Last year Kostya and I started learning German. He asked me about this for a very long time, but I still thought that I was not ready enough for this. Still, my target audience is adults, and teaching children German from scratch seemed very difficult to me! And then inspiration struck me, I attended a very interesting forum of the Goethe Institute, which presented the opening of a virtual university for children, and finally met a wonderful teacher, the author of interesting textbooks on the German language, Olga Zverlova. I will talk about how we learn German separately, but now I would like to talk about how we prepared for Christmas.
Advent calendars have already become traditional in many Russian homes. We have also been trying to prepare for Christmas with such calendars for several years now, but this year I decided to use the help of the German educational channel WDR. For those who don't know German, don't be alarmed. The interactive 24-day advent calendar offers wonderful activities that can often be understood without speaking German. Perhaps our comments will further facilitate understanding and inspire someone to be creative.
Unfortunately, while I was preparing this post, the advent calendar itself was removed from the channel page, apparently as having lost its relevance. I tried to find at least some of the videos we used on the Internet.
So, 1 day. Christmas fruit
http://www.wdrmaus.de/filme/sachgeschichten/weihnachtsfrucht.php5
At first, Kostya and I very briefly discussed what this a beautiful word"Advent". This is the time of waiting for the holiday - the Nativity of Christ. It usually lasts 4 weeks and is filled with very important things that bring the holiday closer. So we will try to fill our every day with magic so that the holiday comes to us as soon as possible.
On the first day of waiting for Christmas, we will plant a Christmas fruit, which, if we do everything right, will delight us on December 24th. The custom of growing Christmas fruit came from the east. Obviously from Egypt. The custom spread in Ancient Greece. From there he came to Europe. Typically, wheat is soaked on December 13th, the day of St. Lucia or Lucia.
The legend about Lucia is scary. Therefore, I presented it to Kostya in a very abstract way. Lucia lived in the Middle Ages and was the wife of a Swedish fisherman. One day her husband went to sea, but a storm broke out. The evil spirit extinguished the lighthouse, and then Lucia went out onto a high rock with a lantern to illuminate her beloved’s path to the pier. The devils got angry, attacked the girl, and the lighthouse went out. But even after death, the girl, like an angel, stood on the rock with a lantern.
Together with Christoph Biemann, host of the wonderful program “Transmission with the Mouse,” we learned how to grow Christmas fruit at home. For this we need:
˗ wheat grains for sprouting (I bought them at the store healthy eating);
˗ a vase in which you will need to soak the wheat grains (about 2 hours);
˗ a plate on which we place the moistened paper towel;
˗ a glass, which we place upside down on a plate and cover it with soaked wheat.
We spray it all with water every day and wait...
This is what we get. 
Day 2. Let's play music together with Mouse and Baby Elephant. We make mandalas.
First, we watched a good cartoon about a mouse and a baby elephant. Then we went to play the piano and then started making mandalas. I had never heard of mandalas before, so Kostya and I were very interested to learn that a mandala came to us from India. A mandala is a model of the world that every person creates for himself, it is a way to understand himself and improve his memory. By coloring mandalas, a person immerses himself in harmony and tranquility. If you create mandalas in difficult situations, you can calm down and find the answer to the questions that are troubling you at the moment.
Kostya and I created several mandalas using available materials. 
3, 8, 15 and 21 days. A Christmas story told from the perspective of a little donkey, "Mary's Little Donkey."
Here you can download fairy tale characters and make a theater:
http://www.wdrmaus.de/elefantenseite/eltern/was_laeuft/Bastelset_Mariask...
http://www.wdrmaus.de/elefantenseite/eltern/was_laeuft/Bastelset_Mariask...
http://www.wdrmaus.de/elefantenseite/eltern/was_laeuft/Bastelset_Mariask...
A very touching cartoon that tells the story of the birth of Jesus from the perspective of a little donkey. Kostya was very touched by the story. Unfortunately, I have only found one piece to date.
1) Before the start of the film show, you can make a road and put a donkey on it. Ask: what stories do you remember related to donkeys? How are donkeys usually treated? Where have you met donkeys before?
In the first part, the evil merchant mistreats the donkey and sells it to Joseph for next to nothing. When Donkey finds out that he was bought as a gift for Mary, he tries to help her in everything.
2) You can place a merchant figurine next to the donkey. Ask: How did the merchant treat the donkey? How did he see the donkey? Place a figurine of Mary on the other side. Maria feels the donkey’s kind heart and does not see its external shortcomings.
