Mantles of Care
Approaching the individual as body, soul and spirit from a salutogenic health perspective –
the basis of Rudolf Steiner’s Waldorf Education and all faculties of life.
Mantles of Care revisit daily health and hygiene practices with the use of plants, natural materials and elements such as colour, texture, sound, tone, touch, rhythm, temperature. They are offered with wonder, reverence and uprightness of the adults providing care, to support the children’s etheric bodies to be nourished and their forces of growth and learning more able to receive and partake in a day.
They are offered in harmony with bodily, daily, seasonal and spiritual rhythms and contribute to hygienic self-care that is age and developmentally appropriate for the human being, with the aim of providing the child with health-giving forces of rhythm, warmth and harmony. Full and vital etheric forces provide the ground for the higher members of the human being to find their place in the bodily constitution.
The work supports healthy sensory development and the awareness of interactions, attention, self-regulation, and daily health and hygiene practices. As well as lesson content, these mantles may assist the digestion of food and social interactions. Students experience restoration, enabling them to settle into their school work more readily.
Mantles of Care in Early Childhood
Our visits to the early childhood setting
To have a fresh set of eyes on the children, a visit is arranged to be present in the space to observe unobtrusively during a “class session”. Questions the Educator(s) are carrying regarding the children, space and interactions can be received prior to the observation.
Discussions occur following the session, at a suitable time, to be introduced to mantles of care suggestions that could be continued by the Educator and staff to integrate into their group. These are usually suggestions that will support the group as a whole whilst at the same time meeting the particular needs of some.
At a point throughout the day, perhaps the initial arrival and free-play time, in a specified mantles of care space/tent, a mantle of care activity that has been determined in consultation with the Educator can be freely offered to interested children.
To begin with it could be a mantle of care activity that welcomes and warms children for helping them to settle through the new transition back to or into their new class. Children’s rest after lunch could also be observed and further mantles of care introduced if needed to support a nourishing digestion time/ rest.
the Care Space
The Care Space within the home or classroom is an area that is set aside for regaining harmony. It is a place where mantles of care supports and equipment can reside so children can work towards developmentally appropriate self-regulation within your community of care culture. The children may come to the care space to care for themselves, their friends or their dolls. They can be further supported by the caregivers with offerings such as warm rose facecloths or footbaths and first aid.
The way that the space is created and respected by the adults supports the children to come towards it with reverence. Beauty and harmonising qualities are offered in a variety of truthful textures, weights, temperatures and other natural sensory experiences. It provides carefully chosen fabrics and additional warm clothes for children who may require it.
Suggestions can be offered on ways to bolster the etheric environment of “the classroom” and educators to be able to give life to the children. New ways of looking at children’s play, materials to be included for play, layout of the play space, the care space, children’s clothing can be discussed during this consultation.
Caring for the health of the caregiver.
Strengthening the wellbeing of the caregivers supports them in finding a place of uprightness and harmony to hold an environment that can nourish children.
Care & Renewal offerings to caregivers is often well received within the child’s Playgroup, Children’ Group or Kindergarten while the child is being cared for. Modelling care of ourselves and others.
Explore –
Lemon foot baths | Hand baths | Tinkle washing on hands or feet | Dry body brushing | Cool wash | Compress ..all come to a place of completeness with a herb tea and rest.
Mantles of Care Conversation hour
When the caregivers and their children have been a part of the mantles of care and care and renewal, it serves them well to have a conversation circle for questions that could support it being integrated at home in the child’s daily family life.
The conversations are held with the understanding of the incarnating child, and their growth and development from a threefold perspective.
WORKSHOPS
Independent workshops extend the content to better support transitions, preparing a family care basket, practical first aid, supporting sleep, the benefits of wrapping, and perceiving anew the clothes we provide for children. Learn more about workshops →
Mantles of Care in The Classroom
Classroom visits & Staff Training
mantles of Care supporting the curriculum
Mantles of Care are for supporting the archetypes of development across primary school by complementing main lessons and many other aspects of the curriculum from craft to botany and personal development. Self-care is supported to equip the students for caring for themselves now and towards adulthood. A class culture of caring for self and others is promoted as care items are created and become part of the class care space. Sensory experiences through refined daily hygiene practices promotes attention, self regulation and healthy relationships including consent.
Restoration received from the mantles may assist the digestion of food and social interactions, enabling greater readiness for learning.
