Svyatki: holiday script for adults and children

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

In order for the scenario of Christmas gatherings to succeed, you need to understand exactly what kind of holiday it is. In addition, you need to know its history and traditions, as well as to understand how church Christmas time differs from folklore and secular ones.

About Yuletide

These are twelve days of winter holidays - a decade "from the Star to the Water", as they used to say in Russia. Christmas time begins with the appearance of the first star in the sky on Christmas night, and ends with the consecration of water at Epiphany. In some regions of Russia, a couple more days were added to Christmas time following Epiphany, for example, in Polissya.

In folk Slavic customs, this celebration came from Christianity. The tradition of celebrating Christmastide was first documented in 373 by Ephraim the Syrian, a theologian and poet. He dedicated his "Thirteen Conversations" to the description of the holiday. Savva the Sanctified, the creator of one of the first church charters, namely the Jerusalem one, approved in this document the twelve-day celebration of Christmas time. It happened in 524.

The final regulation of the celebration, prescribingthe prohibitions of these days, including marriage, was approved by the Council of Turon. It happened in 567. The same document indicated the calendar time of celebrations - from the moment of the Nativity of Christ to the Epiphany. Later, the celebration was extended until Epiphany.

It is quite curious that a couple of weeks after the birth of Christ coincided with a number of ancient pagan traditions. Moreover, the habit of following them among the people was so strong that the church had to turn to the secular authorities for assistance. Such appeals resulted in various orders, legislative acts and decrees. Paradoxically, until the very overthrow of the autocracy, a law existed and was in force in Russia, which stated a ban on the evening of Christmas and during the Christmas weeks "dressing up in idol robes, starting games, dancing and singing idolatrous songs." That is, in fact, in every village, city, volost, and even in St. Petersburg, they violated the laws by arranging Christmas and Christmas festivities, fairs and gatherings.

What exactly is considered a legacy of idolatry and what is not is the subject of debate among theologians since the Third Council in Constantinople, held in 680-681, to this day. However, all the clergy are unanimous in the opinion that fortune-telling, divination and the performance of pagan rites should be anathema. But in whether to consider mummers, buffoons and other fun, traditional for festivities, as a legacy of idolatry or not, there is no unity among the churchmen. Since the church didn't haveexplanations of what exactly is “idol attire” or “idolatrous pastimes”, then the winter festivities were held without any looking back and fears. Although individual priests, prone to fanaticism, tried to fight the established folk traditions, but, of course, to no avail.

Where did the name come from?

The very word "Christmas" is Old Church Slavonic. It means "holy days". Saints are not in the church's perception. That is, the word "sacred" is more true in meaning. However, historians studying the culture of the Slavs explain the meaning of the word "saints".

Christmas time in the pre-Christian period was not limited to winter time, but was celebrated in all seasons. Only descriptions of how the Greens and Reds were celebrated have survived to this day. Greens were celebrated at the beginning of summer, and Chervony - in the spring. The latter coincided with Christian Easter and were celebrated for many centuries from the Resurrection of Christ to Krasnaya Gorka. However, by the beginning of the last century, only winter Christmas time, that is, the days from Christmas to Epiphany, were massively celebrated.

The church name of the twelve festive winter days is “Christmas time”. Often translated into Russian as "Christmas days". But over time, the word "Christmas" entered into church use. Already at the end of the eighteenth century, the clergy called the winter holidays that way.

How can you celebrate?

Any Christmas scenario can be used, but, of course, it should resonate with the theme of the celebration.

The most in demand arecelebration scenarios:

• children;
• adults;
• family;
• folklore;
• collective;
• for gatherings.

This holiday may or may not have religious overtones. This should not be forgotten when choosing or writing a script. Christmas for children, for example, can be just a fun holiday or carry an educational load.

How to celebrate children?

A good scenario for children's Christmas time must include a short introduction that introduces the child to what they are going to celebrate. You also need to consider what kind of celebration is ahead: family, with the participation of guests or in kindergarten.

For example, if a family lives on a small street in their own cottage, where the neighbors know each other, and everyone has children of about the same age group, then the Christmas carol scenario will be ideal. The bottom line is that children go from house to house, dressed up in different costumes, sing carols, the texts of which are not difficult to find in any folklore collection or just come up with. After singing the carol, the kids get a treat. That is, the celebration essentially duplicates Halloween, the difference is only in costumes, various attributes and the need to sing or tell a carol.

But, as a rule, at Svyatki a script for children is required by educators in child care institutions seeking to entertain kids.

Preparing for the celebration in kindergarten

The difference between such a holiday and fun in the family circle or withthe participation of guests in the fact that there are few adults and many children. This nuance should be taken into account by the scenario. Christmas time in a children's institution can consist of 12 matinees, and can be celebrated once. An important point is the involvement of each child, there should be no "artists" and "spectators" in this holiday.

For the matinee you will need:

• suits;
• props;
• souvenirs, sweets, fruits and other things that can be a gift;
• texts of carols.

Costumes should be discussed with parents so that there are no situations in which several bears, a couple of gypsies, and the rest dress up as snowflakes and pirates come to the matinee.

Props need to be made with the children in advance. As attributes can be:

• paper garlands;
• snowflakes;
• flashlights;
• bear profiles;
• stars and so on.

Even if the props made by the children do not quite correspond to the theme of what the chosen scenario requires, Christmas time, for which the kids prepared, worked, will go much better and be remembered for a longer period than a holiday with rented or purchased attributes.

The words of carols must also be learned in advance, analyzing their content and meaning with the children, and not giving home a printout of the text with the requirement to memorize it. With this approach, the introductory introductory part will not be needed on the matinee itself. Children will get an idea of the holiday while preparing for it.