3) You can ask the child to draw a heart and ask what is on the child’s heart now. Let him draw everything he feels now or write in words. Then put this heart in a box and hide it until next Christmas.
In the second part, the evil merchant regrets that he gave away such a wonderful donkey so cheaply and asks him to return it back. But Maria says that selling the donkey is like selling a part of herself, and refuses to return the donkey.
4) You can make a figure of an angel. Ask who a guardian angel is.
King Herod orders everyone to go to Bethlehem for a census. Mary and Joseph want to ride the camel, but the evil merchant refuses to sell them the camel, responding with Mary's words: "I cannot sell part of myself." And help comes from a donkey.
In the third part, Mary, Joseph and the donkey overcome all sorts of difficulties to get to Bethlehem. Mary's kindness conquers the robbers. Even the wolf does not attack the sheep, telling the donkey: “Save up your strength, a great day awaits you!”
5) Here you can play the entire path of movement of Mary, Joseph and the donkey. How they overcome the crossing of the river, go through the mountains, meet robbers, walk through the desert, meet a wolf. The angel follows them all the time. Likewise, each of us has our own guardian angel.
6) Here you can ask in what situations the child felt that a guardian angel helped him or in what situations he would like him to help.
We have read Sasha Cherny’s poem “Rozhdestvenskoe” and learned it by heart b.
Rozhdestvenskoe
Sasha Cherny
In the manger I slept on fresh hay
Quiet tiny Christ.
The moon, emerging from the shadows,
I stroked the flax of his hair...
A bull breathed on a baby's face
And, rustling like straw,
On an elastic knee
I looked at it, barely breathing.
Sparrows through the roof poles
They flocked to the manger,
And the bull, clinging to the niche,
He crumpled the blanket with his lip.
The dog, sneaking up to the warm leg,
Licked her secretly.
The cat was the most comfortable of all
Warm a child sideways in a manger...
Subdued white goat
I breathed on His forehead,
Just a stupid gray donkey
He pushed everyone helplessly.
"Look at the child
Just a minute for me too!”
And he cried loudly
In the pre-dawn silence...
And Christ, having opened his eyes,
Suddenly the circle of animals moved apart
And with a smile full of affection,
He whispered: “Look quickly!..”
We made a small Christmas nativity scene. 
Day 4 Who is it that is nestled so comfortably in the beard of Father Christmas? (this is what Santa Claus is called in Germany)
We made a little mouse. Kostya also wanted to make a friend. 
We made him a small house from a matchbox. 
Such a house can easily be hidden in the beard of Father Christmas.
What could this mouse's name be? I laid out typical German female names in front of Kostya. 
He liked the name Gabi the most. And then we listened to the first verse of the song, and he had to hear what the Mouse's real name was. It turns out, Mummel!
Second verse: Santa Claus and the mouse are great friends. Grandfather loves to tickle the mouse's face.
Verse three: what does the little mouse like to eat? Kostya offered cheese. You guessed it! We made cheese from plasticine and cut it into pieces.
And the grandfather also gives the mouse a Christmas bouquet, they also made it. 
Here are the lyrics of the song:
Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen
Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen.
Der Weihnachtsmann krault seiner Maus - Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen -
am Morgen und am Abend auch das weiche Mäuseschnäuzchen.
Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen.
Der Weihnachtsmann legt seiner Maus - Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen -
zehn Bröckchen Käse jeden Tag ins kleine Mäsehäuschen.
Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen.
Der Weihnachtsmann schenkt seiner Maus - Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen -
tief in der dunklen Weihnachtsnacht ein kleines buntes Sträußchen.
Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen.
Der Weihnachtsmann kennt eine Maus - Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen -
die hat in seinem langen Bart ein kleines Mäusehäuschen.
Mümmel-Mümmel-Mäuschen.
And, of course, we treated ourselves to Christmas pancakes. Kostya made the patterns himself. 
Day 5 Winter fun: skiing
Oh, Kostya especially loved this day!
First we talked a little about how skis came to be. This is simply fantastic, but primitive hunters already thought of riding on two sticks. There are rock paintings in caves in Norway that confirm this fact. For a long time, skis were used by hunters and the military, so they only needed one stick. The second, it’s not hard to guess, was busy with weapons.
Next stage:
We met the cartoon characters - a rabbit, a cow, a rooster and a pig. We made skis for them and imagined how beginner skiers could ski. What difficulties will they encounter? 
