Dear Friends,

I wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Hope 2009 brings you love, family, friends, entertainment, work, laughter, luck and... a little bit of money!

Big hug to you and the kids at your schools.

Dear partners and all the children in the kindergartens!

Želimo vam vesel božič ter uspešno, zdravo in sreče polno leto 2009! V veselje nam je bilo in nam bo sodelovati z vami!

We wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2009! It was a pleasure to cooperate with you. Let's keep it that way!

Kisses and hugs from Slovenia!

Portuguese Christmas Traditions

On Christmas Eve Portuguese families gather around the Christmas tree and the nativity scene (also known as crib or manger) to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Catholicism is the main religion in Portugal. Thus, the crib is a very important part of the celebration. Traditionally, children are in charge of decorating the crib. While some families only display the three main figures, Infant Jesus, Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, others create large scenes with the three figures, the Three Wise Kings, the shepherd and the sheep and many natural elements.

Although religion is still very important, most children write letters to Santa Claus asking for presents rather than to Infant Jesus. Some weeks before Christmas people decorate their homes with lights, coloured balls and several other kinds of Christmas decorations.
On the 24th December (Christmas Eve), many families go to the Midnight Mass ("Missa do Galo"). Before going to the mass they gather around the table and have supper ("Ceia de Natal" or “Consoada”). On Christmas Eve, at supper (“Consoada"), people usually eat boiled codfish, boiled potatoes and boiled cabbage and onions. After the meal, people eat traditional fried desserts: "filhós", which are made of fried pumpkin dough; "rabanadas", which are made of bread soaked in milk and which, after being fried, is covered with sugar and cinnamon; "aletria", which is a sweet vermicelli decorated with cinnamon. On Christmas Day, people eat roast turkey or roast lamb for lunch; they also eat the traditional desserts. Nowadays, many families also include rice and octopus on their Christmas supper or on Christmas lunch.

Another traditional and very popular dessert is "Bolo Rei". This is a typically New Year’s fruitcake but has also become very popular during Christmas holidays. Traditionally, the cake had two surprises: one was a little present like a fake ring, a little doll, or a medal. The other was not as welcomed. There was a raw broad bean. Whoever got it had to buy the "Bolo Rei" in the coming year.

In some parts of the country, people gather around the “Christmas log” (“cepo de Natal”), which is a big piece of wood that burns on the central squares in villages, towns or cities. People usually lit the log before the midnight on the 24th and say that it should be used to heat Infant Jesus who is to be born. The log is kept lit all through the night and during Christmas day.
Some families open the presents, previously put under the Christmas tree, at midnight on Christmas Eve; others open them in the morning on Christmas Day.
The festivities end on the 6th January, the day we celebrate The Three Wise Kings Day ("Dia de Reis"). In the evening, children as well as adults gather in groups and go from door to door singing songs (“Janeiras”). People usually give them money or chocolates.

Christmas party on Lekholmen

Yesterday we had our Christmasparty on our preeschool. We played and made our own St Claus. We danced around the Christmas tree in the backyard. after that St Claus was coming and he brought a big Christmaspresent to all the sektions. In our there was firetrucks and pearls. We ate speciell Christmasfood and sang Christmascarols. From all of us to all of you a very merry Christmas!/Snurran

Earthquake!

Today we have had a earthquake in Sweden! It is very unusual here. It was in the morning and everything just shooked. It had 4.7 on the Richter scale, and it's epicenter was only 50 kilometers from us. It was 100 year since we had a earthquake like this. None was hurt and nothing was damaged.

We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New year!

Živjo! I'm Anja from Slovenia. I'm 6 years old and I visit kindergarten Škratek Svit in Vodice.
I'm so happy because it's December now, that is a month filled with celebrations, gifts, wide
smiles and wishes. At the beginning of December I wrote letter to St Nicholas! Because I don't know how to write yet, my mother helped me. I only drew a picture of me on snow. In the letter I wished for skier's helmet. I would love to learn how to ski but I don’t have a helmet. If I'll be a good girl, St. Nicholas will visit me on the 5th of December and bring helmet! But I won't be able to see him, because he always comes at night with his beautiful angels and with the scary devils. This is St.Nicholas:

Today I’ll help to decorate our house. I made some ornaments-snowflakes. I’ll put them on our Christmas tree in the living room. On the top of the tree there will be a big star. And underneath the tree we will make Christmas cribs with shepards and sheeps next week . I love those cribs, they are really old, my grandfather made them with his father when he was young.This is how they look like:

Christmas is a family holiday in Slovenia. On the 24th of December we go to church with my parents. We go to church earlier than my grandparents; they go to Church at midnight! I sleep at that time but my grandmother told me, that Jesus was born at midnight…Anyway, when we come home from the Church we have Christmas dinner. My mother and grandmother prepare chicken and potatoes and for dessert we have “potica” that is a traditional Slovenian cake made with walnuts. Here is a picture of it:

After dinner we pray and we go around the house with incense. After that I’m very tired so I go to bed and I try to fall asleep fast because Santa Clause visits good children at night and puts presents underneath the Christmas tree. After we open presents we have breakfast and then we go to Church again. We are together all day, sometimes we go out for a walk or we visit friends. But not everybody does that on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Some people don’t go to church, they are not religious so they usually only eat dinner and exchange presents. I think that the important thing is that the whole family is together. Last day we were talking in kindergarten about St. Nicholas, Santa Clause and Father Frost. I don’t know Father Frost very well. But my mother told me that he also is a good man who brings presents in December. We realized that all those men don’t visit all the children in our group. Father Frost visited my parents when they were young, but they didn’t know the Santa Clause… Strange. Anyway! Children are happy if they get presents and it doesn’t matter from whom the get it, we just have to be good. Here is a picture of Father Frost, in case you don't know him:

And than, there is New Year’s eve! I love it because my mother lets me stay up late at night! I help my mother with dinner; we always make something good, things that everybody loves. Than our friends and family visits us we dance and sing, we watch TV, we play games and we laugh a lot! Few minutes before midnight the countdown begins. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! We hug each other; we kiss each other and wish for all the best in the New Year. At midnight there are fireworks everywhere usually we go out to watch. But last year I was to tired, I fell asleep in my mother’s lap. Maybe this year will be different (psssst… that was my last year’s New Year’s wish).

Ok! That is why I love December it is a beautiful month!
Hugs and kisses from Slovenia from all the children in our kindergarten

Christmas time in Lithuania begins with the period of Advent which continues for four weeks. The Advent ends at 25th of December on Christmas. Together with Advent begins fast as well. This is the period when you shouldn’t eat meat and milk products. It’s the time for spiritual abstinence from entertainment.
The special decoration of Advent time is rarotas. This is the first early Mass on Sundays. Lithuanians are decorating their home with wreaths made of fir tree. Inside the wreath they put four candles, usually the red ones, which split the circle in four even parts. Every week of Advent one candle is lighten up. The last candle is light up on fourth week. The candles on Christmas tree are light up from this last candle of Advent.
24 th of December is the last day of the Mass – Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is one of the oldest lithuanian holidays. This is the day when Jesus Christ was born. This is also the dinner evening before Christmas. One of the main courses is small round pieces of baked dough with poppy seeds, jelly drink made with potato flour, usually it’s red, the taste of cranberries or oat. All family usually gets together to the dining table right after the North Star rises. They believe, that this dinner ritual will make the harmony of the family stronger. There was a belief that the guest that has been invited to the dinner can bring happiness to the family. The dinner begins with ritual of sharing kalėdaitis (it‘s the platter made of flavour and baked in a special shape of baking form). This is the symbol of peace in family and bread. Kalėdaičiai (Christmas cookies) are devided by the oldest member of the family –father. During the Christmas Eve‘s dinner you hve to try all of the dishes on the table for better and replete next year. People are drawing lots after dinner: drawing hay, pouring wax into the water, listening for barking dogs which shows the direction of coming matchmaker. All the food after dinner is left on the table for the dead souls.
25 th of December – the day Christ’s Birth – Christmas. The celebration of Christmas continues for three days, earlier it was for four days. On Christmas morning people are going to church to welcome baby Christ. Children are looking for the presents from Santa under the Christmas tree. There is a custom to decorate a fir tree on Christmas. Church is explaining fir tree as a symbol of Jesus Christ and the way it’s green all the time means eternal life.
New Year begins at the first of January. This is the holyday that arose after the Christmas Eve and Christmas. It’s not just a usual night. That’s the night when all the wishes and predictions become true. New Year is the time of renewal. It’s linked with people’s need to clean themselves spiritually, think about what was done wrong and right. It’s very important to act on the New Year’s Eve the way you want to live all next year.
6th of January is the day of Three Kings – three wise Eastern men who visited Jesus in Bethlehem. Three men of wisdom went to Jerusalem led by the magic star in the sky. They found the baby with his mother Mary and left their gifts to them – gold. Legend says that their names were Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar. Before this holiday the chalk is consecrated and using this chalk three letters – C+M+B - have to be written on the door of the houses. On the day of Three Kings the decorations on Christmas tree must be taken off.
We have this tradition to celebrate Christmas in our kindergarden ‚Bangele‘ too. Children, parents, grandparents, guests and all workers are invited to this celebration. The dean of parish is always invited as well. Everybody feels the meaning of approaching mirracle in festal silence and light of the candles. During this evening children asre listening for tales, stories and legends of the way their parents and grandparents were celebrating Cristmas long time ago. They are also playing games, singing songs, reciting poems and decorating hall with Christmas candles and lanterns made by kids. One of the most memorizible evenings was ‚Let‘s get together next to the Christmas candle‘. We had a guest – the dean of Siauliai parish Eugenijus Bartulis. He tought new canto about kindness. Padagogues and children were performing ‚Girl and the lantern‘. This year they are going to play the performance ‚Queen of the Snow‘.