Christmas Matinee with or without street fun

The following scenario can be used as the basis for children's Christmas time.

Adults:

• Mistress Winter;
• Baba Yaga;
• goat;
• Angel;
• buffoon.

Children's roles are distributed according to the costumes. Decorations are not required, except for a table and a samovar or something that can replace it. The Winter holiday begins, she goes to the table, sits down and says:

“There is a lot of snow, Christmas has died down. You can sit quietly, there is no one else to make noise.”

Knock on the "door", other adults enter, except for Angel, and make noise:

“Hello Zimushka-Winter, Kolyada has come to you. Invite to the table, pour tea, get presents.”

Winter: “What is this Kolyada? I will not open the gate.”

Adults sit at the table.

Goat: “If you don’t open the gate, I’ll put it on the horns, I’ll take it away to the open field and I won’t return it.”

Skomorokh and Baba Yaga: “Don’t swear among yourselves, accept it.”

Children come in, sing or read carols. Children enter from the corridor one or two at a time. After the carol is performed, the child is given a gift, and the child remains in the hall. When the last child enters, all the children stand around him in a semicircle. Child says:

“On the bright holiday of Christmas, an asterisk descended from the sky. This Angel was cheerful, he remained on earth. He helped us prepare the holiday.”

Goat: "Where is the Angel?"

Children: "In the yard".

Enter Angel.

This matinee can be completed. And you can all get dressed and go out into the street,where you will need to hold a competition: make snow angels, little snowmen, huts, etc. The angel will evaluate the results and give out prizes. At this stage, the parents, who previously played the role of spectators, join the active part of the fun. After street fun, everyone sits down to drink tea - both children and parents. After tea, they go home.

How do adults celebrate?

Scenario "Christmas for adults" must be designed or selected taking into account the number of participants, as well as their age and gender. What would be the perfect holiday for a group of "marriageable" girls would not be suitable for a co-workers' party or a home evening for the elderly.

If you are going to celebrate winter Christmas time with a girl's company, it is best to choose a scenario with fortune-telling. The essence of the celebration is simple: you should get together late in the evening and carry out various fortune-telling, pre-selected in the thematic collection. It is this way of spending Christmas time that is traditional in Russia.

However, the celebration can be diversified. You should start at six or eight in the evening, tell fortunes, and most importantly, write down two predictions for the coming night. One for myself, the other for one of the girls present. After that, you should go to a nightclub, and take a walk along the way, guessing in “street ways”. For example, you can:

• throw shoes, it should be purchased in advance;
• ask passers-by for names;
• circling with eyes closed at crossroads.

The next evening isget back together and compare the recorded predictions with what actually happened. Thus, all the days of the holidays can be turned into comic funny Christmas time, for which a script or entourage is not required.

How to hold a corporate party?

To celebrate with the work team, you do not need to rent a restaurant, you should move away from banality these days. If you wish to hold a corporate party, you can use the scenario of the folklore holiday of Christmas time. There are two options for organizing: hire hosts and artists, or distribute roles between employees and organize costume rentals. The latter is more preferable as it turns passive rest into active rest.

Scenario of Christmas time in folklore style will require:

• renting a country recreation center for two days;
• costume rental - from Russian folk to carnival;
• organizing a small fair;
• purchase of certificates or souvenirs for participants of the holiday.

First day includes:

• fun fair;
• Russian street food;
• active games.

As active games, the scenario of the holiday of Christmas time suggests using competitions:

• team snowball fights;
• building fortresses and more.

For example, making snowmen can be varied. To do this, you need to require the participants to fashion not one, but scenes from the life of snowmen. You don't have to worry about the program, the participants will entertain themselves. The only thing that should bea mandatory requirement is to come to the fair in a suit. This is an important psychological point, it is not in vain that they wear a uniform or are limited by corporate requirements for appearance. Clothing sets the mood. Of course, you can hire mummers - buffoons with balalaikas, bears, goats and other traditional Christmas characters will not be superfluous.

The second day should go more smoothly, but in the same vein as the first. You can finish the holiday with Christmas fireworks from firecrackers.

What should I remember?

Regardless of whether an adult corporate party or a children's party is held, we must not forget about a number of things without which the holiday will be incomplete. We are talking about souvenirs for participants, commemorative certificates and photographers. Souvenirs are needed as prizes for participating or winning in any of the competitions. Sweets or fruits are suitable for children, and knick-knacks for adults. Commemorative letters are the same indispensable attribute as a postcard. Everyone should distribute them. The text can be absolutely anything, for example: "(name), a participant in the Yuletide festivities, (date)."

A photographer must also be at the event. This will allow you to get a live chronicle of what is happening. Pictures can then be arranged in albums and distributed to participants. It will please both children and adults. Another argument that speaks of the need for photography: the celebration takes place in costumes and with thematic attributes. Not every day there is an opportunity to take a picture in the outfit of a bear or a buffoon, so you should not miss this opportunity.

How to celebrate Christmas time?

The scenario of Christmas gatherings involves family evenings. In the old days, with such leisure, thematic readings were arranged. The tradition can be taken as a basis and spent in the evenings family Christmas holidays, the script of which does not require serious preparation.

For evenings you will need:

• candles;
• thematic table setting;
• room decoration.

The table for tea drinking after dinner should be served in the Russian style, that is, wooden Khokhloma or winter Gzhel, a samovar and so on should be used.

In this case, the decoration of the room should be understood as a Christmas theme, complemented by Christmas time elements. If there are children in the family, then decorations for the room and table should be made by them. This will add special value to the evenings. The gatherings themselves boil down to the fact that each participant tells a Christmas story. Of course, this will require preparation, young children or family members who are constantly busy at work will need help. The most important thing in organizing Christmas family gatherings is the participation of the whole family.