Then we watched the cartoon (a total of seven times - Kostya laughed and couldn’t stop). 
And then they made a skier. 
Day 6 Where does Nikolaus live?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qH2dfNgyIg
Another German cartoon helped us imagine how Nikolaus lives. The cartoon was created based on the ideas of children from Germany. They were asked questions: where Nikolaus lives, what he eats for breakfast and how he spends his time free time. Kostya and I also fantasized about this topic.
1) What types of houses do you know?
Remember what you have already studied:
Indians - wigwam, tipi
Greenland - igloo,
Italy – trullo
Kyrgyzstan – yurt
China - fanza
Russia - hut
Africa - rondavel
http://xn----stb8d.xn--p1ai/Portfolio/88/
2) What kind of house could Nikolaus live in? Construct his house from scrap materials? What options do children from Germany offer?
3) How many rooms are there in the house? What kind of furniture is there?
We made a Christmas tree for Nikolaus 
Day 7 Nutcracker
http://www.wdrmaus.de/filme/sachgeschichten/nussknacker.php5
Two years ago I brought Kostya a real nutcracker from Germany. In Germany they believe that the Nutcracker protects children and should be in every home. In a short video, the presenter tries in every possible way to crack the nut. Only the nutcracker can help him. We find ourselves in a small village in the Ore Mountains. This is where nutcrackers are made. 
TOEvery parent wants to organize Christmas holidays for their children in a way that brings joy and is memorable for a long time. Let's look at two average children's parties held on their own at home.
About a week before the wonderful event, mom begins to create a menu, buy balloons and call guests. A rich table is set with chops, salads, cake and wine. Until 2-3 toasts, they still remember why they gathered and admire the bright holiday and the still clean, cheerful children. After this, the little guests are usually left to their own devices (as a rule, these are children of different ages of invited relatives and friends, sometimes even unfamiliar with each other).
Option two.
Having firmly decided to organize a holiday more for children than for adults, the mother sets a separate festive table for them and throughout the entire event tries to somehow channel the destructive energy of youth in the right direction.
Have you had a similar experience? Then let's try to organize a holiday according to the third option.
From Christmas morning to welcoming guests
New Year, Christmas and Birthday are the most fabulous holidays of childhood. Remember how impatiently you went to bed, waiting for the onset of a little fairy tale in the morning.
Preparation for Christmas begins long before the holiday itself: children are told about the Nativity of Christ, with older children you can learn the troparion, kontakion of the holiday, irmos of the Christmas canon (“Christ is born, give thanks!”). We set up a nativity scene in a few days. At night or in the morning - a festive service in the temple.
On the day of the holiday, let's surprise the child as soon as he opens his sleepy eyes.
Balls are banal, I don’t argue. But how amazing it is to wake up and see a multi-colored garland above you! And sitting down in your crib, be surprised by the blanket covered in confetti and streamers? Make a surprise - create the mood of a fairy tale.
It often happens that some of the guests invited to the celebrations have already arrived, while others have not yet arrived. The children who came are awkwardly bored, not knowing what to do with themselves. I suggest this way to pass the time: instead of a beautiful starched tablecloth, we put a disposable light paper tablecloth on the table and give the children felt-tip pens - let them draw a funny drawing themselves. Or we’ll hand out album sheets asking them to write (or draw, if the children are still small) a funny Christmas card. Or maybe ask the children to tell us what kind of holiday it is today.
You can put various squiggles and bizarre incomprehensible shapes on blank sheets of paper with a marker and invite children to show their imagination and add something to them so that these squiggles turn into understandable drawings: turn something into a mysterious animal, something into a fairy-tale creature, exotic plant.
I would recommend that for children from 4 years old (and 10-year-olds enjoy this kind of entertainment) cut out each Christmas Star from white cardboard, cut small stars, diamonds, flowers from colored foil, cut pieces of tinsel, sprinkle confetti and invite everyone to decorate the cardboard blank . If you can give older children - from 6 years old - glue in a cup and brushes, then for kids it is better to prepare the base in advance by applying double-sided tape to the star.
