E,
F; invisiblelineforms,figures9, 10,19,20,a, e.
Formdrawingis oftendonefirst thingeveryMonday morning, although
depending onthe group of children, another rhythmmaybebetter.Tostart
eachchildshouldhavea padmadebytakingonesectionof a full size
I
newspaper (4 or 5 sheets),ironingthe centerfold to flatten it, thencovering
it with heavybrownwrappingpaperandtapingthe sides.
First gradechildrenare introduced onthe first dayto the line andcurve,
figure 1. Thechildrenshouldalwaysdothe form in the air first, quickly,then
slowly. Thentheycanwalk it, traceit in the sandwith handor foot, draw it
on the blackboard; all thesethingshelpthemto do it moreac.curately. After
this, eachchild is a givena thick,stick cnayon (preferablybeeswax, see
suppliersafter Bibliography), a largepieceof creammaniiadrawingpaper,
12" x 18" (availableat K-tlart andusedas the coverfor this booklet),andone
of the drawingpadsmentioned above.Thechildnen standupto drawthe fonm
because standinggivesthema bird'seyeview of the paperandensuresthat
theyhavea free arm motion,very importantfor absorbing the form into the
physicalandethericbodies.
Theycanbegiventhis little nhymewhichdesribeshowtheyusethree
fingersto holdthe crayon:
Thesethreefniendsto helpme serve,
To helpme drawstr'aightlines,
To helpme drawcurves.
Thechildrentracethe form on the paperwith their fingersonly. Then
theydrawit very lightly with the crayon,thendarker,as theycorrectit. lf
youlookcarefullyat the formsillustrated,youwill seethat theyhavebeen
cornected withoutremoving the first originallines.
It is alwayshelpfulto bringrhymesor pictureimagesbeforethe
childrenwhenintnoducing a newfonm.Forinstance,
Thegrandold Dukeof York,
Hehadten thousand men.
Hemarched themupto the top of the hill
Andhemarched themdownagain
fnn fin r r r o ?

o r t h e w i n db l e wi t i n fo rC I ) | it blewit in all the wayfor ]

-l
i

Themaintask in f irst gradeform drawingis leanning the controlof line

a n dcu rve .P o ssi b l fie rst g radedr awings
ar eshownin figur esl,2,J,4,6,9,
1 0 ,a n d" th ew i n db l e wi t i n " .

Thefoliowingseriesof form drawingsisvery niceto usewith a first grade

class.Thesedrawingswouldbe doneovefa seriesof lessons, onedrawingat
a time andwouldbe a continued
story from lessonto iesson:

Onceupona time there was an old qrandmother ,ff% .*

wholivedin theforest.Theweightand-wisdom of d fl
theyearsrestedonheroidcurved shoulders.She [ f;
useda straightoakbranchfor herwalkingstick. 't-.."- tr
I
 6nandmother livedin a quaintlitile loghut t;

$trx
deepin a lovelyforest.Herhouse hada thatched
roofwherelittle birdsmadenestsandcricketssang.
Hergreatestjoys wenehenthreebnown (or blue
or green)eyedgranddaughters.

Everymonning afterbreakfast
thethreegir.ls nli
\' ." e
wentto visit theingrandmother
to seeif sheneeded (
.'l

anyhelp.Theylivedjust a shortwayalonga path '!G!-

1"6i" "
throughtheforest,andtheylovedto dancetheirway
downthepath.

Onedaytheyhopped
all thewaythereI

{""'# "F'' {{ t{

Anotherdaythey saw a horsetrotting alongthe path.

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Onedayin fall, theywatchedthe brighilycotored
leavesas they floatedto the ground,andrusiled
li'
as theywalkedthroughthem. {rir."l*ts

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tu rrf

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Onedayin springtheywatchedas all the mapleseeds ''brf"r"f,*..;J

floatedto the ground.

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5*jir'