For over a decade, Mantles of Care have been offered to class groups by Developing the Self Developing the World health practitioners. In 2025 we are introducing workshops, child studies and supervision for school staff to become increasingly confident and able to understand and apply mantles of care alongside their tasks with children. Please refer to the tabs: Child Study, Workshops and Individual Tutoring.
CRAFTING A CLASS Care Space
The care space within the classroom is an area that is set aside for regaining harmony. In the Primary School the children can craft items to care for themselves as well as items to contribute to the needs of the class. Over time as the children learn about healing plants and teas, and create balms for wounds and “first aid”. They can be further supported by the caregivers with offerings such as warm rose facecloths or footbaths and first aid.
The way that the space is created and respected by the adults supports the children to come towards it with reverence. Beauty and harmonising qualities are offered in a variety of truthful textures, weights, temperatures and other natural sensory experiences. It provides carefully chosen fabrics and additional warm clothes for children who may require it.
When our health practitioners are providing the program we can converse with educators about bolstering the child’s “subtle”, life-giving forces into the environment. This includes looking at children’s play, materials to be included for play, layout of the play space, the care space and children’s clothing. This individual tutoring is also available to workshop participants.
Child StudY
When our health practitioners are delivering Mantles of Care in a school, we can contribute to child studies focused on the needs of particular children in the class. Likewise, Mantles of Care Workshop Participants and those involved in the child study conversations held by Developing the Self Developing the World may arrange an additional time for our contribution to a child study. Please start a conversation →.
Group Child Study and COnversation
A study and conversation for educators, classroom staff and health practitioners around the world with a focus on observing children through the lens of the foundations to pillars that will support a spirit-led life: Wonder, Positive Social Connections and Virtues. The background reading is a lesson from Spirit-led Education for a Spirit-led Life by Lisa Romero.
The studies are facilitated by health practitioners engaged full-time in their tasks as homeopaths prescribing anthroposophic remedies and community health social workers specialising in Mantles of Care. The studies are contributed to by a therapeutic eurythmist, art therapists, Waldorf educators and adult educators who have written modules for Spirit-led Education for a Spirit-led Life.
Dates are proposed for April, July and November 2025. Each time as a set of 3 online conversations over 3 weeks. Saturday mornings (southern hemisphere), Friday afternoons (northern hemisphere).
Workshops
Experience | Create | Apply | Practice
Supporting the inscription of health-giving forms into the life of families and class groups to help children to receive nourishment in daily life.
At the heart of each workshop are common principles:
Wonder and Reverence
Warmth and Enfolding
Rhythm and Adaptability
Colour and Beauty
Weekend workshops are held each term in Sydney NSW, Hunter Valley NSW and Northern Rivers NSW. We wish to support the ethos of care in schools and families and welcome enquires to visit communities. Learn more about workshops →
Refining mantles of care for your classroom
We tutor and guide the adults working with children to discern, prepare, plan and deliver mantles of care for integration into the class curriculum or extended support programs for individuals. Tutoring is open by application to those participating in workshops and child studies, or with whom we have worked with in the classroom. It takes various forms including discussions about the class and/or individual child or family, sourcing supplies and patterns, embedding it in the curriculum at age appropriate times, and hands-on support in the classroom to deliver mantles of care.
Email us to find out more →
Lyn Clifton
Community health Social Worker
Lyn is a Community Health Social Worker who combines her anthroposophic wholistic healthcare training to bring home healthcare simply and practically to the daily life of children, parents, carers and teachers.
In the 1980’s Lyn worked with communities and schools across Greater Sydney to provide a range of early childhood formal childcare and support services to families of diverse backgrounds. Lyn was President of the NSW Occasional Child Care Association and an advocate, representative and educator for children’s services policy development and quality Australia wide.
Alongside her own growing family (more than 20 years ago), Lyn took up studies in early childhood at Parsifal College (Sydney Rudolf Steiner College). From this work grew home-based child / parent groups to support young families, and was recognised as complementary to Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School in Sydney. Lyn also studied EduCareDo’s Foundation Year in Anthroposophy and the complementary Towards Health and Healing workshop series with Lisa Romero, which fortified her individual development and directed her towards Inner Work Path. Lyn’s home healthcare practices were refined through studies with the nurses at Taruna College New Zealand’s course Certificate of Holistic Healthcare, and additional training to qualify in practicing Rhythmical Einreibung.
Over these past two to three decades Lyn has been a founding member of numerous initiatives including Anthroposophic Care for the Young Child Association in Sydney, Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner Preschool and Developing the Self Developing the World.
Lyn now specialises in what she names the Mantle of Care, to bring home health care to individuals, families and class groups.