Treat
You won’t surprise your child’s guests with a snow-white tablecloth and crystal. Anything that is a shame to get dirty and broken is out of sight. Let's look at our children with common eyes: will they be happy with meat and salads? Rarely will parents answer in the affirmative. What about fruits and sweets? Well, what a stupid question, you might say. Let's pamper our guests with different delicacies. There should be a lot of juices on the table - at least a liter per child, preferably more - something, and children, excited about the holiday, drink a lot. Fruits should be divided into convenient parts: grapes (without seeds, if you don’t want to collect them all over the house) cut into branches of 3-4 berries, citrus fruits are peeled and disassembled into slices, apples... well, almost nothing ever eats them, like and bananas, traces of which leave stains on clothes. In general, avoid fruits that get dirty; one persimmon is tantamount to a small nuclear explosion.
You can arrange a little surprise: put a piece of paper with Christmas wishes under the plates!
If you really want to feed your children substantial food, make sandwiches, canapés with meat, sausage, fish, cheese, decorate them more interestingly, serve a cocktail (you can beat milk, banana and a little sugar in a blender) - a very satisfying and nutritious meal. But should you stick to the standard cake? I recommend making this original dessert: buy waffle cakes, ice cream, a can of cream, and various fruits. 10 minutes before serving, place a 3 cm thick layer of ice cream on a waffle sheet, cake layer, more ice cream, cake layer, ice cream, now a mixture of chopped fruits, pour in whipped cream and stick in candles - the cake is ready! Let's call it, for example: "Christmas delicacy."
...By the way, as one of the entertaining entertainments, you can invite guests to prepare and eat canapés themselves (using plates with chopped products) and decorate their cocktails with chocolate chips, colored sugar dragees and straws.
Sequence of events
The room is decorated, the table is set, the food is ready. What should follow what so that it is not boring, but also not oversaturated? Guests began to arrive. While we are waiting for a full turnout - the children need to be occupied with quiet play - this is exactly what painting a festive tablecloth is very suitable for. Everyone is assembled - we sit down at the table. We congratulate the children and eat sandwiches with drinks and fruit. There’s no point in staying too long over the treat – as soon as the noise starts, you’ve had your fill, it’s time to play.
Games can only be organized by an adult leader, otherwise the uncontrolled little one will simply walk on his head, causing a real doomsday. Are all the planned entertainments over? Back to the table! And then - quiet games (the children were tired and overexcited). At parting, each guest should be given a small gift - this will be a very pleasant souvenir.
What about the parents of the invited children, you ask? Who will take care of them? When will I celebrate? Who will serve and clean the cutlets and Olivier? Our holiday is for children. If you can bring your child and leave – wonderful! If this is not possible, warn in advance that you will have to participate as your assistant. And while the children are eating, you will have time to eat a cake and drink a glass of wine.
We entertain and occupy
On the Internet you can find many different competitions and ready-made scripts holiday. Be careful! Fast, energetic activities (relay races, tag and other running and jumping entertainment) must be alternated with calm games (drawing games, riddles and other sedentary tasks). It is permissible to arrange several active games in a row at the very beginning of the holiday, but at the end of the holiday it is better to combine a couple of quiet ones so that the children calm down. If noisy competitions follow one after another, the children will quickly get tired, overexcited, and the rest of the evening will no longer be a joy. And on the contrary: too many sedentary activities will make active children bored and they will begin to look for exciting games on their own. It is advisable that in your holiday scenario the type of game should not be repeated: if a relay race - then only once, if a dance game - then also only once, a dexterity competition should also not be held twice.
Be sure to divide the guests into two teams; the competitive aspect adds spice to the competition. Let each team choose its own name and come up with a slogan. For every competition she wins, she will receive a point in the form of something significant. It could be a little Christmas star. There should be more of them than the number of competitions, in case of a tie.
What else can you do for little guests?
Relay races and blind man's buff are all great, of course, but it would be nice to surprise the children with entertainment that is unusual for such a holiday.
Children are completely delighted when they are offered to make something interesting themselves from... real yeast dough. You can buy it frozen at the store or make it yourself. I emphasize - the dough must be yeast! Their works comically swell and increase when finished goods they begin to come, which simply amazes the little guests! Each child is given a piece of parchment paper, the size of a notebook sheet, on which they must make their own pie. This is necessary so that the figurine of a man or animal made from dough is transferred to the baking sheet without deformation, and from the baking sheet in baked form back to the plate. For decoration, you can offer saucers with kernels of nuts and seeds, raisins. These baked souvenirs are given to the guests at the end of the holiday, and she happily takes them home. You can suggest making the Christmas star again, this time not from cardboard, but from dough.
