One of the central pillars of Waldorf education is the study of the human development. Steiner pedagogy recognizes stages which take place in seven year cycles. Every seven years, the human being develops distinct characteristics.
~ In the First Seven Years ~
The child is a sense being, and as such is like a sponge taking in everything around him. During the first seven years the child mainly learns through physical activity and the effects of physical stimuli. In these first seven-years, children learn by imitation; everything that is around the children is absorbed. Teachers and adults around children need to be worth of imitation and have a happy and loving attitude with honest unaffected love.
As equally important is the exposure of the young child to natural and simple surroundings and what they are given by ways of toys, which will serve as a great stimulus to their own inner activity than any other means of organized play or perfectly planned environment.
The learning environment for the young child should have a flow of adequate rhythms and activities that stimulate the senses and provide space to play creatively and imaginatively.
In conclusion, learning at this stage is experiencing their new world through their senses and then using play as their means of absorbing those experiences. Current brain research has repeatedly shown that this activity directly influences the development of the body. It is the sense impressions which help to develop both the functioning of the sense organs and thus also the maturing processes in the brain. (Herman Haken, Maria Haken-Krell. “Erfolgsgeheimnisse der Wahrnehmung”, Berlin 1994).
Steiner stated this in one of his lectures:
“Just as the muscles in the hand grow strong when they do work suited to them, so are the brain and the other organs set on the right course if they receive suitable impressions from their surroundings.” (Rudolf Steiner, “The Education of the Child and Early Lectures on Education”, Anthroposophic Press, 1996)