Lucia

Lucia
This is a very important day in December. We are celebrating the Saint Lucia; she is the only saint we are celebrating in Sweden. The Lucia Day is celebrated all over the country in every home, school, and workplace on the morning of the 13th of December. The lights are dimmed and the Lucia and Lucia maids enter, singing the old song "Santa Lucia".
At our preschool we are gathering early in the morning outside in the garden, and the children are dressed in white gown and candles, like gingerbread man or like Santa. They sing traditional songs for the parents and relatives.
After that we all eat breakfast together before the parents go to work. On this day, as well as around Christmas, a hot mulled drink called glögg is served with saffron buns and gingerbread cookies.
According to legend, Lucia was a medieval saint who carried food and drink to hungry folk in the province of Värmland during a period of famine. She was seen across Lake Vänern with her white gown and crown of lights. Today's costume has the same gown and crown. The Lucia legend is said to have originated in Syracuse on the island of Sicily. A young girl, about to be a bride, gave her entire dowry to the poor of her village and admitted that she had become a Christian. She was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake on December 13, 304 A.D.

Snow in Sweden

When we woke up this morning we had snow in our preschool garden. But after some hours it began to rain, and now it’s only wet outside!
We are longing for snow to Christmas; it’s not so common in our town. We want to play out in the snow.

Tradition Exchange – Christmas and New Year Customs - Practical Activities (ROMANIA, Onesti, Kindergarten no.5)

What is Nature?

The question What is Nature?

Vid våra intervjuer med barnen framkom det att de flesta av 1-3 åringarna och ungefär hälften av 4-5 åringarna inte kände till begreppet natur. Vi tror att detta främst beror på att vi sällan säger natur, vi använder ord som skogen, havet osv. Så frågan "Vad är natur?" utökade vi till "Vad är skogen?" också.
Något som också framkom av intervjuerna var att många av svaren återgav vad vi hade jobbat med eller gjort i skogen.

Här är de vanligaste svaren:
Vad är natur? Vad är skogen?

- Upplevelser och lek utomhus.
- Löven faller och bryts ner.
- Man får inte slänga skräp i naturen, bara det som djuren äter.
- Naturen är en trädgård.
- Skogen där bor djuren. (Ekorrar, igelkottar, spindlar)
- Det är fritt.
- Träd.
- Jag vet inte.
- Maskarna jobbar där.
- Man kan plocka blommor och blad.
- Vi går till skogen, äter en frukt.
- Man kan leka också.
- Pinnar.
- Gräs.


During our interviews with the children, we find out that most of the 1-3years old and almost half of the 4-5 years old did not know the word "nature". We think the reason of this is that we don’t use the word "Nature" that often, we say "let's go to the forest or the sea". So we changed or added the question to "What is forest?".
Something else that we found out during our interviews was that the answers often replayed on what we hade done or worked with in or around the forest.

Here are the most common answers:
What is nature? What is forest?

-Experience and play outside.
- The leaves fall down and decompose.
- You can not throw garbage in the forest, only the kind of garbage that can be found in animal’s food-chain, in other words, that kind of garbage that the animals can eat.
- Nature is a garden.
- The forest, that's were the animals lives.
- Spiders, hedgehog, squirrel, worms.
- It's free.
- Trees.
- I don’t know.
- The worms work there.
- You can pick flowers and leaves.
- We go to the forest, eat a fruit.
- You can play there.
- Sticks.

In holydays we wear traditional clothes (ROMANIA, Onesti, Kindergarten no.5)

Christmas Song 2 (ROMANIA, Onesti, Kindergarten no.5)

Christmas Song 1 (ROMANIA, Onesti, Kindergarten no.5)

Schimb de traditii , Craciunul - Traditions exchange, Christmas (ROMANIA, Onesti, Kindergarten no.5)

Natura - Nature 11nov. - 14 nov. 2008 (ROMANIA - Onesti, Kindergarten no.5)

Snow - Manteigas ( Portugal)

Snow makes whiteness where it falls,

The bushes look like popcorn balls.

The places where I always play,

Look like somewhere else today.

Author: Mary Louise Allen

" HALLELUYAH"! IT IS SNOWING! (Portugal)

We have had a greet surprise this weekend!

Last Saturday we woke up to find everything covered with a white snow blanket.

We had so much fun!! : )