I remind you that calm games must alternate with active games. If two quiet classes go in a row, more active children will lose concentration and begin to get distracted and make noise. If two energetic and noisy competitions are held without a break, the children will quickly become overtired and begin to be capricious.
I’ll tell you a relay race game that we came up with and tested first at a children’s party and then at an adult party, it turned out to be so fun and win-win funny. Blanks: two sheets of Whatman paper pinned to the wall, two markers, two containers with the same set of notes indicating body parts. Since our task was to depict a “Russian beauty,” we wrote: crown, braid, eyes, nose, mouth... boots. The main thing is not to miss a single part so that the drawing is as complete as possible. All notes are mixed and placed in a box, which is placed under each Whatman paper. With the START command, the first player runs with a marker to the wall, pulls out a piece of paper, reads what to draw, draws it on the sheet, runs away and passes the marker-relay to the next participant, and he himself stands at the end of the line. The player who received the marker also runs to the wall, reads, draws and returns. IT'S SO MUCH FUN! Our cameraman could not film the competition - his hands were shaking with laughter, and I, as the presenter, was unable to comment on the resulting “Beauties” - disproportionate body parts, distorted facial features... Tears flowed in a stream from laughter. We held the same competition among adults: they drew Miss Beauty - it was even more cool than at children's party. The team whose drawing is the cutest wins.
End of the holiday
Such a wonderful day has come to an end. I would like to end it in such a way that you are not sad that it is over, but feel good at heart. If you filmed the holiday on camera, you can play the video on the TV screen at the moment when the guests are eating the cake. The children are already tired, they don’t really want to talk and have fun, but this kind of viewing will amuse them. If the children are already schoolchildren and know how to write, after clearing the table, bring a huge postcard and markers purchased in advance, let everyone leave a review of the holiday and congratulations and wishes to everyone present. It would be nice to make a simple letter on the computer and hand it to each guest at parting: the most dexterous, the most cheerful, the most resourceful - they will proudly show it to their parents, remembering the past fun.
...And how nice it is, saying goodbye to your child’s friends, to hear: “Thank you! Thank you very much for the holiday! We've never had so much fun before!!! ...Will you invite us next time?!”
The most incredible miracles are possible at Christmas. This is probably why we are looking forward to it so impatiently, preparing in advance, buying gifts to please our loved ones. We can say that Christmas is everyone's birthday. And joy, fun, all kinds of pleasures - what could be more natural on such a day? But most importantly: simply fabulous Christmas opportunities. On this day we can meet long-awaited love, receive news that will change our lives, become the owner of something we never even dared to dream about. Nothing strange: all these are gifts from Christmas itself, which from time immemorial was considered spiritual. That is Christmas comes at a certain time (at 12 at night from January 6 to 7 you need to let him in, opening the front door), and then leaves (exactly at midnight from January 7 to 8, he must be seen off).
How to prepare for Christmas
The most important preparation for the holiday is not buying gifts and preparing a lavish table. Christmas Eve is a special period when it is much more important to show the best human qualities: sympathy, compassion, mercy. And not only in relation to family and friends, but more so to people in need. The days before Christmas were previously considered charitable: people shared what they had with the poor, visited lonely people in hospitals, and provided help to everyone who needed it. And just before the arrival of the holiday (on Christmas Eve), food was distributed to the poor so that they also had the opportunity to celebrate this day.
And these days it is not difficult to find someone who needs help. One might ask: what about Christmas magic? Why, for example, did food not appear to the poor in a fabulous way? Appeared! Human hands simply passed it on. Christmas gifts But, besides the fact that Christmas is a holiday for everyone, it is first and foremost family holiday. Guests are usually not invited to the house on this day. But if a guest happens, it is the duty of the hosts to receive him as best as possible. That is, feed, drink, and not leave without a gift (even to the point of sacrificing your own).
Speaking of Christmas gifts. On this day, you can give absolutely anything, but it’s better to give something that a person has dreamed of (as a confirmation of Christmas miracles) or that he will definitely need in life. You can give an icon to your family and loved ones; you can buy icons in Ukraine here. You can give the gift yourself or put it under the tree. There is a difference between a New Year's tree and a Christmas tree. As surprising as it may seem, for Christmas the spruce even has higher value: after all, this tree personifies eternal life. And if the top of the New Year tree can be whatever you want, the Christmas tree should only have a star - a symbol of the star of Bethlehem, which announced the birth of Jesus. Although gifts under the tree are always nice, no matter what they are: New Year's or Christmas. Some people wrap Christmas gifts in Santa's long stockings, especially if the house has a fireplace to attach the surprises to. But, in principle, what difference does it make what the gifts are wrapped in? The main thing is that they exist!
