Culture
Three Easter activities for children in the kindergarten
Three Easter activities for children in the kindergarten
During Easter we celebrate the return of sun and undeniable arrival of spring. Children will like it, if they’ll have the chance to celebrate the celebration not only with traditional snacks, but also with fun activities.
Sleepy sun (a traditional Latvian game)
A game, that will be loved and understood by children of younger age. At first you choose, who will play the role of the sun and who will take on the role of the moon. The children stand in a circle, the sun stands in the middle of the circle and sleeps. Children sing and walk around the sun. When the lyric about the moon approaches, the moon goes on the outside of the circle. When the children start singing “Run away, sun, run away…” the sun stops sleeping, goes outside the circle and starts running away from the moon. The moon tries to catch the sun. When the sun has been caught, children choose a new sun and a new moon.
Gulēja saulīte
Ābeļu dārzā.
Neguli, saulīte.
Ābeļu dārzā!
Mēnestiņš izgāja
Saulīti meklēt.
Bēdz, bēdz, bēdz, saulīte,
Mēnestiņš vajā!
Jau drīz saulīte
Mēneša rokā.
(English translation of the song):
The sun was sleeping
In the apple tree field
Don’t sleep, sun
The moon has come out
To find you.
Run away, run away, run away, sun
The moon is trying to get you
And soon the sun
Will be already in the hands of the moon.)
Egg hunt
Traditional games and battles with eggs could possibly be interchanged with something different in the kindergarten, for example, egg hunt around the class. To eliminate the risk of getting dirty, children can search for eggs they have crated themselves previously from paper. Not to make the egg hunt too heated, you can create some restrictions, for example, each child has to find two eggs in two different colours.
Chicken game
The game that is also known as “blind chickens” will be more suited for the older kids. One participant has a scarf tied in front of their eyes, so they don’t see anything. That participant is the chicken.
The participant asks: “Where will you take me?”
Everyone answers: “To eat porridge.”
The chicken asks: “Is there a spoon?”
Everyone answers: “Search for it on your own!”
Then everyone starts running away, while the chicken tries to catch somebody. Here it is important to create borders for the space where this game is being played, so that it is easier for the chicken to catch someone. The person that is caught will be the next chicken.