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Butalways,Gnandmother
wasthereto greetthem, $ **..o,*. \''",
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alwaysholding
herstraightoakstickandsmiling ,q *{,.
[
because
shewassogladto seethem
I #
second gradetasksarerearning thererationship J t,^rr:6j.tzontai
symmetry, mimoring andsimplemetamorphosis. Possiblesecond gradeforms
a r ef i guresI l , 12,l i , 16,17,lB ,Z S ,2 4 , 2 5 ,j0 .
Anexample of storyto gowith a formdrawing for secondgradefollows:
SOUIRREL ANDNUTS
Thetreeis in thecenter.Onedaya squirreldecided to buryfournuts
around thetree. whenhehadfinished, hisfriendsawhimandwantedt0 diq
upthenuts.Theybegan to chase
eachotheranound thenutsand
around thetreelike this:
3
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Someof the childrencantake the part 0f the tree andthe nuts while others
play the part of the squirrelsandchaseeachotheraroundthe nuts.
Anotherworthwhileactivity is havingonechilddrawa simpleform with
a finger 0n anotherchild'sbackandhavethat child draw the form 0n paper.
Anotheris to havethe childrendraw holdingthe crayonwith their toes.
Thirdgradetasksare metamorphosis, seef igures5, 6, 2 | ,26,28;
i n v i si b l el i n e s,fi g u re s1 9 ,a , e; concave andconvex, figur es17,18,21;
four-waymirroring,figures 14, l5; creatingan alphabet,natureforms,
f i g u r e s1 3 , 1 7 ,1 8 ,3 5 .
In addition,third gradersare learningtheir multiplicationtables.The
followingstory is an imaginativeandactiveway of presentingfour
multiplicatontablesin oneform drawing:
SPIDERS WEB
(se ef i g u reC ) l l l ustr atingTim esTables3,4,6, andT
WhenSleepingBeautywas asleepfon a hundred yearsin her tower room,
two spidersbuilt a webacrossthe tower belowthe roomwheresheslept.
(Drawa circle.) Nowtherewereten lookoutslits in the walls aroundthat
tower, andthey were numbered 0 to 9. (Spaceout ten dots aroundthe circle
andnumberthem0-9.) Onespidenwas a red spider,the otherwas gneen.The
red spiderdecldedto makeher webby connecting the lookoutslits counting
by 3 (Do this with a red crayon.).Sheendedup with a lovelyten-pointedstar.
Thegreenspidermadeher webby connecting the lookoutslits countingby 4.
(Dothis with a greencrayon.)Sheendedup with a five-pointedstar. Oneday
whenthe red spiderwas walkingbackwards anound her web,shediscovered
shewas countingby 7. Thegreenspiderdiscovered that whenshewalked
backwardsaroundher web,shewas countingby 6. Whatamazingdiscoveries
they made!
Thisformdrawing placed
canbewalkedwith children at eachof the
sltts in the towerandtwo otherchildrencanbetheredandgreenspiderswho
fastentheir websby passing redandgneen
stringaroundthe legsof the
children at theslits, lf notenough anepresent,
children theslits maybe
replaced with nailsstuckin theground, to whichtheredandgreenstrings
maybefastened.
In fourthgrade,archetypes arepresented, suchascrosslng (crossing
arms0nchest),theknotwhichcanbemetamorphosed
intoa star,seefigure22.
Thiscanalsobeillustratedbythetransparent
paper"starknot,"as illustrated:
otherarchetypes arein-side-out, figures3 I -34;three-foldsymmetry, figure
35; Braiding,figures35,37.Please notein figuresD andE thattheformis
drawnin yellowin its entiretybeforeit is woven or braided in a darkercolon.
In fifth grade, thechildren studyGreek history.ln conjunction with this
study,theirformsarein-and-out spirals,figures 27,29, F; shields, figureF;
andborders, f igure29. Theshields, whichmaybedeveloped bycombining
manydifferentformsusingthechild'screativity,area good preparation for
geometry, whichis introduced in gradesix.
Formdrawing, alongwith eur'ythmy, is usedto helpchildren with
learning disabilities. llanyof theforms,especially theflowing,curved ones,
whichcanbetracedin rhythm,areharmony producing; for example, see
fig u res 3, 4,8,23,38.
Formdrawing is alsousedto helpbalance thetemperaments. (lf you
havenotalready doneso,pleasereadSteiner,Rudolf, TheFour
Temoeraments.) lt mustbekeptin mindherethat nochild(noperson) is
purelyanyonetemperament; we areall a mix,with oneor two predominating,
It is notwiseto labelyourchild,noris it wiseto discuss histemperament
withhim.
Thefollowingpicturesshowhoweachof thetemperaments mightdrawa
spiral:

choleric melancholic

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B

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phlegmatic sangurne
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 Thecholericis forceful andneedssofteningandenshrining.Formssuch
as thesewouldbe helpfulto the choleric.Thechild shoulddraw the form
first andthenencircleit.

f ig.a

into the
innerto

fig. b

Also wavesdrawnlighter to darkerandthendarkerto lighter are good

Seebelow:
for the melancholic.

;td?;,t*t,f-,*l'i:tll!)i'fi"itt* *-*
,*"*rrm'f'dt", .

fig.c

Thesanguineis like a butterfly. Heor sheloveslots of nepetitionand

needsto be broughtto thinking.Borders,because of repetitionwith the
challengeof boundaries, alsothe form below:
are goodfor the sanguine,

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bybring\ng
Thisisdone
cenrering. q\Nlt\lt, Itt \\\S\\t
\nthes\eil\ent
teaehercanerasepartsof formsassnownin thepairsbelow:

H
fig.e

All the formsrecommended for thevarioustemperaments canbedoneby

all thechildren, regardless of temperament, butit is importantthatall four
temperaments becovered.
Formdrawing, to beginwith, trainsthedexterityof thechild'shandsin
preparation for writinglettersandnumbers. But,far morethanthat,it
teaches relationship between partsof a drawingandthepageas a whole,thus
developing a senseof composition. lt laysa foundation for geometry,
it
awakens artistic ability,and,throughits harmonizing effectonthephysical
andethericbodies, helpsthechildren buildtheinpersonalities.flostof all, it
develops imagination andflexiblethinking.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY

CreativeFormDrawing,vols. l, 2, 3, by RudolfKutzli

*Form Drawing"by Han R, Niederhauser

andMargaretFrohlich

by HermannKirchner, tr. M Frohlich

Drawingfrom the Book of Natrne,by Klocek

The TwelveSenses.
by Albert Soesman

TheFour Temperaments,
by Rudolf Steiner
* my first choicefor beginners

SOURCESOF MATERIALS AND BOOKS

Anthroposophic
Press,5I 8-85I -2054

AWSNA Publications,
(Ass'nWaldorfSchools
ofNorthAmerica),916-961-0927

HomeAgain,888-666-0721,
books,games,
supplies
Mercurius,916-863-0411,($150
minimum)
PaperoScissors,Stone,888-644-5843,
books,games,supplies

Rudolf SteinerCollegeBookstore
, 916-961-g729