Christmas traditions
On the evening of January 6, Holy Evening, after sunset the whole family gathers at the table, on which there are 12 Lenten dishes - according to the number of the apostles. None of the dishes should remain untouched: each one should be tasted at least a little. It’s good if there is a candle burning on the table - a living fire. The main dish of dinner on Holy Evening is kutia. Traditionally it is made from wheat, but other whole grains can be used. Grains, grains are a symbol of people glued together into humanity. And honey or sugar syrup is used as glue in kutia. This dinner ends the strict Nativity fast: on January 7, all restrictions are lifted, and you can have a real festive feast.
They say that on New Year Homes should smell like tangerines, and at Christmas the house should be saturated with the aromas of cinnamon and vanilla. That is, this holiday is unthinkable without festive baking. At Christmas, another tradition has long been followed: to wear only new clothes. Not clean, washed, but new, not yet worn. Well, and, of course, on this day there was a ban on any work: sewing, washing, cleaning (especially taking out trash from the house) was prohibited. All food must be prepared in advance.
A good tradition that forces you to pay attention to yourself and spend time with your loved ones. By the way, in the first days of Christmas week, visits were common: it was supposed to visit relatives and good friends. But a visit to their home should have been a visit, not a visit: they stopped by for 15-20 minutes, no more - with congratulations and wishes. Nowadays, of course, you can get by with a phone call, the main thing is to let the people you care about know that you remember them and wish them the best. By the way, if you open not the door, but the window in due time, it doesn’t matter: Christmas will come in through it too. And maybe something completely magical will happen in your life.
They prepared for the holiday in advance: believers observed a forty-day fast, which is known as the Rozhdestven fast. During this period, people prayed, read the Law of God, and repented. They ate simple, lean food: mushrooms, vegetables, fish. Who is richer - beluga, sturgeon, pike perch, navaga, who is poorer - herring, catfish, bream.
Closer to Christmas, convoys with frozen pork, geese, and turkeys reached the cities. Before Christmas, 3 days in advance, Christmas trees were sold in squares and markets - real forest beauties. The entire area turned into a thicket. Among the trees, men in sheepskin coats helped people choose a Christmas tree for the holiday. Sbiten workers walked around, carrying samovars with hot, fragrant and sweet sbiten (this is a kind of drink with honey and ginger).
Ordinary townspeople were also preparing for the Christmas celebration: all the houses were being cleaned fussily, but joyfully in anticipation of such a holiday. The doors were washed, the copper door handles were polished with crumpled elderberry, and then they were wrapped in rags so that when they were removed on Christmas Eve, they would shine festively. They took sofas and armchairs out into the snow, swept them and cleaned them with a broom. The vestments on the icons were especially carefully polished with chalk until they shined, and festive - white and blue - Christmas lamps were placed. Fresh, starched curtains, like pure frosty snow, were hung on the windows, falling in lush folds. Polished air vents shone on the tiled stoves. The floors were rubbed with mastic with honey wax, covered with clean matting (if the house was simpler), and in richer houses a “Christmas” carpet was laid in the living room - on a white field blue flowers. The ceiling and walls were whitewashed.
Then they installed a Christmas tree, which was decorated as elegantly as possible: with heaps of chains made of multi-colored, gold and silver paper, Vyazemsky gingerbread cookies, Crimean apples, beads made of candy, gilded nuts, crackers with surprises inside, they entangled the tree with a golden web, inserted candles into colored pins.
On the day before Christmas, called Christmas Eve, they completely abstained from food until the first star appeared in the sky, which, according to legend, showed the way to the wise men to the newborn Jesus.
In all families, regardless of social and cultural status, children on these days were always told about the Virgin Mary, about the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to her, about how the baby Savior was born, about the worship of the Magi, about the gifts that they brought, about the meaning of these gifts.
Children from a young age absorbed customs and traditions; the spirituality inherent in Orthodoxy organically and easily penetrated their souls.
On Christmas Eve we ate sochivo (that’s why it’s Christmas Eve) - lean porridge and vegetables. They cooked kutya from wheat with honey and a broth of prunes and pears, sometimes rice or barley broth with honey and berries. This brew, as a gift to Christ, was placed under the image on the hay, symbolizing the hay on which the little Savior lay in the manger.
They looked for the first star in the sky, then went to the all-night vigil. Lamps were lit in houses.
In the villages, in accordance with his ideas about the birth of the baby Jesus, after evening prayer, the owner of the house attached a candle to the bread and went into the yard. From the yard he brought a heap of straw or hay and covered the hut. The peasants prepared festive clothes in advance. It was believed that one should not celebrate Christmas in black: sad clothes were not suitable for such a holiday. As a rule, on this day it was customary for the whole family to gather at the parental home and celebrate Christmas.
Alexander PARMENOV, executive editor of the website “Pravoslavie.ru”, Moscow:
Be together on this holiday
I have four children, two of them are still small. And, of course, in younger age The stories of elders about the very event of the Nativity of Christ are received especially attentively and with special tenderness.
Already ahead of time, during the period of Lent, children, together with other students of the parish Sunday school, begin to prepare for the holiday, rehearse the performances offered there (and they begin to participate in them at the age of 3-4), learn Christmas poems and songs. And when returning home, they continue to “be in the topic,” which is most often expressed in drawings and questions.
I think our younger children also remember Christmas because they are running out of time for sweets and entertainment. If we talk about breaking the fast, then instead of the Christmas goose we are preparing a Christmas chicken. Our table is usually not complicated, not refined, but quite tasty, especially after Lent. And the elders probably remember Christmas because we celebrate it with the whole family, getting together both in church and at home. After all, in ordinary days The older children have their own affairs and activities, their own companies, but here they are given the opportunity to be in the family circle.
Of course, there is also a festive tree. It’s small, but real, with that special pine smell. Children love to dress her up and make their own decorations. The younger ones love to organize impromptu skits and home concerts for us at Christmas. And we give them unusual gifts, we always try to select something special - something that each of the children dreamed of.
Our parish church and Sunday school take care of the rest. There they organize special children's parties and offer refreshments. We try to go to church with the whole family to be together on this bright holiday.
Ekaterina VASILYEVA, People's Artist of Russia, Moscow:
Be inside joy
We are trying to make sure that the children at the Church of the Holy Martyr Antipas, where my son serves, have a truly memorable Christmas. After all, this is perhaps the most main holiday for the children of our parishioners!
We have been organizing Christmas shows for several years now. At first they were family, but then we realized: our apartment cannot accommodate everyone who wanted to take part in the holiday, and we began to hold Christmas mini-performances in the temple. All the stories we act out on this day are related to the Gospel. And now, when we celebrate the holiday in the temple, each child can find a suitable role that suits his heart: so that no one is left out of this bright holiday! Everyone participates in our performances; it doesn’t matter to children whether they are first or last, they don’t know what the main role is - they just need to be inside this joy!
Lyudmila SOBOLEVA, director of boarding school No. 55 for orphans and children left without parental care, Kuzminki, Moscow:
Make your dream come true...
We love Christmas very much and celebrate it with pleasure. We recently opened a “Father Frost’s workshop”: all the children and adults of our boarding school prepare homemade gifts for each other for Christmas and New Year. We also write good letters to children, kind words in cards and put gifts under their pillows.
On Christmas Eve, children and their teachers prepare the treat themselves, light candles and garlands of lights, and the celebration begins with songs, dances, and games. Later it’s time for gifts...
For several years now, students from the Orthodox St. Tikhon University have been coming to us, and, together with our Father Vyacheslav from the Church of St. Maron the Hermit, they tell the children the story of the Nativity of Christ and put on a play. We always look forward to their arrival!
Andrey FANDEEV, artist, city of Lyudinovo, Kaluga region:
Children should be taken to Optina Pustyn!
In order for children to remember Christmas, you must definitely take them to Optina Pustyn. It's amazingly beautiful there in winter. The pines stand stooped from the snow, as if in some kind of radiance. And it’s so quiet that you can even hear the snow falling. And when you leave the church in the evening from the service, the lights of Kozelsk burn like candles. It can be seen far, far away. And it seems that this whole fertile land is a huge temple. Optina itself is an altar, and its churches are icons. And everything is whitened with snow in a festive way. It seems to me that there must be snow in heaven if it is like in Optina at Christmas.
I spent Christmas there two years ago. We were accommodated in a house. There is a light frost outside, and the wood in the stove is crackling. Some pray, some talk quietly. I remember there was a man with two fifth-grader sons. They were so similar to Chuk and Gek that they immediately earned the nicknames Chukcha and Gekcha. We quickly got used to adult company, sat at the table and made something buzzing with a propeller. They got so carried away that their father could not put them to sleep. Then one of the pilgrims began to tell them about the children's Guardian Angel, who sits on the bed and waits for the children to fall asleep. But he needs to go on business as soon as possible. Remove a stone from the road that the children might trip over tomorrow, negotiate with the Guardian Angel of the cashier who sells tickets for the return journey so that they can go home to their mother on time.
Even the adults listened. Isn't it great? Well, where else can you meet such storytellers if not in Optina? In general, it’s always wonderful there, and especially at Christmas.
Tatiana PETROVA, columnist for the regional newspaper “Vest”, Kaluga:
Ban New Year
What needs to be done? Ban New Year! No, I'm not an extremist. But there is some truth in every joke. After all, a holiday is not just a day off or a reason for a feast. Every holiday has meaning.
What is Christmas? This is a miracle! God came into the world to save us! This is wish fulfillment! The One Who has been waiting for a long time has appeared! It is a miracle and the fulfillment of desires that children absolutely “legitimately” expect from this holiday. Alas, in Soviet times it was forbidden to celebrate Christmas, and all Christmas expectations automatically transferred to the New Year! But celebrating the New Year does not have the same meaning as Christmas. This is just the beginning of a new day on the calendar.
But this tradition is so established that even the Orthodox are unable to give up the New Year altogether. And if they refuse, then they involuntarily become like Moliere’s Tartuffe, sitting with a sour expression at someone else’s feast. And children feel everything subtly. As a result, on December 31, a “dress rehearsal” of the holiday takes place, which destroys the atmosphere of growing joy from the approach of the most important event of the year - the Nativity of Christ.
We cannot ban the New Year, but we must try to give children the most “wonderful” day of the year. Well, in what form – it depends on our imagination. Gifts that mysteriously appeared under the tree, or long-desired trips, or some other surprises - the main thing is that they leave a feeling of miracle and fulfillment of desires.
Svetlana PILYUSHINA, 1st deputy editor-in-chief of the magazine “Russian Jeweler”, St. Petersburg:
Edible Christmas tree decorations!
Firstly, you need to love Christmas yourself, carry within yourself the joy of this holiday and the desire to give it to everyone. It's best to start preparing in advance. This year, preparations for Christmas began in our family in November. Every year my children and I make cards with our own hands: we study new homemade techniques and come up with new options. We decorate the windows in the apartment by cutting out a huge number of snowflakes.
We also make decorations for the Christmas tree - edible decorations. We really liked this idea because at Christmas time we always have friends the same age as our two youngest children come to visit us. We bake all kinds of cookies in the shape of windows, different shapes, fill the empty parts with caramel - it turns out so great! And when the children come, everyone can take their favorite decoration off the tree and enjoy it. They absolutely love to run up, bite and run away!
For two months the thought of Christmas and New Year has been constantly with us, we are preparing for these holidays with the whole family, dad and eldest son are also keenly interested in our ideas.
Alexey ANANEV, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TechnoServ A/S, Moscow: You cannot deprive children of the New Year. The most obvious answer is a decorated Christmas tree, gifts, family for festive table... If children associate all this with Christmas, then this holiday will be the most memorable for them. But there is one nuance: all these are attributes of the secular New Year. You can, of course, not notice it and not celebrate it (and many Orthodox families do so). But I believe that there is nothing bad about this holiday - it is wonderful, children are used to it and love it. And it’s hardly right to deprive them of the opportunity to celebrate it with all their peers. Of course, it falls during the Nativity Fast, which automatically implies a very moderate celebration... For our family, for example, New Year's holiday begins with a prayer service, which is served in our church on the evening of December 31st. I think it would be nice if all the holiday paraphernalia would be associated by children, first of all, with the New Year. And Christmas will become a spiritual, church event - a celebration of the coming of Christ into the world, to us. I would not want, as in the West, the essence of Christmas to be increasingly emasculated, and the holiday itself to be reduced closer and closer to commerce. In order for children to remember Christmas, it is necessary, I believe, for it to become a real holiday, first of all, for them parents - with exciting anticipation of the festive service in the church decorated with Christmas trees, congratulations and touching gifts each other and, finally, breaking the fast at the family table.
